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554 BOOK REVIEWS ally stopped to think that "the art of portraiture evolved exclusively within the culture of prayer" (p. 78). The author puts a plethora of details (any one of which would occupy an individual's entire scholarly career these days) into the living setting ofhuman beings; and what is more, he does so without theorizing or using the terminology that so many art historians currently do when treating "context." Finally, this book is written by a specialist whose experience with the visual and historical material is immense; and that experience as well as the author's background is as present as the subject of his inquiry is. How gratifying to see the Dutch vernacular beside the English text, to consult a Netherlandish bibliography , and to observe the author's facility with objects from diverse geographic settings, while keeping sight on the precocious contribution of the Low Countries. This is not to claim that van Os's information is flawless. There are some factual errors, errors of omissions (one wonders why Jeffrey Hamburger 's work is not cited in the bibliography), slippage into exhibition discourse , and phrases that jar most scholars, such as "tasteless self-flagellation," "sugary"private worship,"hideous" nineteenth-century surfaces.Yet these problems seem minor beside the breadth and clarity of van Os's vision. Crisp, informative essays are included by Hans Nieuwdorp and Bernhard Ridderbos on two panels reassembled for exhibition and another by Eugène Honée, whose history of private devotion and prayer warrants greater length. The book closes with Norbert Middelkoop's catalogue of the objects. The graphic design (illustrations aside) of chapter headings and objects is problematic ; it is extremely difficult to penetrate. In refraining from adopting a scholarly mode, the author invites us to approach the material in ways faithful to his thesis: that objects and acts ofprivate piety are marked first and foremost by their sensory and emotional nature. Joanna E. Zjegler College ofthe Holy Cross L'Abbaye Prémontré du Lac dejoux des origines au XW siècle. By Claire Martinet . Avec une étude deJean-Luc Rouiller,"Les Sépultures des Seigneurs de La Sarraz." [Cahiers Lausannois d'Histoire Médiévale, 12.] (Lausanne: Section d'histoire, Faculté des Lettres, Université de Lausanne. 1994. Pp. 320. Paperback.) The series "Cahiers lausannois d'histoire médiévale" treats aspects of medieval life in the Swiss diocese of Lausanne (CantonVaud). Most of the previous titles deal with aspects of religious ritual vis-à-vis church hierarchs and/or the nobility. This volume is comprised of two parts: the first (pp. 13-200 of which pp. 101-200 reproduce the archival sources) deals with the Premonstratensian (Norbertine) Abbey of Lac de Joux (founded between 1 126 and 1 134 and sup- BOOK REVIEWS 555 pressed in 1542) vis-à-vis its noble founders (the family Grandson) and the abbey's later patrons/advocates ofanother family (the La Sarraz). Particular contributions of this study are the author's clarification of the date of the foundation of the abbey and the uncovering of fourteenth-century tamperings with earlier documents in regard to the protective rights of the nobility in relationship to the abbey. The second part of the volume (pp. 201-301 of which pp. 265-299 are source texts) deals with the places ofburial ofthe La Sarraz family. This is a well researched study ofthe symbolic role ofdynastic burial places as expressions of familial continuity and the abiding relationship between members of the nobility and the religious communities they helped to found and protect and from whom they, in turn, expected immemorial prayer. This study provides photographs of the La Sarraz cenotaph which is one of the more fascinating examples oflate medieval funerary art (a recumbent figure being consumed by frogs and worms!). This work is particularly useful in providing all the archival sources used for the writing of the studies. The bibliography seems quite adequate and the index is thorough. This is a rather esoteric little work but one which gives considerable insight into some important dimensions of the social history of medieval religious and political life. This is the sort of research which provides the data for the more comprehensive sociological perspective...

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