A prominent opening in a psalter of circa 1290 from the region of Amiens juxtaposes two kneeling figures (Bibliothèque nationale, MS lat. 10435, fol. 137r). In the margin to the right of the Trinity initial opening Psalm 109, a woman kneels in prayer on a vine tendril next to a minuscule shield bearing the arms of the seigneur or lord of Clary…[Read more]

As the representation of specific, identifiable persons in art, portraiture often reflects ideas of selfhood or individuality while simultaneously participating in their construction. Since the introduction of physiognomic likeness into the visual language of western portraiture in the mid-fourteenth century, this quality has come to exemplify the…[Read more]