This book concerns objects that were "meaningful jewels, a term we choose todesignate a wide range of precious wearable objects that had particular meaning.An Anglo-Saxon glass pendant, a Spanish "magic belt, a Mexican lantern pendant(once adorned with New World feathers), and an Imperial Memento Mori Skull,these are just a few of the remarkable objects included. These intimate meaningfuljewels are meant to be opened, touched, manipulated, pinned, gathered and strung.In the same series of books on jewelry inaugurated in 2007 with Toward anArt History of Medieval Rings (repr. 2014), the present volume divides the jewelsinto six sections (such as "Ways and Means of Prayer, "Hidden and Revealed, "Kissed and Touched ) that creatively explore the complex meanings these objectsheld for their owners. Cynthia Hahn, internationally known for her explorativeground-breaking studies of the reliquary arts, has written the stimulating essaysand accompanying entries in the body of the book. She has collaborated here withBeatriz Chadour-Sampson, who, with her great mastery of the history of jewelry, hascontributed a scholarly catalogue that authenticates, describes, and situates eachobject. Together the essays, entries, and catalogue create a context that helps ussee this jewelry in a new way and adds new research that establishes the historicaland artistic importance of a relatively little-studied group of "meaningful jewels. In the words of Cynthia Hahn, "Jewels, and that word here includes jewelry,are literally the foundation of art in the Middle Ages. It is surely not irrelevant thatthese things are so beautiful. Sandra Hindman, Founder and President of Les Enluminures states "I havebought these pieces one by one over a period of fi fteen years (and put them asidewith this project in mind), and to my knowledge no such collection has beenassembled, studied, and exhibited in modern times . She goes on to say, "Not at allunlike the medieval manuscripts I also present, they are some of the most intimateof art objects from the Middle Ages.