{"product_id":"the-mineral-and-the-visual-brigitte-buettner-9780271092508","title":"The Mineral and the Visual: Precious Stones in Medieval Secular Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003eOpulent jeweled objects ranked among the most highly valued works of art in the European Middle Ages. At the same time, precious stones prompted sophisticated reflections on the power of nature and the experience of mineralized beings. Beyond a visual regime that put a premium on brilliant materiality, how can we account for the ubiquity of gems in medieval thought?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Mineral and the Visual\u003c\/i\u003e, art historian Brigitte Buettner examines the social roles, cultural meanings, and active agency of precious stones in secular medieval art. Exploring the layered roles played by gems in aesthetic, ideological, intellectual, and economic practices, Buettner focuses on three significant categories of art: the jeweled crown, the pictorialized lapidary, and the illustrated travel account. The global gem trade brought coveted jewels from the Indies to goldsmiths' workshops in Paris, fashionable bodies in London, and the crowns of kings across Europe, and Buettner shows that Europe's literal and metaphorical enrichment was predicated on the importation of gems and ideas from Byzantium, the Islamic world, Persia, and India.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginal, transhistorical, and cross-disciplinary, \u003ci\u003eThe Mineral and the Visual\u003c\/i\u003e engages important methodological questions about the work of culture in its material dimension. It will be especially useful to scholars and students interested in medieval art history, material culture, and medieval history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Brigitte Buettner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0271092505\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780271092508\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penn State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/06\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.75lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.10h x 8.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2023","brand":"Brigitte Buettner","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46685752623359,"sku":"9780271092508","price":99.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0d290383-f0d0-4456-be8d-a30e67d911c4.jpg?v=1741726669","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-mineral-and-the-visual-brigitte-buettner-9780271092508","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}