A Cultural History of Furniture in the Middle Ages and RenaissanceErin J. CampbellLabel: Bloomsbury AcademicDescription: The Middle Ages were marked by dramatic social economic political and religious changes. Diverse regional and local conditions and varied social classes - including peasant artisan merchant clergy nobility and rulers - resulted in differing needs for furniture. The social settings for furniture included official and private residences both grand and humble churches and monasteries and civic institutions including places of governance and learning such as municipal halls guild halls and colleges. This volume of A Cultural History of Furniture explores how furniture contributed to the social fabric within these varied spaces. The chronological range of this volume extends from the fall of the Roman Empire through to the early Renaissance a period which exhibited a wide array of types styles and motifs including Byzantine Romanesque Gothic and Renaissance. Rural and regional styles of furniture are also considered as well as techniques of furniture manufacture. Drawing upon a wealth of visual and textual sources this volume presents essays that examine key characteristics of the furniture of the period on the themes of design and motifs; makers making and materials; types and uses; the domestic setting; the public setting; exhibition and display; furniture and architecture; visual representations; and verbal representations.
This product would be a great fit for anyone interested in medieval and Renaissance history, particularly in the realms of culture, aesthetics, and design.
