"The concept of opposing forces of good and evil expressed in a broad range of moral qualities--virtues and vices--is one of the most dominant themes in the history of Christian art. The complex interrelationship of these moral traits received considerable study in the medieval period, resulting in a vast and elaborate system of imagery that has been largely neglected by modem scholarship. Rich resources for the study of this important subject are made available by this volume, which publishes the complete holdings of 227 personifications of virtue and vice in the Index of Christian Art's text files. ... This extract, the first to be published, is accompanied by six essays that investigate topics such as the didactic function of the bestiaries and the Physiologus, female personifications in the Psychomachia of Prudentius, the Virtues in the Floreffe Bible frontispiece, and good and evil in the architectural sculpture of German sacramentary houses." - publisher

456 p., index, illustrations.

Language: English

ISBN: 0-691-05036-8; LCCN: 99-056975; LC: N8012.V57V57; DDC: 704.9'482-dc21