Medieval images often invite us to gaze at them attentively. How do they do that? Scholars sometime use the words “meditative” or “contemplative” to describe the type of engagement elicited by certain types of medieval images. But what do these terms mean? This course will focus on the practice of meditation in medieval culture and the changes it underwent between the twelve and fourteenth centuries. We will consider how images served meditation and meditative reading, and pay particular attention to the practice of mental visualization and the use of images for prayer.