Commemorating the Polish Renaissance Child: Funeral Monuments and their European Context

by Jeannie Labno

Overview

Through an exploration of the unique Polish tradition of child commemoration, this book raises issues beyond the monuments themselves, about Polish social life and family structuring in the early modern period, including attitudes to children and the position of women, as well as the transmission and reception of Renaissance ideas outside Italy. Drawing upon social and cultural history, visual and gender studies, the work not only asks important new questions, but provides a fresh perspective on familiar topics and themes within Renaissance history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781409482277
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	07/28/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	22 MB
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About the Author

Jeannie Labno is an independent art historian specialising in early modern art and culture of Central/Eastern Europe. She has published a number of papers, and the University of Warsaw has recently published the proceedings of an international conference she organised in 2007 at the University of Sussex: East Meets West at the Crossroads of Early Modern Europe.

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Part I Context: Shifting the Boundaries, Conceptual Identities and the Social Framework: Shifting boundaries and conceptual identities; Religion in Poland: 'a state without stakes'; Society; Summary part I. Part II Locating a Forgotten Renaissance: Borders, boundaries and barriers; Processes of Renaissance reception in Poland; Pathways of dissemination of artistic motifs: the putto and skull; Summary part II. Part III Culture of Death: In Memoria: Death and commemoration; Death and the child; Summary part III. Part IV The Monumental Body of the Renaissance Child: The monumental body of the Renaissance child: trends and patterns; The monumental body of the Renaissance child: the changing putto; The monumental body of the Renaissance child: other forms of visual presentation; Summary part IV. Part V The Polish Putto-and-Skull: Iconography and Iconology: The Polish putto-and-skull: iconographic layers of significance; The Polish putto-and-skull: rudiments of laughter, grotesque bodies and mythic boundaries; Conclusions; Catalogue; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

’... this is a valuable contribution to the literature on the commemoration of children, and should be read by all who are interested in early modern commemoration.’ Church Monuments 'Jeannie Łabno’s multifaceted effort offers more than a standard art history perspective on a heretofore sparsely analyzed niche of peripheric Renaissance art. At its core the book distorts the entire center-periphery paradigm, embracing a model of pan-European Renaissance artistic receptiveness that is more a creative dialogue between two geographical points than a strict lecture from one to the other.' Renaissance Quarterly 'Commemorating the Polish Renaissance Child is a fascinating, engrossing study, which also presents a panoramic view of the Polish Renaissance, and Labno has the ability to shift from a specific to a more general perspective with ease. Her native familiarity with the subject and her ability to maintain a scientific, dispassionate distance, is an unquestionable merit of this work.' European History Quarterly 'With this fascinating book, Jeannie Łabno, drawing on a set of such traditions, but also on scholarly traditions of essentially different origin, has taken the first difficult step to open the communication in a new field. Others will hopefully follow.' Childhood in the Past 'Łabno’s book is important to the study of the early modern period in two ways. First, it highlights the profound diffusion and adaptation of the Renaissance in central and eastern Europe. ... Secondly, Łabno’s work is an important contribution to our understanding of childhood in the early modern period.' Sixteenth Century Journal

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