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[caption id="attachment_6044" align="alignleft" width="237"] Cover of 'Heraldic Artists and Painters in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times'.[/caption]I am pleased to announce that the first volume of our new 'Heraldic Studies' series has now been sent off to the printers and will be published just in time for Christmas! Under the title 'Heraldic Artists and Painters in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times', Laurent Hablot and I present a collection of fourteen English and French papers bringing together contributions from our Poitiers conference in 2014 as well as essays from other scholars currently working on this hitherto unexplored subject.Synopsis: Who was commissioned to produce heraldic art in medieval and early modern culture? Was it a matter left to a small number of specialists, or was it an everyday business that any artisan or artist could execute? Was there any particular knowledge that had to be acquired in pursuing heraldic depiction? Finally, and most importantly, who was able to conceive of such depictions and arrangements? Such questions have never been addressed before on a broad scale, yet they are crucial considerations when it comes to determining the place and importance of heraldic communication in medieval and Early Modern society. The studies gathered in this collection of papers offer detailed answers to the questions raised. They confirm something which was – until now – nothing more than an assumption: namely, that the conception and production of heraldic display was indeed by no means restricted to a select few specialists. To the contrary, it utilised knowledge available throughout all strata of medieval and early modern society.[caption id="attachment_6056" align="alignright" width="316"] A sample from the 'Heraldic Artists and Painters' volume.[/caption]True to our commitment to open access, electronic versions of the text will soon be available on OpenEdition. But the hardcopy is well worth buying! Besides the innovative content, we have made sure that this publication does justice to the fact that we are dealing with a fundamentally visual form of communication: The appealing design gives space to more than ninety colour illustrations in support of the analysis in the texts. It certainly is a book that deserves to be seen as well as read! Buying the book—perhaps as a Christmas gift?—will help us to co-finance one of the series' next volumes on 'Heraldry in the City' for which we are still looking for funding. You might want to hurry, there are only 160 copies about to be printed.Germany: Jan Thorbecke Verlag; Amazon.deFrance: Amazon.frUK: Amazon.co.ukUSA: ISD Distribution (Amazon will follow soon!)Table of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionTorsten Hiltmann (Münster)Arms and Art in the Middle Ages. Approaching the Social and Cultural Impact of Heraldry by its Artisans and ArtistsLaurent Hablot (Paris)Art, esthétique et productions héraldiques au Moyen Âge. Considération généralesThe ArtistsMarc Gil (Lille)Peinture d’armoiries, une activité parmi d’autres du peintre médiéval?Matteo Ferrari (Poitiers)Au service de la Commune. Identité et culture des peintres héraldistes dans les villes italiennes aux XIIIème–XIVème sièclesLuisa Gentile (Turin)Artistes, hérauts et héraldique de part et d’autre des Alpes OccidentalesConceptionOliver Fearon (York)›As Yt Ys Made‹. Gender and Description in Plans for Armorial Displays by the English Gentry c. 1460–1500Andreas H. Zajic (Vienna)The Influence of Beneficiaries on the Artistic Make-up of Imperial Grants of Arms or: How Do Heraldic Images Get into Late Medieval Charters?Specific Supports and ContextsMartin Roland (Vienna)Medieval Grants of Arms and their IlluminatorsSteen Clemmensen (Farum)Armorials as Commercial Ventures?Radu Lupescu (Cluj-Napoca)Heraldic Commissions in an Architectural Context. Case Studies from TransylvaniaAnne-Sophie Bessero-Lagarde (Paris)Les auteurs des pompes funèbres héraldiques à la Renaissance. Artistes de renom, associations de peintres et ateliers spécialisésIndividual Artists and their WorkTanja Jones (Tuscaloosa)Vivified Heraldry. On Pisanello’s Medallic ImageryAlessandro Savorelli (Florence)L’héraldique des Della Robbia à Florence entre abstraction et naturalismeJean-Christophe Blanchard (Nancy)Georges Gresset, peintre et héraut d’armes des ducs de Lorraine (1523–1559)This publication has been funded by the Volkswagen Foundation as part of the Dilthey Fellowship project »Die Performanz der Wappen« (Coats of Arms in Practice), by the 4th section of the Ecole pratique des hautes Etudes-Paris Sciences et Lettres (EA SAPRAT) and by the Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale de Poitiers (CESCM).&#160;&#160;&#160;