"Art for private devotion, or 'props in an intimate theatre of spirituality' as Henk van Os characterizes it, includes some of the most extraordinary as well as the most beautiful objects created in the Late Middle Ages. Selecting the best preserved and most interesting examples of devotional art made in Europe in the two centuries before the Reformation, the author dramatically draws aside the veil on the prayer and meditation 'exercises' which the clergy and high-placed laity once practiced, using these objects as an aid towards their passionately desired goal of communion with Jesus. This book makes available a modern, well informed perspective on medieval religious art and iconography. It covers fundamental attitudes to images, the connection between art, relics, and visions, the relationship of public and private art, the role of local saints and religious movements."--Publisher description.