Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this authoritative, lively book, the celebrated Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco presents a learned summary of medieval aesthetic ideas. Juxtaposing theology and science, poetry and mysticism, Eco explores the relationship that existed between the aesthetic theories and the artistic experience and practice of medieval culture.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Eco's slim volume, though 20 years old, remains fresh and useful in this highly readable translation. Eco moves swiftly and surely from Boethius to Meister Eckhart, from subtle conceptual distinctions to broad historical and sociological syntheses. The book reflects the moment of its composition, the heyday of phenomenology, in its search for the intuitive dimensions in aesthetic experience. Eco's study will serve students of aesthetics in general and medieval aesthetics in particular who need a brief but accurate introduction to a vast field, while students of Eco's own thinking will profit from a glance at the scholastic background to Eco's work on semiotics. Ronald L. Martinez, French and Italian Dept., Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This essay by the internationally known student of medieval philosophy and civilization was originally published in Italy in 1959 as a single chapter in a four-volume handbook on the history of aesthetics. It now appears for the first time in English in an elegant translation by Hugh Bredin, senior lecturer in Scholastic philosophy at Queen's College, Belfast. This study stands by itself as a monograph on the development of the aesthetic principles and problems that engaged the Schoolmen from the sixth through the 15th century. More than a history of theory, this essay is an absorbing synthesis of theology, science, poetry, and mysticism with artistic theory and practice-providing comprehensive insight into medieval culture. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is a must for collections with holdings in medieval civilization and thought. Extensive bibliography and name index.-P.L. Urban Jr., Swarthmore College

Kirkus Book Review

Dust off your Duns Scotus before attempting this analysis of the development of European aesthetic theories from the sixth to the 15th centuries. Readers not thoroughly versed in the intricacies of scholastic philosophy are more likely to be frustrated than enlightened by Eco's brief but convoluted thesis. Those, however, who finally thread their way through the thickets of theology, epistemology, cosmology, ontology and metaphysics will be rewarded with some original insights into an era that was previously regarded by many as devoid of aesthetic ideals and criteria. Eco, whose Gothic ""gothic,"" The Name of the Rose, was an offbeat best seller a few years ago, is not interested here in topping the charts; he is a scholar speaking to other scholars. He makes almost no concessions to the general reader, assuming a vast background that should include an easy understanding of philosophical terms and of esoteric theological and cosmological concepts, as well as at least a passing familiarity with obscure medieval aestheticians. Written 20 years ago and now translated for the first time, the work explores the interrelationships between religion and science, and among music, poetry and the visual arts and how these disciplines evolved during the so-called ""Dark Ages"" from Pythagorean classicism through Carolingian humanism and scholastic theocentrism to the Mannerist celebration of ""genius"" and ""imagination."" Eco is able to cover these complexities in a mere 122 pages by utilizing a highly elliptical, somewhat ratified (at least in Hugh Bredin's translation) prose style that is almost certain to leave the average reader gasping for breath (while reaching for a concordance to the Summa Theologica). Heavy going, but for a limited audience, worth the effort. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Umberto Eco was born in Alessandria, Italy on January 5, 1932. He received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Turin in 1954. His first book, Il Problema Estetico in San Tommaso, was an extension of his doctoral thesis on St. Thomas Aquinas and was published in 1956. His first novel, The Name of the Rose, was published in 1980 and won the Premio Strega and the Premio Anghiar awards in 1981. In 1986, it was adapted into a movie starring Sean Connery. His other works include Foucault's Pendulum, The Island of the Day Before, Baudolino, The Prague Cemetery, and Numero Zero. He also wrote children's books and more than 20 nonfiction books including Serendipities: Language and Lunacy. He taught philosophy and then semiotics at the University of Bologna. He also wrote weekly columns on popular culture and politics for L'Espresso. He died from cancer on February 19, 2016 at the age of 84.

(Bowker Author Biography)