Choice Reviews Online · 2011 · 40 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesHistoryMedieval StudiesHistoriographyMedieval HistoryPaintingManuscript CultureManuscript IconographyManuscript IlluminationMedieval HistoriographyMedieval Intellectual HistoryMedieval Manuscript CultureFrench Manuscript IlluminationIllumination HistoryManuscript OrnamentationMedieval Biblical ImageryMedieval IlluminationSecular ArtVirgin Mary IconographyVirgin Mary Imagery
French vernacular history manuscripts from the mid‑13th to late‑16th centuries contain the most important and original secular illumination work, as examined in this volume. The volume aims to celebrate and analyze the vivid historical imagery of 55 medieval manuscripts, being the first major publication to explore how text and illumination together conveyed history’s role and purpose to readers. It compiles 55 medieval manuscripts, showcasing some of the finest secular illumination masterpieces. The images animate the past for medieval readers by depicting epic figures such as Hector, Alexander, Charlemagne, and the Virgin Mary.
This beautiful volume examines the most important illuminations found in French history manuscripts. From around the mid 13th to the end of the 16th century, the most important and original work being done in secular illumination was unquestionably in French vernacular history manuscripts. This beautiful volume celebrates the vivid historical imagery produced during these years by bringing together around 55 manuscripts representing some of the finest masterpieces of illumination created in the Middle Ages. As such, it is the first major publication to focus on exploring the ways in which text and illumination worked together to help show medieval readers the role and purpose of history. The images enabled the past to come alive before the eyes of medieval readers by relating the adventures of epic figures such as Hector, Alexander, Charlemagne, and the Virgin Mary.