| Summary |
This volume proceeds from a brief discussion of the ancient concept to a detailed examination of the way in which 'fama' has been personified in ancient and medieval literature and in European figurative art between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries. Commenting on examples ranging from Virgil's 'Fama' in Book 4 of the 'Aeneid' to Chaucer's 'House of Fame', it addresses areas of anthropological, sociological, literary, and historical-artistic interest, charting the evolving depiction of 'fama' from a truly interdisciplinary perspective. Following this theme, it is revealed that although the most important personifications were originally created to represent the invisible but pervasive diffusion of talk which circulates information about others, these then began to give way to embodiments of the abstract idea of the glory of illustrious men. By the end of the medieval period, these two different representations, of rumour and glory, were variously combined to create the modern icon of Fame with which we are more familiar today. |
