sumptuous books in antiquity
Books have been made into luxurious objects for at least two millennia and probably since nearly the beginning of bookmaking. … Read the post sumptuous books in antiquity
illuminated manuscripts
biblical unity of male and female across millennia of history
The Genesis account of human creation represents unity of male and female. A Junius manuscript illumination for its Genesis poem shows that unity. … Read the post biblical unity of male and female across millennia of history
word and image in the Book of the Dead
Market demand for illustrations probably drove fluid inclusion of images within ancient Egyptian Books of the Dead. … Read the post word and image in the Book of the Dead
illustrating the Shahnama
A millennium ago, the Persian poet Firdawsi completed his epic poem the Shahnama. Artists instantiated this lengthy verbal text in illustrated books. Lavishly illustrated pages from Shahnamas produced for wealthy patrons from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries are displayed in the exhibition Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings, now at the Sackler … Continue reading illustrating the Shahnama
the big picture more important than specific text
While the lavishly illuminated Book of Kells was enormously costly to produce, the literal quality of the Book of Kell’s text is poor. … Read the post the big picture more important than specific text
bian-wen text shows economic development in hell
A bian-wen text copied in China in 921 describes highly industrialized punishments in hell. Punishment in Dante’s Inferno is less technological. … Read the post bian-wen text shows economic development in hell
behold, using pictures in popular storytelling
Pictorial storytelling has long provided popular entertainment and moral instruction. Dunhuang bian-wen and the Hebrew Bible indicate this practice. … Read the post behold, using pictures in popular storytelling
Falnama: fortune showing tops fortune telling
In Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran, magnificent Falnamas suggest that images dominated words for providing commoners with an impressive, royal augury. … Read the post Falnama: fortune showing tops fortune telling
responding to the maharaja and the ogre
Garden & Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur, a recent, magnificent exhibition at the Sackler Gallery, included paintings memorializing the life of Maharaja Bakhat Singh. He was an eighteenth-century Rathore-Rajput ruler of the Jodhpur-Marwar kingdom, now in the Indian state of Rajasthan. A number of paintings depict the royal, cultured Bakhat Singh at his Nagaur … Continue reading responding to the maharaja and the ogre
Heaven on Earth: media in the Middle Ages
The Heaven on Earth exhibit includes large, beautifully illuminated choir books from medieval Europe from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. … Read the post Heaven on Earth: media in the Middle Ages