Ladder of Shadows
Reflecting on Medieval Vestige in Provence and Languedoc
1st Edition
Published on 5. January 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-0-520-25335-3 (ISBN)
Description
Bits of late Roman coinage, the mutilated torso of a marble Venus, blue debris from an early medieval glassworks, and the powder rasped from the reputed tomb of Mary Magdalene - these tantalizing mementos of human history found scattered throughout the landscape of southeastern France are the points of departure for Gustaf Sobin's lyrical narrative. A companion volume to his acclaimed "Luminous Debris", "Ladder of Shadows" picks up where the former left off: with late antiquity, covering a period from roughly the third to the thirteenth century. Here Sobin offers brilliant readings of late Roman and early Christian ruins in his adopted region of Provence, sifting through iconographic, architectural, and sacramental vestiges to shed light on nothing less than the existential itself.
More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
19 b-w photographs, 5 line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-25335-3 (9780520253353)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2009
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Gustaf Sobin (1935-2005) was a poet, novelist, and essayist. His books include the novel The Fly-Truffler and Luminous Debris: Reflecting on Vestige in Provence and Languedoc (UC Press).
Content
Foreword, by Michael Ignatieff Introduction Apt: Reading an Antique City as Palimpsest Desolate Treasure Crypto-Christianity: The Sarcophagi of Arles, I Terra Sigillata Relics: Membra Martyrum as Living Current Venus Disfigured The Blossoming of Numbers: The Baptistery at Riez The Deletion of Shadow: The Sarcophagi of Arles, II City of God Laying the Dragon Low The Dark Ages: A History of Omissions The Blue Tears of Sainte-Marthe The Blind Arcade: Reflections on a Carolingian Sarcophagus Celestial Paradigms Vaulting the Nave The Dome: Architecture as Antecedent Classical Roots, Evangelical Branches Vanished Scaffolds and the Structures Thereof Incastellamento: Perching the Village, I Incastellamento: Perching the Village, II (The Circulades of Languedoc) Faja Oscura Psalmodi The Fifth Element: From Manna to Exaction Mary Magdalene the Odoriferous The Death of Genesis Notes Index