Connecting Things through the Visual Arts

Medieval Crescent Moon Pendants as Horse Ornaments

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6094909
AutoresImmonen (0000-0002-7616-500X, University of the Arts Helsinki, autor de correspondencia), Visa Immonen
Año2013
Volumen46
Número2
Páginas175-193
Fecha de publicación2013-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNorwegian Archaeological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0029-3652 • E-ISSN: 1502-7678
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00293652.2013.836679
OpenAlexW2045819691
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas25

Medieval archaeology as a discipline is usually defined in relation to written sources and history, while other kinds of sources and scholarly traditions studying the same period are overlooked. With a small group of 14th-century crescent moon pendants of bronze from Finland as its focal point, the present article analyses the way in which archaeology connects with the visual arts and the discipline specialized in studying them, art history. Instead of some shared methodology, the inquiry proceeds along the tensions between the material and the visual. After the artefact and its technical qualities are examined in the framework of medieval material culture, the object is reduced, first, to an iconographical motif and, second, into a represented object. Third, the anthropomorphic features applied on the pendant are extracted and considered against the body of medieval grotesque art. This reveals how the visual is also an effective force in the sphere of material culture and human interaction. In the interdisciplinary work between archaeology and art history, the visual and the material emerge as travelling concepts destabilizing traditional approaches and inspiring new insights.Keywords: Art historyiconographyinterdisciplinaritymedieval archaeologypendantsvisuality ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to thank Dr Elina Räsänen, whose help with medieval paintings has been pivotal, and Jukka Tuominen for his help with revising the language

Aesthetics · Applied arts · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Bronze · Fine art · Medieval art · Middle Ages · Motif (music) · Object (grammar) · Ornaments · Painting · Period (music) · Style (visual arts) · The arts · Visual arts · Conservation Techniques and Studies · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · History · Philosophy · Visual Culture and Art Theory