"Beresford’s richly detailed study proves that Bartholomew is much more than his skin, and that carefully woven, historically grounded interdisciplinary studies can underpin theoretical contributions (and vice versa). At once an extraordinarily deep dive into a very particular case of martyr cult in a particular region and also a wide-ranging study that covers over a dozen centuries of narrative and art alongside insights from contemporary theories of embodiment, Beresford’s Sacred Skin will reward both the specialist in medieval Iberia and any historian of art, body, or religion who seeks a model for how technical reconstruction of the evolution of a saint (or any influential figure) can address crucially broad questions such as identity, inter-religious conflict, or global historiography. [...] the true achievement of this text is to model the extraordinary range of methodologies, theories, and historical contexts it requires to fully probe a cultic devotion and its expression over centuries in a particular region. Beresford’s work is breathtaking in its methodological scope and profoundly comprehensive in its historical precision. No careful reader can end up anything less than an expert in the skin of the saint."
Jessica A. Boon, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in La Corónica, 49.3 (2021)

Andrew M. Beresford is Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Durham. He has published widely on Spanish hagiography and devotional topics, including books on Agnes (2007), Thaïs and Pelagia (2007), and Agatha and Lucy (2010).