Click2History - Illuminated Manuscripts, Stunning Illustrations - Chapter 5

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS</p> <p><font size=4>CHAPTER 5 - STUNNING ILLUSTRATIONS</font></p> </font> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Beyond the Biblical stories and scholarly analyses which fill medieval manuscripts, it is interesting just to look at the pictures. Many were created by monks and artists whose names are long forgotten. Their work, however, is like a bridge between their time and ours.</p><ul> <li>The <i> Visconti Book of Hours</i> is a two-volume prayer book filled with <a target="_blank" href="images/marvelous.illustrations.jpg"><b>marvelous illustrations</b></a>.  It was started by Giovannino de'Grassi and completed by Luchino Belbello da Pavia and his assistants. In the linked picture, we see not only the creation of Eve but also a griffin, a hunting leopard, and many vine-leaves and flowers. (<a target="_blank" href="images/Bibliothèque.jpg"><b>Biblioteca Nazionale</b></a>, <a target="_blank" href="images/florence.jpg"><b>Florence</b></a>)</li><br><br> <li><a target="_blank" href="images/Bona_Sforza.jpg"><b>Bona Sforza</b></a> was the wife of <a target="_blank" href="images/sigismund.jpg"><b>Sigismund I</b></a> of Poland. Her 16th century <i>Book of Prayers</i> contains many gorgeous illuminations, including the <a target="_blank" href="images/nativity.christ.jpg"><b>nativity of Christ</b></a>. (Bodleian Library, Oxford)</li><br><br> <li>One of the <a href="http:/www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9036684" target="_blank"><b>Ghent-Bruges</b></a> workshop illustrations in the <a href="http://museum.antwerpen.be/mayervandenbergh/agenda_eng.html" target="_blank"><i><b>Mayer van den Bergh Breviary</b></i></a> portrays <a target="_blank" href="images/daily.chores.jpg"><b>daily chores</b></a> framed by strewn flowers in a <a href="http://www.free-definition.com/Trompe-loeil.html" target="_blank"><b>trompe-l'oeil</b></a> style. (Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp)</li><br><br> <li>Another illustration in that same <a href="http://wally.rit.edu/cary/cc_db/manuscripts/breviary16.html" target="_blank"><b>Breviary</b></a> (a prayer book designed for every day use) highlights the nativity surrounded by <a target="_blank" href="images/scenes.jpg"><b>scenes</b></a> of contemporary (16th century) life.</li><br><br> <li>King David, the most famous of Jewish rulers and writer of many Biblical Psalms, is <a target="_blank" href="images/shown.kneeling.jpg"><b>shown kneeling</b></a> in this illumination on parchment. It is part of the Gradual of <a target="_blank" href="images/Esztergom5.jpg"><b>Esztergom</b></a>. (Cathedral Library - Esztergom, Hungary)</li><br><br> <li>In the Middle Ages, books of hours richly illustrated the twelve months of the year. Jean de Mauléon created this scene, for the month of September. While one peasant <a target="_blank" href="images/plows.field.jpg"><b>plows the field</b></a>, another sows the seeds. (<a target="_blank" href="images/walters.jpg"><b>Walters</b></a> Art <a href="http://www.thewalters.org/" target="_blank"><b>Gallery</b></a>, Baltimore)</li><br><br> <li>Church officials, including priests, were a significant part of daily life during Medieval times. Beyond <a href="http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/jpegs/lat/th/b/1000/00401046.jpg" target="_blank"><b>marrying people</b></a>, Bishops were called upon to <a href="http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/jpegs/lat/th/b/1000/00401047.jpg" target="_blank"><b>admonish</b></a> parishoners for their wayward deeds. (Bodleian Library, Oxford)</li></ul> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="illuminated_manuscripts_ch4.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="illuminated_manuscripts_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="illuminated_manuscripts_ch6.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body>