The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, has since its founding in 1985 organized its collective research primarily around a series of large-scale projects. These multi-faceted projects have each changed the face of Welsh studies: the two editorial projects in particular brought together for the first time well-edited texts of the Poets of the Princes (Beirdd y Tywysogion , primarily 12th and 13th centuries) and the Poets of the Gentry (Beirdd yr Uchelwyr , primarily 14th and 15th centuries). In progress are projects dealing with the Celtic languages and cultural identity, and with the eighteenth-century antiquarian Iolo Morganwg and the development of the Romantic tradition in Wales. Each of these projects enhances our understanding of the literature, history, and culture of Wales.
The project The Visual Culture of Wales was completed in 2003 under the direction of the art historian Peter Lord, best known (outside of Wales, at least) for his design for the side chapel in the south transept of the early thirteenth-century church of Llanbadarn Fawr, on the outskirts of Aberystwyth. Medieval Vision is the third volume of the project, preceded by Industrial Society (1998) and Imaging the Nation (2000). Medieval Vision is a book of quite astonishing beauty, in large format, printed on paper of the highest quality, with more than 440 illustrations reproduced with great care. In addition, the University of Wales Press has kept the price remarkably low. The book is much more than a coffee-table showpiece, however, for it attempts with a measure of success to define the visual aspects of Welsh culture and the ways in which that culture differs from (primarily) that of its neighbour to the east.
Lord and his principal collaborator, John Morgan-Guy, have necessarily been selective in the materials they discuss: architecture is, for the most part, not taken into account, though architectural decoration is considered with some frequency. The illustration is lavish, with pictures of virtually every object, illumination, or detail which is discussed in the text. Early modern drawings and engravings of objects are included where the original does not survive. The book is divided into five roughly chronological chapters. "Wales and the Western Cultures" deals principally with the pre-Norman period and the relationship of Welsh art with that of Ireland, especially in the context of stone crosses. "Cultural Reorientation" tracks the introduction of Norman influence and the development of Romanesque in Wales in the twelfth century. "Princes and Aristocrats" considers the development through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of a tradition of princely patronage, especially in the area of church decoration and architectural ornament. "The Christian Year" follows the progress of the liturgical year from its medieval beginning on Annunciation Day, March 25, and the representation of events in the Church calendar. Concentration, not surprisingly, is on images relating to Holy Week and the Crucifixion, though Lord notes the increased interest in images of death and judgement in the second half of the fourteenth century, an interest mirrored in the poetry of the period and reflected in the number of tomb effigies which present the body in death as a cadaver rather than as in life. Finally, "Piety and Modern Patronage" continues the investigation of chapter 3 into the patronage of the uchelwyr through the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. For the most part, Lord's chronological arrangement works well enough, though interrupting the chapters on patronage with a lengthy discussion of the liturgical year is significantly awkward. That chapter is less closely related to the chronological discussion, and would have worked better as a conclusion, leaving the two chapters on patronage as a connected sequence.
This is a minor quibble, however, and the importance of Lord's achievement stands. Clearly, his primary objective is to consider the relationship between visual culture and national identity, and he makes a strong argument both for the clarity of the relationship between the art of medieval Wales and that of England, France, and Ireland, as well as for the distinctive qualities which make many of the objects and pictures uniquely Welsh. Now that all three volumes are available, it is clear that they can be seen as a comprehensive history of art in Wales from the earliest survivals to the present day. My sole remaining criticism concerns the documentation of the images. For the most part this is excellent, with images dated and full information on materials and size. However, while the present location of immovable objects (buildings, stone crosses, tomb effigies, etc.) is clearly indicated, the location of movable objects is almost never given. Reproductions of manuscript pages sometimes include the shelfmark, sometimes do not; bibliographical information for early modern drawings and engravings is lacking, so it is never clear whether these derive from printed or manuscript sources. Since the photographs and reproductions are numbered, it would have been very simple to accommodate this information in a brief appendix, making it much easier for those wishing to track down the originals.
The volume has also been produced in searchable CD format; a fine idea, though the Press did not include the CD with the review copy. Medieval Vision is a very beautiful book, and it is to be hoped that its very beauty (along with its remarkably reasonable price) will bring the art of medieval Wales to a much wider audience.