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Illuminated manuscripts are among the richest, most revealing relics of the Western world before the introduction of printing. They are central to our knowledge of social and cultural history from antiquity to the Renaissance. Drawing on the British Library's collection of medieval manuscripts, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to this art form, embracing both devotional and secular material. The manuscripts featured in the book range in date from the intricacies of the 7th-century...

Julian Gardner's preeminent role in British studies of the art of the 13th and 14th centuries, particularly the interaction of papal and theological issues with its production and on either side of the Alps, is celebrated in these studies by his pupils. They discuss Roman works: a Colonna badge in S. Prassede and a remarkably uniform Trinity fresco fragment, as well as monochrome dado painting up to Giotto, Duccio's representations of proskynesis, a Parisian reliquary in Assisi, Riminese painti...

In most cultures owning and bearing arms was considered the right and privilege of the free man. Naturally the greatest care and skill had to be given to their technical manufacture because this was literally a matter upon which life and death depended. In addition, beauty of functional form and often precious decoration of weapons combined to make them the jewelry of the free man. Sixteenth-century parade armor was indeed the most extensive-and expensive-body jewelry ever designed. Because of...

The concerns of people over differing levels of fifteenth-century society are the focus of the essays contained in this volume. How would a queen in exile wish to be depicted on a medal, or a newly-crowned king deal with recalcitrant London merchants when their interests clashed with his policies? The logistics of an invasion of France present a challenge to the military advisers of another king, and by bringing fresh insights to the text a translator of Vegetius' De re militari addresses the fe...

The Year 1200 symposium provided a unique opportunity for scholars to come together to study and discuss works of art that had similarly been gathered from all over the world and exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum. The Year 1200 was a distinguished exhibition, drawn from the treasures of museums and collections throughout the world. In their material luxury and their artistic vitality, the objects assembled had an immediate appeal, underscored and heightened by a sensitive and imaginative disp...

Only a very few of Ireland's early treasures have survived, and almost that have were included in "Treasures of Early Irish Art, 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D." exhibited in 1977 at the Metropolitan Museum, among other U.S. venues. A majority of the objects were loaned from the National Museum of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Royal Irish Academy. The exhibition and publication include illuminated manuscripts, which own their survival to having been jealously treasured in churches and monast...

Thanks to the perseverance and unparalleled expertise of Dr. Florens Deuchler, Dr. Konrad Hoffmann, and their staff, The Year 1200 is one of the most important exhibitions ever to be assembled in the Western Hemisphere. Each of its more than three hundred objects has been chosen from hundreds to explain in the most lucid manner possible not only the period overall but, where applicable, the figure style. This is one of great dignity and corporeality, of nervous energy, of stunning classicality,...

Dedicated to Erica Cruikshank Dodd, Art and Material Culture in the Byzantine and Islamic Worlds offers new perspectives on the Christian and Muslim communities of the east Mediterranean from medieval to contemporary times. The contributors examine how people from diverse religious backgrounds adapted to their changing political landscapes and show that artistic patronage, consumption, and practices are interwoven with constructed narratives. The essays consider material and textual evidence for...

Essays explore the rich and complex regional settlements of Anatolia. The volume collects twenty-six papers on Byzantine-period Anatolia that were presented at the Fifth International Sevgi Goenul Byzantine Studies Symposium held in June 2019. The sections of the book focus on subjects including landscape dynamics, settlements and communication, regional networks, cityscapes, private and sacred space, and cultural interactions and identities. The essays cover a wide period, ranging from the t...

Notre-Dame of Amiens is one of the great Gothic cathedrals. Its construction began in 1220, and artistic production in the Gothic mode lasted well into the sixteenth century. In this magisterial chronicle, Stephen Murray invites readers to see the cathedral as more than just a thing of the past: it is a living document of medieval Christian society that endures in our own time. Murray tells the cathedral's story from the overlapping perspectives of the social groups connected to it, exploring t...

A history of tapestry from its Egyptian origins up to the author's day.

Offers the full-length study of the descriptive art found in four medieval poems: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Purity, and Patience.