Manuscript Illumination In The Modern Age

How medieval manuscripts were understood in the 19th and 20th centuries is the basis for this volume co-written by four art historians; Hindman (Northwestern U.), Michael Camille (U. of Chicago), Rowan Watson (Victoria and Albert Museum), and Nina Rowe (Block Museum, Northwestern U.). The attitudes

KADOC Artes 8The art of illumination, usually associated with the Middle Ages, experienced a spectacular revival in nineteenth-century Western Europe. This completely different context gave the illuminations another import. The output of the lay and religious workshops reveals a great artistic, stylistic, technical, and thematic diversity. The works illuminated go far beyond the world of exceptional and precious manuscripts and include many occasional documents and devotional images.Richly illustrated with unpublished masterworks, The Revival of Medieval Illumination is an overview of the form by fifteen authors who do not limit their approach to the traditional questions of art history. Rather, they explore the historical, sociocultural, ideological and religious components of the revival, which changed according to time and country, in order to understand the evolution and success of the art of illumination in the long nineteenth century.

The art collections of the Rothschilds were legendary for their extravagance and refinement. This is the first history of the Rothschilds as bibliophiles and, especially, as collectors of medieval illuminated manuscripts. It describes the extraordinary collections of the Rothschilds, and the movement of these supremely important manuscripts across the private libraries of Europe. In 1940 the Rothschilds' collections in Paris were looted by the Nazis, and the tale pursues the fate of the stolen manuscripts, some of them still missing. The inquiry traces literally hundreds of illuminated manuscripts, including some of the world's most famous books, made for the Duc de Berry, Catherine of Cleves, Isabella the Catholic, and many others.

The Getty Museum’s collection of illuminated manuscripts, featured in this book, comprises masterpieces of medieval and Renaissance art. Dating from the tenth to the sixteenth century, they were produced in France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, England, Spain, Poland, and the eastern Mediterranean. Among the highlights are four Ottonian manuscripts, Romanesque treasures from Germany, Italy, and France, an English Gothic Apocalypse, and late medieval manuscripts painted by such masters as Jean Fouquet, Girolamo da Cremona, Simon Marmion, and Joris Hoefnagel. Included are glistening liturgical books, intimate and touching devotional books for private use, books of the Bible, lively histories by Giovanni Boccaccio and Jean Froissart, and a breathtaking Model Book of Calligraphy.

"This richly illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition that celebrates the bicentenary of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge with a display of its finest illuminated manuscripts. Of all the medieval and Renaissance arts - from sculptures, ivories, frescoes and stained glass to easel and wall paintings - it is manuscript illuminations, protected inside volumes, that best preserve the glowing colours and precious metals that would have dazzled their original spectators. The focus of this exciting and innovative exhibition is on COLOUR: it integrates scientific and art historical analyses of painting materials and techniques with studies on the manuscripts' historic contexts of production, including the relationships between artists and patrons. Identifications of the pigments' chemical composition and methods of application are considered alongside their aesthetic impact as well as the multiple dimensions and meanings of colour appreciated by medieval and Renaissance viewers. Over 150 manuscripts are displayed in the exhibition dating from the 8th to the 19th century and all are catalogued and fully illustrated here. The manuscripts are grouped in 14 thematic sections each of which is introduced by an essay that includes further relevant illustrations and presents the scientific and art historical analyses in a broader cultural context. The majority of the exhibits are from the Museum's collection and the main focus is on Western European illumination, but examples of Byzantine, Armenian, Persian and Sanskrit manuscripts are also included. In addition there are special loans from other Cambridge, British and European collections. The catalogue entries and introductory essays are written by a team of leading manuscript scholars, scientists and conservators who offer an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach and new insights into the art of illumination."--

This richly illustrated study shows how modern systems of textual presentation grew from techniques developed in the medieval period.