Seeable Signs

Representations of the seven sacraments in medieval art examined in the context of theological, didactic and liturgical sources.

Seven-sacrament art - the representation of all seven sacraments - first appeared in Europe as an occasional subject in the 14th century, but by the middle of the 15th it had become widely popular. In this interdisciplinary study,Ann Eljenholm Nichols provides an analysis of the iconography of the sacraments. The book begins with a comprehensive survey of all known continental work, some of it never before published, but it focuses on English work. Nichols argues that before 1450 there existed an international iconography of the sacraments, but that thereafter English work diverges so radically it is necessary to speak of a distinctive insular iconography. The explanation for thatdifference, she believes, is to be found in the peculiar religious climate created by the Lollard rejection of the sacramental system. The need to counter-attack, to make the sacred signs seeable, accounts for the theological character of the font iconography. Her book makes an important contribution to the cultural and social history of medieval England.

ANN ELJENHOLM NICHOLS is Professor, Department of English, Winona State University.