Early Medieval Art:
Illuminated Manuscripts
Book of Kells
St. Gall
Godescalc Evangelistary
Utrecht Psalter
A monk-cellarer tasting
wine from a barrel whilst
filling a jug.
From Li Livres dou Santé France, late 13th century.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WpO
5WBpUVQ&list=PLAAA31CDE7532648F
5:00 Name of the Rose--Scriptorium
King Arthur Fighting the Saxons
illustration taken from the Rochefoucauld Grail
Battle of Menfo from the Hungarian Chronicon Pictum 1360
Chi Rho Iota page
Book of Matthew, chapter one, verse
eighteen from The Book of Kells
late 8th or early 9th century
oxgall inks and pigments on vellum
http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=MS58_003v
What do we need to notice?
interlace patterns
ribbon interlace from the
Book of Durrow
650-700
Making Manuscripts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o&featur
e=relmfu&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
The Structure of a Medieval Manuscript
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKBJkf2xbqI
Illuminated tugra of Sultan
Suleyman, from Istanbul,
Turkey
c. 1555-1560
ink, paint, and gold on
paper
Who are the four evangelists?
•
•
•
•
Matthew – symbol: winged man or angel
Mark– symbol: winged lion
Luke– symbol: winged ox or bull
John– symbol: eagle
According to tradition these four men wrote the four Gospel accounts in the
New Testament.
However, Elaine Pagels (a professor at Princeton University) makes a case for
other Gnostic Gospels by Thomas and Judas as well as others; these
gospels were not included in the orthodox text of the new testament.
Elaine Pagels: The Gnostic Gospels
Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of St. Thomas
Page with Mark the Evangelist
Book of Mark, Godescalc Evangelistary
781-783
ink, gold, colors on vellum
Produced in Charlemagne's Court.
What do we need to notice?
Page with Christ in Majesty
Book of Mark, Godescalc Evangelistary
781-783
ink, gold, colors on vellum
Produced in Charlemagne's Court.
What do we need to notice?
Page with Matthew the
Evangelist
Book of Matthew
Ebbo Gospels, c. 816-35
Smarthistory: Saint Matthew from the Ebbo Gospel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqC8gVxxBs&list=PLEEA1BAEC5B2F7654&index=40
Hitda Codex
The Annunciation
c. 1020
Illumination
Hessische Landesbibliothek,
Darmstadt
What is the annunciation?
When the Archangel Gabriel
announces to Mary that she will
conceive God’s child; according to
apocrypha, at the very moment the
archangel Gabriel makes this
pronouncement, Mary becomes
pregnant.
Christ appears in her womb!
York Psalter
Expulsion from Paradise
c. 1170
Illumination on parchment, 290 x 185 mm
University Library, Glasgow
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust
shalt thou return.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed
at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and
a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life.
Utrecht Psalter ca. 850
detail from Utrecht Psalter ca. 850
Christ Washing the Feet of His
Disciples
Aachen Gospels of Otto III
c. 1000
The Garden of Gethsemane
The Kiss of Judas
Aachen Gospels of Otto III
c. 1000
Fécamp Psalter
c. 1180
Illumination on parchment, 170 x
110 mm
Royal Library, The Hague
Feeding the Pigs with Acorns
c. 1180
Illumination on parchment
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag
Falconry
c. 1180
Illumination on parchment
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag
The Martyrdom of St Lawrence
1190s
Illumination on parchment
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag
St. Lawrence was martyred during
Emperor Valerian’s persecutions of
Christians in A.D. 258. He refused
to turn over the church’s treasure to
the prefect and instead gave it to
the poor; he was arrested and
tortured on a burning gridiron.
The Digital Scriptorium
http://scriptorium.columbia.edu/
Videos
Making Manuscripts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o&feature=relmfu&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
The Structure of a Medieval Manuscript
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKBJkf2xbqI
Secret histories of illuminated manuscripts: the MINIARE project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMRvXnB7uJg&list=TLKXg_4oyAlyoE2pOw2UCiyQhJ5rD3WFhR
The Production of Medieval Manuscripts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhQ8Um221Eo&feature=fvwrel&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
Manuscripts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Us5TGPFe0&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLA024C97274BEF01F
The Book of Kells: The Pages of History
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMvfMVBhUXI&feature=related&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
Illuminated Manuscripts ("Nowhere Man" by the Beatles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81tmuA2Dddk&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
Mary's Cathedral and St Michael's Church at Hildesheim (UNESCO/NHK)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cGTppnz9n8&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w
The Cloisters Museum and Gardens: Behind the Scenes with the Director
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiYENYz_v4s&feature=related&edufilter=-UYcvQGRLktRabtXL3Eq1w