ABSTRACT
Emile Male’s approach to the study of medieval art has exerted a profound, if contested, influence on the field. From an early age Male took an interest in medieval art, a field that would remain at the center of his scholarly inquiries throughout his life. For Male, thirteenth-century art represented an apogee of French culture. Male’s adoption of this elegant quadripartite structure offers an adequate representation of scholastic thought that he believed undergirded thirteenth-century art. In 1932 Male published a major study of the impact of the Council of Trent on artistic practices in France, the Low Countries, Italy, and Spain that remains one of the key publications in this field. Male consistently positions France as inheriting this rich artistic tradition; the origins of the Romanesque in France trace directly to the cradle of Early Christian civilization. Male acknowledged that Italian artists of the Renaissance achieved a serenity and beauty inspired by ancient examples.
