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Jerry Root, The Theophilus Legend in Medieval Text and Image (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017). x + 287 pp.; 6 colour and 54 black-and-white plates. ISBN 978-1-84384-461-7. ?60.00.
Jerry Root offers a detailed study of the Theophilus legend in both vernacular literature and manuscript illuminations, focusing on four broadly defined themes within the story: that of feudal homage - including spoken words, gestures, and the written contract - as Theophilus alternately pledges his faith to the devil and to the Virgin; the problem of human resemblance and dissemblance to the image of God, as Theophilus falls into sin and then recovers Grace; the role of the Virgin as intermediary, her status as a sanctified human woman, as an animated work of art, or as a spiritual being, and the nature of her various apparitions; and the salvific role of the Sacraments, and of exemplars both...