Giants and Dwarfs in European Art and Culture, ca. 1350-1750 : Real, Imagined, Metaphorical

This book brings together recent scholarship on giants and dwarfs into one volume; it offers new analyses on the giant-dwarf topos as expressed in art and literature and courtly practices; it moves beyond previous medieval and regional studies that focus on monsters to treat giants and dwarfs in the early modern era and more broadly in European locales.

Not since Edward Wood’s Giants and Dwarfs published in 1868 has the subject been the focus of a scholarly study in English. Treating the topic afresh, this volume offers new insights into the vogue for giants and dwarfs that flourished in late-medieval and early modern Europe. From chapters dealing with the real dwarfs and giants in the royal and princely courts, to the imaginary giants and dwarfs that figured in the crafting of nationalistic and ancestral traditions, to giants and dwarfs used as metaphorical expression, scholars discuss their role in art, literature, and ephemeral display. Some essays examine giants and dwarfs as monsters and marvels and collectibles, while others show artists and writers emphasizing contrasts in scale to inspire awe or for comic effect. As these investigations reveal, not all court dwarfs functioned as jesters, and giant figures might equally be used to represent heroes, anti-heroes, and even a saint.