The Prodigal's Journey
Ideologies of Self and City in the Gothic Cathedral
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10789776 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerald B Guest (Berlin University of the Arts, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 35-75 |
| Publication date | 2006-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Speculum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-7134 • E-ISSN: 2040-8072 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0038713400019370 |
| OpenAlex | W2000408050 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 2 |
As the great Gothic cathedrals of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were con structed and adorned with complex programs of sculpture and glass, certain fig ures and certain stories took on unprecedented iconographic popularity. The par able of the prodigal son (Luke 15.11-32) was one such story. This tale of a young man's journey and his successive transformations became one of the most privi leged visual narratives in France during the first half of the thirteenth century. It is the goal of this article to consider the likely reasons for this popularity and the narrative's relevance for medieval viewers. I will argue that the artists and clerics who designed these works of art refashioned the parable into a pointed commen tary on contemporary urban life. The picture cycles in question assert that there were two economies at work in the medieval city, one spiritual, the other material
Art · Art history · Ideology · Literature · Narrative · Politics · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History
| Citations per year | 0.18 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2018 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |