Medieval Studies and Research: Manuscripts: Art & Techniques

Arab painting, preserved mainly in manuscript illustrations of the 12th to 14th centuries, is here treated as an artistic corpus fully deserving of appreciation in its own terms, and not as a mere precursor to Persian painting. The book assembles papers by a distinguished list of scholars that illuminate the variety of material that survives in scientific as well as literary manuscripts. Because of the contexts in which the paintings appear, a major theoretical concern is, precisely, the relationship of painting to text. It rejects earlier scholarly habits of analysing paintings in isolation, and proposes the integration of text and image as a more satisfactory framework within which to elucidate the characteristics and functions of this impressive body of work.

(...) This extensively illustrated new book, compiled and written by two internationally renowned experts, transports readers, by way of forty-five featured manuscripts, across the globe and through 1,000 years of history. Passing chronologically through many of the major centers of the Christian world, from Constantinople and imperial Aachen to Canterbury, Mozarabic Spain, Crusader Jerusalem, northern Iraq, Paris, London, Bologna, and Rome, Scot McKendrick and Kathleen Doyle shed light on some of the finest but least-known paintings from the Middle Ages, and on the development of art, literature, and civilization as we know it.

Includes: "Graphic signification; Inner space, outer space, graphic space : words and pictures in Anglo-Saxon culture; The reading subject and the devotional text: the Harley psalter; Narrative time in graphic space: the illustrated hexateuch; My monster, myself: the marvels of the East; Marginal portraits and the fiction of orality: the Ellesmere. manuscript.

The manuscripts featured include bestiaries, psalters, Bibles, books of hours, and medical and herbal collections that originated in workrooms as geographically diverse as the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria and the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. There is also a great chronological diversity among the selected manuscripts, with examples ranging from the seventh century AD and the Lindisfarne Gospels to early Renaissance offerings. Each of the almost 220 illluminations presented are accompanied by a caption and have been reproduced in colour. Many of the immages chosen have been reproduced here for the first time.

This book will give light to the most recent studies on illuminated manuscripts carried out by the research group "Medieval texts and images," coordinated by Prof. Adelaide Miranda and integrated, as an independent research line, in the Institute for Medieval Studies of the Nova University (Lisbon). New approaches and methodologies have been explored by the members of this group in order to carry out innovative and interdisciplinary research which meant that the group has become a leader in research on illuminated manuscripts in Portugal and one of the largest in the Iberian Peninsula.

Kitāb Naʿt al-Ḥayawān is the earliest of a group of illustrated manuscripts dealing with the characteristics of animals and their medicinal uses. The present study considers both the confluence of textual traditions within this work and the stylistic and iconographic relationships of its illustrations, which make it a key witness to early thirteenth-century Arab painting. After a re-evaluation of previous approaches, emphasis is placed on relating image to text, on stylistic affiliations, and on the modalities of production, supported by technical analyses undertaken for the first time. In elucidating the particular context of this unique manuscript, the study contributes to our understanding of a critical period in the development of Middle Eastern painting and art.

A Companion to Medieval Art brings together cutting-edge scholarship devoted to the Romanesque and Gothic traditions in Northern Europe. Brings together cutting-edge scholarship devoted to the Romanesque and Gothic traditions in Northern Europe. Contains over 30 original theoretical, historical, and historiographic essays by renowned and emergent scholars. Covers the vibrancy of medieval art from both thematic and sub-disciplinary perspectives. Features an international and ambitious range - from reception, Gregory the Great, collecting, and pilgrimage art, to gender, patronage, the marginal, spolia, and manuscript illumination.

The first of Harvey Miller's multi-volume Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in France provides a definitive reference work for the intensively creative Romaneseque period. This book, produced to the usual high standard, amply illustrates the extent, variety and quality of the manuscripts. An introductory essay is followed by a complete catalogue of the manuscripts and 374 photos.

This book, first published in 2003, presents a detailed survey of all book scripts in use in western and central Europe from c.1100 to c.1530 (with the exception of Humanistic script). This period has been poorly served in almost all other palaeographical handbooks. By adopting a largely new classification of scripts based on objective criteria, which incorporates many of the terms currently in use, this book aims to end the confusion which has hitherto obscured the study of late-medieval handwriting. It is based upon an examination of a very large number of dated specimens, and is thus the first survey to take full advantage of the incomparable palaeographical resource provided by the Catalogues of Dated Manuscripts. The text is illustrated throughout with 600 drawings of letters and symbols. There are 160 actual-size reproductions providing datable specimens of all the scripts discussed, accompanied by partial transcriptions and palaeographical commentary.

English manuscript painting achieved great mastery during the period from 1280 to 1400 with the development of an intrinsically native style, exemplified by the East Anglian school, that flourished throughout London and the provinces during the 14th century. Although ecclesiastical and private devotional needs largely determined the style and type of book, courtly and aristocratic patronage provided French, Belgian, and Italian influences that are also evident in the manuscripts of this period. This catalogue and study of 158 Gothic manuscripts--some of them famous, and all outstanding masterpieces--demonstrates these links and developments in the illuminated style.

"Part 1 [in two physical volumes] comprises the introduction, the lists of the producers (scribes, illuminators and decorators) and patrons whose names are known, followed by a catalogue of manuscripts made in the north (Paris and the province of Sens, Normandy, the province of Reims). Part 2 [also in two volumes] contains the catalogue of manuscripts made in the east, southeast, southwest, west and centre, followed by the comparative tables and the index of manuscripts cited." Pt. 1, v. 1. Text & illustrations -- pt. 2, v. 2. Catalogue.

The period c. 1260-1320 marks the emergence and the flowering of what has come to be known as the 'courtly style' in French painting, whose dynamic vitality is manifest throughout the region we now call France. By the end of this period French art had assimilated a rich variety of regional works and styles. (…) These years witnessed an explosion in the range of texts that were deemed worthy of illustration, extending far beyond the usual liturgical and devotional material to include works of science, medicine, law, philosophy, history and literature in verse and prose, offering a wealth of material for comparative study which is only beginning to be exploited in modern scholarship. This book is organized according to production in regional centres based on stylistic analysis and by comparative tables of the illustration of liturgical and devotional books, and a selection of romances, legal and historical works. Part 1 comprises the Introduction, the Lists of the Producers (scribes, illuminators and decorators) and Patrons whose names are known, followed by a Catalogue of Manuscripts made in the North (Paris and the Province of Sens, Normandy, the Province of Reims). Part 2 contains the Catalogue of Manuscripts made in the East, South-East, South-West, West and Centre, followed by the Comparative Tables and Index of Manuscripts Cited.

In England the art of illumination flourished widely in the second half of the 13th century - a time in which the connections with the continent, particularly France, where strong. Artists moved away from the monastic scriptorium to professional workshops in urban centres, and the rise of the Universities resulted in the production of new types of illustrated text. As with cross-fertilization of ideas from Paris to London, Oxford, and Cambridge, so with the styles and techniques of illumination. The magnificent examples catalogued here include the Lambeth, Metz, Douce and Trinity Apocalypses; their relationships are examined and detailed iconography is described. Many of the Bibles and - notably - the Amesbury, Oscott and Rutland Psalters are some of the greatest works of the period, and among surviving religious manuscripts the earliest examples of Books of Hours reveal the increasing range of devotional interests of lay people. Astrological, legal, medical, topographical and historical works are also included, and the volume ends with the remarkable Hereford Mad which summarizes many of the ideas of Earth and Heaven prevailing at the time. The Introduction sets the manuscripts in a historical framework, describes the influences at work, defines the types of books and their decoration, and discusses evidence for dating and localization. This is a survey of early Gothic manuscripts illuminated in the British Isles, setting them in a historical framework, describing the influences at work, defining the types of books and their decoration, and discussing evidence for dating and localization.

A practical guide that explores the history of calligraphy and illumination. The author provides step-by-step instructions and ideas for creating letter shapes, page layouts and illuminated designs.

A variety of essays including alchemy of color; color theory; color and meaning; the illuminators' palette; painting with gold and silver, pigment recipes and model books; and the training of illuminators.

2nd ed., completely rev.

(...) Illuminated Manuscripts describes the origin and history of illumination in the Middle Ages, covering the artists and their techniques, and the patrons who commissioned them. It explains the subject matter found in medieval works, such as saints and Bible stories and the use of ornamental flourishes, and is illustrated with many fine examples of the genre including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells.

The magnificent pages of medieval missals, books of hours, breviaries, and bibles sparkle with detail illuminating the world in which they were created. (...) Close-up details show the intricacies of the various techniques used to create these fragile and rarely seen works. By helping the reader to appreciate the individual elements of illumination--the initials, borders, illustrations, script, and binding--Rowan Watson brings the world of the scribes, illuminators, and book dealers to life, and sheds light on the cooperative religious communities in which many of them worked. Watson also looks at the survival of illumination after the printing press and its revival in the 19th century in the hands of such pioneering designers as Owen Jones and William Morris.

Also available Online (Project Gutenberg, 2014):
https://uosc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01USC_INST/mbk0s6/alma991042584339703731

Many beautiful illuminated manuscripts survive from the Middle Ages and can be seen in libraries and museums throughout Europe. But who were the skilled craftsmen who made these exquisite books? What precisely is parchment? How were medieval manuscripts designed and executed? What were the inks and pigments, and how were they applied? This book looks at the work of scribes, illuminators and book binders.Based principally on examples in the Bodleian Library, this lavishly illustrated account tells the story of manuscript production from the early Middle Ages through to the high Renaissance. Each stage of production is described in detail, from the preparation of the parchment, pens, paints and inks to the writing of the scripts and the final decoration and illumination of the manuscript. This book also explains the role of the stationer or bookshop, often to be found near cathedral and market squares, in the commissioning of manuscripts, and it cites examples of specific scribes and illuminators who can be identified through their work as professional lay artisans.Christopher de Hamel's engaging text is accompanied by a glossary of key technical terms relating to manuscripts and illumination, providing an invaluable introduction for anyone interested in studying medieval manuscripts today.

This is the first of a two volume publication which examines the organization, craftsmen, clients and products of the commercial book trade in Paris from 1200 to 1500. Volume two is a register of the 1200 named individuals involved in the trade.

The volume comprises 16 papers given at the conference Re-Inventing Traditions held in Berlin in 2012. It negotiates the question of the transmission of artistic patterns in late medieval manuscript illumination. The model as such is often regarded as a mere working tool but recently the conditions of its creation and transformation have been discovered as a field of research. Among the central themes of these essays are textual tradition, workshop methods and the development and changeability of artistic models throughout different media and in various European regions.

This revised edition (...) offers definitions of the key elements of illuminated manuscripts, demystifying the techniques, processes, materials, nomenclature, and styles used in the making of these precious books. Updated to reflect current research and technologies, this beautifully illustrated guide includes images of important manuscript illuminations from the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum and beyond.

2d ed., rev. and enl. Translated by Elisabeth Borgese-Mann; Milton S. Fox, editor.