Abstract
This essay analyzes the nuance, mutability, and political purposes of illustrated Greek manuscripts containing a ubiquitous medieval tale: Barlaam and Ioasaph. Exploring the dynamic nature of this Byzantine material and its global peregrinations, it reveals processes of medieval world formation through text and imagery of a story that, paradoxically, advocates the renunciation of the worldly. Ultimately, it argues that the textual transmission of this story and its diverse visual imagery bridged cultures from Asia to Europe, and religions from Buddhism to Christianity.
Recommended Citation
Hilsdale, Cecily
(2017)
"Worldliness in Byzantium and Beyond: Reassessing the Visual Networks of Barlaam and Ioasaph,"
The Medieval Globe: Vol. 3:
No.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/tmg/vol3/iss2/5