More Books: Some from Kalamazoo, some not
May. 25th, 2014 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjI'm grouping the Kalamazoo books thematically (as I often do when I'm not just being utterly random). I've included a couple of other new-to-me books here because they fit with the theme.
Miscellaneous picture books
Keene, Bryan C. 2013. Gardens of the Renaissance. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ISBN 978-1-60606-143-5
A pretty little coffee-table book with copious color illustrations from the museum’s collections. The 15th and 16th c. art is realistic enough to show the physical structure of the gardens sufficiently to attempt to duplicate it. The art also provides a survey of the various symbolic meanings of gardens. There is just enough text to provide a solid context for the paintings without detracting from the focus on the visual.
Nishimura, Margot McIlwain. 2009. Images in the Margins. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ISBN 978-0-89236-982-9
Marginalia in illuminated manuscripts is a great place to find whimsy, irreverence, and -- even more interesting to me -- an unguarded reflection of everday life. In contrast to the highly stylized and symbolic scenes of the primary illustrations in manuscripts, the less formal marginal art is a place where artists reflected their own imagination and surroundings. (This isn’t to say that marginalia never included symbolic or allegorical images!) This is a great little collection of non-foregrounded scenes including a great deal of play and jest.
The next two aren’t from Kalamazoo -- just from an SCA book exchange. I was already familiar with these books but didn’t own my own copies yet.
Wieck, Roger S. 1997. Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art. George Braziller, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-8076-1418-1
The work focuses on manuscripts in the Pierpont Morgan Library. I find single-holder publications useful because they often include lesser known works and less “artistic” items that are useful for other purposes. A solid assortment of images with extensive but not overwhelming accompanying text, covering all the major stock motifs of the genre with an assortment of more idiosyncratic images. Neither a definitive work on the genre nor a mere coffee-table book. Most useful as part of a larger collection of works on medieval manuscript art.
Oliver, J.H. 1988. Gothic Mansucript Illumination in the Diocese of Liege (c. 1250-1330). Uitfeverj Peeters, Leuven. ISBN 90-6831-130-1
A very focused study in time and place. The introduction looks at the geographic distribution of the manuscripts and the relationship of their texts to the larger European context as well as a comparative table of which texts are illustrated. The specific details of the manuscripts are discussed in great detail. Alas, there are only four color plates, making this work of far less interest to the general reader than it is for the specialized scholar.
Miscellaneous picture books
Keene, Bryan C. 2013. Gardens of the Renaissance. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ISBN 978-1-60606-143-5
A pretty little coffee-table book with copious color illustrations from the museum’s collections. The 15th and 16th c. art is realistic enough to show the physical structure of the gardens sufficiently to attempt to duplicate it. The art also provides a survey of the various symbolic meanings of gardens. There is just enough text to provide a solid context for the paintings without detracting from the focus on the visual.
Nishimura, Margot McIlwain. 2009. Images in the Margins. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ISBN 978-0-89236-982-9
Marginalia in illuminated manuscripts is a great place to find whimsy, irreverence, and -- even more interesting to me -- an unguarded reflection of everday life. In contrast to the highly stylized and symbolic scenes of the primary illustrations in manuscripts, the less formal marginal art is a place where artists reflected their own imagination and surroundings. (This isn’t to say that marginalia never included symbolic or allegorical images!) This is a great little collection of non-foregrounded scenes including a great deal of play and jest.
The next two aren’t from Kalamazoo -- just from an SCA book exchange. I was already familiar with these books but didn’t own my own copies yet.
Wieck, Roger S. 1997. Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art. George Braziller, Inc., New York. ISBN 0-8076-1418-1
The work focuses on manuscripts in the Pierpont Morgan Library. I find single-holder publications useful because they often include lesser known works and less “artistic” items that are useful for other purposes. A solid assortment of images with extensive but not overwhelming accompanying text, covering all the major stock motifs of the genre with an assortment of more idiosyncratic images. Neither a definitive work on the genre nor a mere coffee-table book. Most useful as part of a larger collection of works on medieval manuscript art.
Oliver, J.H. 1988. Gothic Mansucript Illumination in the Diocese of Liege (c. 1250-1330). Uitfeverj Peeters, Leuven. ISBN 90-6831-130-1
A very focused study in time and place. The introduction looks at the geographic distribution of the manuscripts and the relationship of their texts to the larger European context as well as a comparative table of which texts are illustrated. The specific details of the manuscripts are discussed in great detail. Alas, there are only four color plates, making this work of far less interest to the general reader than it is for the specialized scholar.
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