Compressed Meanings. The Donor's Model in Medieval Art to around 1300: Origin, Spread and Significance of an Architectural Image in the Realm of Tension between Tradition and Likeness

In the Christian art of western Europe images survive from as early as the sixth century that show figures of founders or donors bearing a model of the building they caused to be constructed, renovated or embellished. Previous studies have tended to turn on the question of how accurately these models represent the buildings they were intended to portray. But the donors' model cannot be explained exclusively by comparison with its built equivalent. The sculptors, goldsmiths, minters, mosaicists, …