“This remarkable book closely examines the visual logics of evidentiary representation in the art of three ‘Swiss’ masters—Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, Hans Fries, and Konrad Witz—whose varied yet complementary approaches to representing supernatural phenomena were constitutive of an ‘alternative naturalism’ that diverged from the mimetic paradigms championed by Jan van Eyck and Albrecht Dürer. As Golan brilliantly demonstrates, Deutsch, Fries, and Witz, in making claims for the veridical status of their images, applied a mixed mode of visual discernment, by turns spiritual, artisanal, and juridical, to the task of producing a fully persuasive account of miraculous and visionary experience.”

Walter Melion, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Art History, Emory University

“Premodern works of art from Switzerland have the power to enchant, if not dazzle or confuse, with their array of captivating themes as well as with the unconventional strategies of representation they mobilize. Golan’s Unnatural Evidence is the first substantial study in English to explore this corpus, and it is nothing short of an achievement. The author bedazzles the reader with her visual acuity as well as the many contexts she draws on in order to explore this imagery: theology, judicial procedure, linear perspective, urban politics, ribald humor, danse macabre imagery, etc. A magnificent study, Unnatural Evidence offers what few books have on offer: a new way of looking.”

Helmut Puff, University of Michigan

“In this compelling book, Golan charts how rapidly evolving ideas about evidence and authenticity played out in Swiss art from the mid-fifteenth to the early sixteenth century. Deftly assessing the deceits and delights of devotional art making, she demonstrates how naturalism became a site of both expertise and opportunism in the dynamic commercial centers of Basel, Bern, and Fribourg. This meticulously researched study brings vividly to life the aesthetic and spiritual worlds of Konrad Witz, Hans Fries, and Niklaus Manuel, placing these innovative artisans center stage in the transformation of art and religion on the cusp of the Reformation.”

Alexander Marr, University of Cambridge