This article proposes that conceiving image as gesture can be a fruitful means of enhancing the intelligibility of images – moving away from the representational model towards an understanding of images as a vehicle of social action. In order to do so, it proceeds in two parts: the first one is devoted to a direct historiographical and conceptual discussion, whereas the second part is devoted to a case study centred on manuscript Paris, BnF, latin 9449, from mid eleventh-century Nevers. By analysing the images in this book, in their manuscript context and with relation to other contemporary Nivernais sources, an argument is made for the feasibility and relevance of this approach.
Medieval image; medieval music; gesture; image theory
