Book of Beasts

Book of Beasts PDF Author: Elizabeth Morrison
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 1606065904
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
A celebration of the visual contributions of the bestiary--one of the most popular types of illuminated books during the Middle Ages--and an exploration of its lasting legacy. Brimming with lively animals both real and fantastic, the bestiary was one of the great illuminated manuscript traditions of the Middle Ages. Encompassing imaginary creatures such as the unicorn, siren, and griffin; exotic beasts including the tiger, elephant, and ape; as well as animals native to Europe like the beaver, dog, and hedgehog, the bestiary is a vibrant testimony to the medieval understanding of animals and their role in the world. So iconic were the stories and images of the bestiary that its beasts essentially escaped from the pages, appearing in a wide variety of manuscripts and other objects, including tapestries, ivories, metalwork, and sculpture. With over 270 color illustrations and contributions by twenty-five leading scholars, this gorgeous volume explores the bestiary and its widespread influence on medieval art and culture as well as on modern and contemporary artists like Pablo Picasso and Damien Hirst. Published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center May 14 to August 18, 2019.

The Grand Medieval Bestiary (Dragonet Edition)

The Grand Medieval Bestiary (Dragonet Edition) PDF Author: Rémy Cordonnier
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789213087
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Now in an affordable edition, a splendid pageant of the animal kingdom as the Middle Ages saw it As the 587 colorful images in this magnificent volume reveal, animals were a constant—and delightful—presence in illuminated manuscripts throughout the Middle Ages. They were illustrated not only in bestiaries—the compendiums of animal fact and fable that were exceedingly popular in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries—but in every sort of manuscript, sacred and profane, from the Gospels to the Romance of the Rose. This book is arranged in manner of a proper bestiary, with essays on the medieval lore and iconography of one hundred creatures alphabetized by their Latin names, from the alauda, or lark, whose morning song was thought to be a hymn to Creation, to the vultur, whose taste for carrion made it a symbol of the sinner who indulges in worldly pleasures. The selection includes a number of creatures that would now be considered fantastic, including the griffin, the manticore, and of course the fabled unicorn.

Bestiary

Bestiary PDF Author: Bodleian Library
Publisher: Boydell Press
ISBN: 9780851157535
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
This Bestiary was created during the 13th century. The 136 illustrations afford insight into medieval interpretations of natural history, travellers' tales and mysticism. They are accompanied by a translation of the original Latin text.

Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts

Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts PDF Author: Alixe Bovey
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802085122
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
Images of monstrosities pervade art and culture in the Middle Ages, and for medieval people they must have been a tantalizing suggestion of unknown worlds and unthinkable dangers.

Scribes and Illuminators

Scribes and Illuminators PDF Author: Christopher De Hamel
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802077073
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
Looks at the work of medieval paper, parchment, and ink makers, scribes, illuminators, binders, and booksellers

Beasts

Beasts PDF Author: Elizabeth Morrison
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 9780892368884
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description
Beasts Factual and Fantastic is the first in the Medieval Imagination series of small, affordable books that will draw on manuscript illuminations from the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Each volume will focus on a particular theme or subject as represented by medieval artists. Often, as in the case of the imaginary beasts that readers will encounter in this volume, artists depicted that which they did not see or know, but which was nonetheless shaped by the prevailing beliefs, fears, and rudimentary science of the time. In other cases, manuscript illuminators recorded what they indeed did see--which, centuries later, reveals much about the world in which they lived. This inaugural volume features vivid and charming details from the wealth of manuscripts in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library, along with a lively text; together both word and image provide an accessible and delightful introduction to the imagination of the medieval world. Future volumes in this series will cover such topics as costumes, portraiture, and marginalia, among others.

Images in the Margins

Images in the Margins PDF Author: Margot McIlwain Nishimura
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 9780892369829
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Images in the Margins is the third in the popular Medieval Imagination series of small, affordable books drawing on manuscript illumination in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum and the British Library. Each volume focuses on a particular theme and provides an accessible, delightful introduction to the imagination of the medieval world. An astonishing mix of mundane, playful, absurd, and monstrous beings are found in the borders of English, French, and Italian manuscripts from the Gothic era. Unpredictable, topical, often irreverent, like the New Yorker cartoons of today, marginalia were a source of satire, serious social observation, and amusement for medieval readers. Through enlarged, full-color details and a lively narrative, this volume brings these intimately scaled, fascinating images to a wider audience. It accompanies an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from September 1 through November 8, 2009.

Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries

Animal Skins and the Reading Self in Medieval Latin and French Bestiaries PDF Author: Sarah Kay
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022643673X
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Sarah Kay s interests in this book are, first, to examine how medieval bestiaries depict and challenge the boundary between humans and other animals; and second, to register the effects on readers of bestiaries by the simple fact that parchment, the writing support of virtually all medieval texts, is a refined form of animal skin. Surveying the most important works created from the ninth through the thirteenth centuries, Kay connects nature to behavior to Christian doctrine or moral teaching across a range of texts. As Kay shows, medieval thought (like today) was fraught with competing theories about human exceptionalism within creation. Given that medieval bestiaries involve the inscription of texts about and images of animals onto animal hides, these texts, she argues, invite readers to reflect on the inherent fragility of bodies, both human and animal, and the difficulty of distinguishing between skin as a site of mere inscription and skin as a containing envelope for sentient life. It has been more than fifty years since the last major consideration of medieval Latin and French bestiaries was published. Kay brings us up to date in the archive, and contributes to current discussions among animal studies theorists, manuscript studies scholars, historians of the book, and medievalists of many stripes."

Medieval Monsters

Medieval Monsters PDF Author: Damien Kempf
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780712357906
Category : Christian art and symbolism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From satyrs and sea creatures to griffins and dragons, monsters lay at the heart of the medieval world. Believed to dwell in exotic, remote areas, these inexplicable parts of God's creation aroused fear, curiosity, and wonder in equal measure. Powerfully captured in the illustrations of manuscripts, such as bestiaries, travel books, and devotional works, they continue to delight audiences today with their vitality and humor. Medieval Monsters shows how strange creatures sparked artists' imaginations to remarkable heights. Half-human hybrids of land and sea mingle with bewitching demons, blemmyae, cyclops, and multi-headed beasts of nightmare and comic grotesques. Over 100 wondrous and terrifying images offer a fascinating insight into the medieval mind.

The Medieval Bestiary in English

The Medieval Bestiary in English PDF Author: Megan Cavell
Publisher: Broadview Press
ISBN: 1770488359
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
First penned in Egypt between the 2nd and 4th centuries, the Physiologus brought together poetic descriptions of animals and their Christian allegories. Translated into a wide range of languages from across North Africa and much of Europe, each version of the Physiologus adapted the text in culturally specific ways that yield fascinating insights for those who delve into this truly global tradition of representing and interpreting animals. This edition provides the texts and translations of the only two surviving English versions: the Old English Physiologus from the late 10th-century Exeter Book and the Middle English Physiologus from the mid-13th-century MS Arundel 292, as well as translations of a range of Latin, French and Old English sources and analogues. Underpinned by a commitment to both the fields of medieval studies and animal studies, this book provides an accessible introduction to the literary history of the Physiologus and the politics of animal representation, asking the vital question: how can we understand humanity’s relationships with non-human animals and the environment today without understanding their past?