The Mccarthy Collection: Sculpture

The McCarthy Collection comprises over 150 European medieval sculptures, produced over a period of almost 600 years. It includes some early examples from Merovingian France, Anglo-Saxon England and Visigothic Spain, and has a strong Romanesque focus. Some of these works can be associated with such important workshops as those of Gislebertus, the Master of Agüero and the Master Mateo of Compostela. The transition to the Gothic style and the period of its splendour, particularly in France, are attested by a wide selection of statues and architectural fragments - some of which can be linked to buildings as important as Noyon Cathedral and Notre-Dame de Paris.

Enhanced by remarkable photographs, this book presents this remarkable collection of European medieval sculpture. The notes offer detailed stylistic, iconographic and contextual analyses, paying particular attention to the comparanda in public and private collections. This approach, supplemented in some cases by petrographic analysis, has enabled the authors to link much of the material presented in these pages to specific regional buildings, workshops or schools, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the pieces themselves, their original setting and their cultural and artistic milieu.