The Fruit of Devotion: Mysticism and the Imagery of Love in Flemish Paintings of the Virgin and Child, 1450-1550

by Reindert L. Falkenburg

Against the background of the wide-spread 'love' spirituality of the late Middle Ages, the book takes as its central theme the 'taste' metaphor which appears in paintings featuring the Virgin and Child, belonging to the genre of the Andachtsbild . The first chapter describes the use of fruit and flowers as sensory presentations to the Christ Child. The author traces the origin of this motif and explains how the consumption of fruit and the smelling...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556192703
• ISBN13: 9781556192708
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Length: 244 Pages