Includes bibliographical references and index.

Robert Couzin's Right and Left in Early Christian and Medieval Art is the first in-depth study of handedness, position, and direction in the visual culture of Europe and Byzantium from the fourth to the fourteenth century. An understanding of this largely unnoticed or ignored dimension of imagery can enrich the study of most major themes of medieval art history, including iconography, visuality, reception, narrative, form, gender, production, and patronage. For designers, artisans, and audiences alike, the pre-eminence of the right and lapses or intentional departures from that norm were potentially significant. This investigation of right and left in medieval visual culture is informed by modern experimental research on laterality and contextualized within prevailing theological doctrines and socio-cultural practices. Illustrations in the text are complemented by hundreds more made available on Brill's Arkyves platform.

Description based on print version record.