Beholding justice

This chapter explores the uses of imagery of violence, death, and punishment in medieval and early modern Europe. The contribution examines how the senses processed representations of violence during a period often depicted as the most extreme and barbaric of historical eras. It begins by addressing the act of beholding, which implies a process actively engaging the body and mind, for when a beholder encounters a scene of violence, they do not simply see the destruction of a body, but rather they are held by the encounter and to affectively hold it in their memory. The concept of beholding, or touching with the eyes, reminds us that the sense of vision should not be treated in isolation but should be placed in interaction with all the other senses, while recognising that the senses have a history and a social life. The aim is to retrieve some of the complex visual structures of medieval society, before turning to representations of the crucifixion, the most recognisable image in Western visual culture. There then follows a discussion of images of infamy and punishment effigies, which were commissioned by the judiciary in situations where a malefactor could not be apprehended or physically chastised. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the relationships between legal rituals and visual spectacle to fully understand the “medieval penal imaginary” at work in these different times.