During the later Middle Ages, new optical theories were introduced that located the power of sight not in the seeing subject, but in the passive object of vision. This shift had a powerful impact not only on medieval science but also on theories of knowledge, and this changing relationship of vision and knowledge was a crucial element in late medieval religious devotion. In Seeing through the Veil, Suzanne Conklin Akbari examines several late medieval allegories in the context of contemporary paradigm shifts in scientific and philosophical theories of vision.

After a survey on the genre of allegory and an overview of medieval optical theories, Akbari delves into more detailed studies of several medieval literary works, including the Roman de la Rose, Dante's Vita Nuova, Convivio, and Commedia, and Chaucer's dream visions and Canterbury Tales. The final chapter, 'Division and Darkness,' centres on the legacy of allegory in the fifteenth century. Offering a new interdisciplinary, synthetic approach to late medieval intellectual history and to major works within the medieval literary canon, Seeing through the Veil will be an essential resource to the study of medieval literature and culture, as well as philosophy, history of art, and history of science.

Suzanne Conklin Akbari is a professor in the Department of English and the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.

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Akbari writes in a taut, pleasant, and persuasive style, and while she may not convince all of her readers all of the time, her well written foray into intellectual history will be sure to please very many.

Notes and Queries 52.4 (2005): 525-527

An extensive and thought-provoking treatment on the part of Akbari of the connections between changing medieval understandings of the relationship between optics, allegory, and knowledge

Medium Aevum 74.2 (2005): 333-34

Seeing through the Veil…marks a huge step forward in our understanding of cultural implications of medieval optical theory.

University of Toronto Quarterly 75.1 (2006): 233-34

A model of technical writing at its best, Seeing through the Veil reveals the unsuspected richness of medieval scientific thought for the literary critic. Akbari’s complex, subtle readings should interest anyone who cares about allegory or visuality.

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 27.4 (2005)