Medieval Images, Icons, and Illustrated English Literary Texts

This is the first study to cover the range of major illustrated English poems from the Anglo-Saxon period to the early 15th century. The author argues that the artists were familiar with the texts, flexible in adapting existing iconographies, and innovative in responding to the vernacular poems to guide the ethical reading process of their audience. This study convincingly demonstrates how the visual elements of texts interact with the verbal to manifest the real "text" of all the illustrated literary works that are so carefully prepared for their respective medieval audiences. Among the manuscripts examined here are the Caedmon MS, the Auchinleck and Vernon manuscripts, and the Pearl manuscript. Hilmo's thesis is not confined to overtly religious texts and images, but deals also with historical writing, such as Layamon's Brut, and with poetry designed ostensibly for entertainment, such as the Canterbury Tales.