Early 15th century icon illustrating the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” under the Byzantine empress Theodora over iconoclasm in 843
Miniature of Pope Gregory XII. 15th C.
Pope Gregory XII (1406-1415), resigned in 1415 in order to end the Western Schism, which had reached the point where there were three claimants to the Papal throne: Roman Pope Gregory XII, Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII, and Pisan Antipope John XXIII. Before resigning he formally convened the already existing Council of Constance and authorized it to elect his successor. (via wikipedia)
Should’ve waited another two years for the 600th anniversary of pope resigning.
The Sacred Heart on a Cloth Held by an Angel
Anonymous, German, Nuremberg, 15th century
Date:ca. 1480–90
The Metropolitan Museum
(Source: centuriespast, via thecounterrevolutionary-deactiv)
Henri de Ferrières, Les Livres du roy Modus et de la royne Ratio 346 by peacay on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
For background story and links, see: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-time-of-hunt.html
San Marino, Huntington Library, HM 268 , f. 8v (Narcissus at the well - and in it, too). John Lydgate, Fall of Princes. England, mid-15th century.
(via cabinet-de-curiosites)
Pretty medieval manuscript of the day shows St Michael fighting the devil for the souls of two corpses.
According to the library:
“This Book of Hours was copied in Eastern France between 1425 and 1475. The miniature featured here is one of twelve large miniatures in gold frames, arched at the top and with three or four lines of text underneath. This leaf shows the beginning of the psalm for first vespers in the Office of the Dead. The miniature shows St Michael fighting a devil over two corpses; a third ‘corpse’ is ascending into heaven. The full border is a floral-acanthus design with twining ivy leaves. Immediately below the miniature is a 3-line initial in red, blue and orange with white tracery on a gold ground. The last line of text is completed with a line filler”
There is plenty here for the modern viewer to find peculiar, but the thing that strikes me as the oddest thing is the sight of a body ascending (or descending?) from heaven. The site of a torso and legs hanging from the celestial heavens, whilst St Michael and the devil fight like cat and dog is downright bizarre! These artists certainly had a tricky time, trying to find new ways to depict extraordinary stories!
Image source: Alexander Turnbull Library MSR-02, National Library of New Zealand. Image released into the public domain via the Flickr Commons.
Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is another ship. This line drawing is quite different to many of the other illustrations we’ve looked at. There’s movement in the sails, and a sense of perspective which is lacking in many other manuscripts. I don’t know the context of the drawing - whether it is an original piece of art, or an extreme example of marginalia. The facing page is painted and illuminated in an entirely different style.
The book dates from the fifteenth century and is by Gregorio Dati.
Image source: New York Public Library, Spencer Collection MS MA 110. Image believed to be in the public domain.
great featured article on wikipedia today, check it out.
Caption note at Wikipedia: “The Bal des Ardents depicted in a 15th-century miniature from Froissart’s Chronicles. The Duchess of Berry holds her blue skirts over a barely visible Charles VI of France as the dancers tear at their burning costumes. One dancer has leapt into the wine vat; in the gallery above, musicians continue to play.”
Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is the weirdest yet! Here’s St Peter of Verona, with a cleaver in his head, nonchalantly carrying an enormous church. You have to hand it to medieval artists, they really went for it didn’t they! They weren’t shy with the gold leaf on this one either - the patron must have had serious money. Martyred in 1252, he was canonised a year later - not bad going! He is the patron saint of midwives.
This image is from a lavishly decorated fifteenth century book of hours from Italy. We’ll look at some of the other illustrations over the coming weeks.
Image source: Walters Museum MS 322. Creative Commons licensed.
Image from a 15th c. ms (Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg M III 36) depicting Theologia driven on a cart pulled by the seven liberal arts (i.e. the other university disciplines) and driven at the rear by Peter Lombard, author of the Liber Sententiarum, the basic textbook of the late mediaeval theological curriculum.
Talk about mnemonic devices!
