Dynamic Splendor

The Wall Mosaics in the Cathedral of Eufrasius at Poreč Ann Terry, and Henry Maguire

Publish Date: 2/20/2007
Dimensions: 10 x 12
Page Count: 416 pages

Illustrations:

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-271-02873-6

Hardcover Edition: $102.95Add to Cart

Winner of a 2008 AAUP Book Jacket and Journal Show, Scholarly Illustrated Winner of the 2007 PSP Award for Excellence in the category of Art and Art History Winner of a 2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

“Long overshadowed by their more extensive neighbors at Ravenna and Venice, the glittering mosaics of Porec have rarely been subjected to detailed scrutiny. Repeatedly restored in the late nineteenth century, they have been regarded with suspicion by scholars and quickly passed over by tourists. Terry and Maguire compensate for this neglect with meticulous examination from the scaffold and judicious study of the relative merits of pre-restoration drawings, photos, and written records . . . with a battery of color photographs unparalleled in any other work on early Byzantine mosaic.” —Anthony Cutler, The Pennsylvania State University

“At a time when many academic publishers speculate about the demise of the art-history monograph, Dynamic Splendor is a welcome retort about what would be lost without the commitment of university presses to rigorous and elegant scholarship.” —Eric Banks, BookForum

“The number and quality of the images as well as its high standard of scholarship make this handsomely produced boxed set, priced at only $95, surely the best buy in the book market now. The press deserves congratulations.” —A.J. Wharton, Choice

“This magnificent two-volume work presents the sixth-century mosaics that survive in the three apses of the church in all their glory, but also in all their controversy. With more than two hundred colour photographs, the book provides invaluable visual documentation and it is hard to envisage it being surpassed in the future. This is an indispensable research tool for anyone interested in Early Christian art.” —Antony Eastmond, Burlington Magazine

“Beautifully and extensively illustrated with color photographs of the mosaics in the basilica together with a generous number of comparanda, this book recuperates for scholars a major, long ignored monumental program.” —Elizabeth S. Bolman, Journal of Early Christian Studies

“With the publication of Dynamic Splendor, Ann Terry and Henry Maguire have erected a monument of their own in honor of the Basilica Eufrasiana. . . . It will serve many uses: as an object of aesthetic appreciation, a record of valuable research, and a thoughtful model for future monographs.” —Benjamin Anderson, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR)

Dynamic Splendor introduces a cycle of sixth-century mosaics little known to scholars, though they are comparable in quality and interest to famed mosaics in Italy and elsewhere. Ann Terry and Henry Maguire provide the first comprehensive account of the history and meaning of the mosaics along with the first high-quality photographic documentation of the ensemble.

It has only recently been possible to study the mosaics at Poreč closely, due to favorable conditions in Croatian Istria, where the mosaics reside, and to the discovery of the original restoration documents in Vienna and Trieste. Terry and Maguire have tracked the condition and restoration of these works, distinguishing between the original mosaics and later contributions. Beyond creating an important archival source, the authors consider the making of the mosaics, their thematic structure, their relationship to the cathedral complex, and their connection to the patron, Bishop Eufrasius, while drawing parallels with other renowned works.

Ann Terry is an independent scholar and the author of A Century of Archaeology at Poreč (1847–1947) with Ffiona Gilmore Eaves (2001).

Henry Maguire is Professor in the Johns Hopkins History of Art Department. His publications include Earth and Ocean: The Terrestrial World in Early Byzantine Art (Penn State, 1987), the edited volume Byzantine Magic (1995), and Icons of Their Bodies: Saints and Their Images in Byzantium (1996).

Contents

Preface

Note to Readers

Introduction

1. Documentation of the Mosaics Prior to the Late Nineteenth-Century Restorations

2. Philosophy and Methods of the Restorers

3. Porec and Ravenna: Affiliations and Chronology

4. Mosaic Artistry in Sixth-Century Poreč

5. Sixth-Century Iconography: Questions of Identification

6. Sixth-Century Iconology: Questions of Meaning

Conclusion: Mosaic as a Dynamic Medium

Appendix I: Survey of Authentic and Restored Sections

Appendix II: A Note on Twentieth-Century Restorations

Notes

Frequently Cited Sources

Index

Illustrations Volume

List of Illustrations

Figures and Plates

Illustrations Credits

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