Visualizing Cistercian Contemplation in Medieval Rome

The first monograph on the Vita Humana cycle at Tre Fontane, this book includes an overview of the medieval history of the Roman Cistercian abbey and its architecture, as well as a consideration of the political and cultural standing of the abbey both wit hin Papal Rome and within the Cistercian order. Furthermore, it considers the commission of the fresco cycle, the circumstances of its making, and its position within the art historical context of the Roman Duecento. Examining the unusual blend of images in the Vita Humana cycle, this study offers a more nuanced picture of the iconographic repertoire of medieval art. Since the discovery of the frescoes in the 1960s, the iconographic programme of the cycle has remained mysterious, and an adequate analysis of the Vita Humana cycle as a whole has so far been lacking. Kristin Aavitsland covers this gap in the scholarship on Roman art circa 1300, and also presents the first interpretative discussion of the frescoes that is up-to-date with the architectural in vestigations undertaken in the monastery around 2000. Aavitsland proposes a rationale behind the conception of the fresco cycle, thereby providing a key for understanding its iconography and shedding new light on thirteenth-century Cistercian culture. G iven that this is the first monograph on the Vita Humana cycle of frescoes, illustrations are necessary to maximize the book's impact. Many of these images have not been published before, and the illustrations include line drawings which will reproduce th e frescoes' original forms (the frescoes have decayed significantly over time). The ideal illustration program would include 115 black-and-white illustrations, and 14 color plates. Without a subvention, Ashgate would only be able to absorb the productio n costs of approximately 40 black-and-white images, and no color plates at all. Publication is scheduled for September 2012.