The Art of Medieval Falconry - (Medieval Lives) by Yannis Hadjinicolaou (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A beautifully illustrated tour of the visual culture of medieval falconry in Europe and beyond.

Medieval falconry was not just about hunting; the practice also signified sovereignty, power, and diplomacy. In The Art of Medieval Falconry, Yannis Hadjinicolaou describes the visual culture that sprang up around these practices, tracking how imagery, equipment, and even the birds themselves moved through the medieval world. Indeed, Hadjinicolaou shows that falconry has been a global phenomenon since at least the thirteenth century.

This beautifully illustrated book offers a unique glimpse at how cultures across the globe adopted and adapted the visual culture of medieval falconry.

Review Quotes

"Contributes to our understanding of the interconnectedness of the medieval world, where ideas, goods, people and images regularly passed across geographical and cultural borders. The fashionable idea of a 'global Middle Ages' is sometimes overstated, yet in the case of falconry it is clear that depictions of the practice, alongside equipment, techniques, birds and even falconers, travelled widely across medieval Eurasia and North Africa."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"A slim, rich entry into the Medieval Lives series. As Hadjinicolaou makes convincingly clear, it is the living bird that is a jewel beyond price. And it is the relationship between falcon and falconer that was considered glorious."-- "Wall Street Journal"

"In the new, punningly titled Art of Medieval Falconry, Yannis Hadjinicolaou examines the sport as practiced in medieval Europe and beyond, as well as the legacy of illustration it left in manuscripts, paintings, tapestries, and more."-- "New Criterion"

"Falconry has fascinated mankind for centuries as a global, aristocratic pleasure. The Art of Medieval Falconry is vividly dedicated to the cultural history of this form of hunting in the Middle Ages. Yannis Hadjinicolaou delves into how falcons have served, and continue to serve, as diplomatic gifts worldwide, looks at their depictions documenting the making of courtly self-images, and explores why the birds of prey themselves can certainly be regarded as flying ambassadors of political iconography."-- "Uwe Fleckner, Professor of Art History, University of Hamburg, and Director of the Advanced School of Art and Humanities, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou"

"What an eye-opening book! With Hadjinicolaou we soar across vast expanses of time and space, to alight and linger on fecund boughs of medieval visual, material, and textual culture. From here we learn to see how tightly entwined the avian and human realms were. Able to survey the world from the heavens yet subject to human control, falcons did much more than help with noble hunts; they were vital instruments in the structuring of society, the fashioning of the self and the delimitation of what it was to be human."-- "Jacqueline Jung, Professor of History of Art, Yale University"

About the Author

Yannis Hadjinicolaou is assistant professor of art history at the University of Bonn. He is the author of Thinking Bodies-Shaping Hands: 'Handeling' in Art and Theory of the Late Rembrandtists.