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Wales suggests ca. 1200. The ruins of Pill Priory are relatively obscure and, given the doubts over its foundation date, its omission is understandable. It is more difficult to account for the omission ofTalley Abbey, a major house of Premonstratensian canons, which like Strata Florida was also patronized by Lord Rhys. Like the church at Pill, the architecture ofTalley is extremcly austere, but in that respect it could hâve been included to show that Romanesque architecture could be austere and minimalist. Ornamentation depended on funds available for building and also on the attitude to architecture of the religious order involved. At St Davids the canons and bishop obviously wanted a building extensively decorated with sumptuous Ro­ manesque ornament, but this excess was virtually unthinkable at the Cistercian houses (though some chevron is known from Margam, Strata Florida, and Whitland). This variation in orna­ mentation perhaps also shows that Romanesque or Gothic clas­ sifications are sometimes very blurred and uncertain distinctions in the late twelfth century. Romanesque and Gothic are after ail modem conceptions and classifications of twelfth-century style in architecture. Contemporary patrons of architecture obviously saw things differently than we do today. Perhaps it may well be that the author discounted both Pill and Talley because of their relatively late or uncertain foundation dates (Talley dates from the mid-1180s, but nevertheless is contemporary with St Davids), and thus he did not regard them as Romanesque. Possibly both these important monuments will be included in a second édi­ tion. The author does point out in his préfacé that however comprehensive he has tried to be some monuments hâve inevitably escaped notice. Where does one draw that rather blurred Romanesque to Gothic line? One also wishes for some basic maps to show the locations of ail the buildings mentioned in the text. This would not only locate them for readers who may be inspired enough to go and look at the monuments but would also help in giving an overall geographical perspective. In this respect it would perhaps be relevant to also include a map showing the relative geographical distinction between those areas under Norman and Welsh control in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Unaccountably, but surely the fault of the printer, some of the colour plates are missing from my copy of the book. A few typos hâve also escaped editing. Thurlby is an excellent photographer and, having photographed some of the same monuments, one must inevitably admire his skill (the former gatehouse tower at Ludlow, for instance, is a véritable black hole). A minority of photo­ graphs are a little too dark, and one suspects that this is actually the fault of the printer, as this reviewer has also suffered in the past from the apparent inability of modem printing techniques to reproduce good quality black-and-white images. That said, on the whole the photographs are good and intelligible, and their placements follow the flow of the text — full marks here to Andy Johnson for his layout. As with Thurlby’s earlier work, The Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture, this book is surely destined to become the standard reference work for Romanesque architecture and sculpture in Wales, and deservedly so. One must congratulate the author on his energy and staying power in producing such a work especially, as he explains in the préfacé, in the face of almost incessant rain on a one-month-long field trip to Wales. Many others would hâve given up and gone home (as apparently Henry II once did). The book sets Welsh Romanesque in perspective and shows the extent and diversity of the surviving material very well. For those with a spécifie interest in Roman­ esque architecture this book is a must-have and for those with a more casual interest it is an invaluable guide for forays around Wales (possibly read in conjunction with the Buildings of Wales sériés). Moreover it is also extremely good value for money.

racar

Jayne Wark, Radical Gestures: Feminism and Performance Art in North America. Montreal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006, 304 pp., 78 illus., $32.95 paper, $80 cloth