Observation and image-making in Gothic art

Since the 16th century, art historians have debated the methods of medieval artists. A frequent topic of discussion and one that has been invoked at times to distinguish the medieval artist from his early modern successor is the extent to which medieval art is based on the observation of nature. In this vein, much recent commentary has focused on selected works whose descriptiveness challenges the schematism of most medieval imagery. As argued here, assessing these images and the visual evidence they present of the artist's working method requires a methodology that is sensitive to the syntax of visual communication.