Published by the Wellcome Collection, a group that is endlessly committed to health and science education, the design of Medieval Bodies is flawless and could draw anybody into buying and reading it. The images feel as luxurious and extravagant as the illuminated manuscripts that Hartnell explores.
One of the key elements of this book is the beautifully rendered color illustrations. That being said, as someone out of the loop of the history and understandings of the Middle Ages, Medieval Bodies is written for non-medievalists, and as a modern art historian with little experience in the fifth to fifteenth centuries, I found this book accessible and elucidating. There are also points where I would have benefitted from a footnote, endnote, or a risky theoretical sidebar. Therefore one of its downfalls is that sometimes the book feels too simplified for an audience who already has a background in historical visual culture. This publication is very much a popular history book, not meant for academic research or citations in papers (or even blog posts!).
Anyone interested in this blog, my Instagram, or morbid history / art will appreciate Hartnell’s approach to the human body in all of its beauty and repulsiveness. Medieval Bodies (Wellcome Collection, 2018) by Jack Hartnell is an effortlessly readable book.
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