The fascinating world of medieval miniature painting and illumination
From The Book of Kells to Boccaccio’s Decameron and from the Vienna Genesis to Dante’s Divine Comedy
- see the breathtaking originals of 167 of the greatest classics of all
time. This lavishly produced book introduces the reader to the
fascinating world of medieval miniature painting and illumination. 167
of the most beautiful and important medieval scripts from the 4th
century to 1600 are presented in chronological order and described in
full. Each sample of script is headed by highly informative synopses
which serves to orient the reader at a glance. These synopses - together
with the abundance of brilliant, large-format reproductions - make this
book unparalleled in its field. Although the focus is on European
manuscripts (French, Dutch, German, Italian, English and Spanish),
examples have also been selected to illustrate the refinement and
intricacy of manuscript illumination from non-European cultures
(Mexican, Persian, Indian, Ottoman etc.). A 36–page appendix contains
biographies of the artists as well as an extensive bibliography, an
index and, most importantly, a glossary in which the technical terms
used in the book can quickly be found. This is a rare opportunity to
come face-to-face with incredibly precious treasures that one would
otherwise never see, treasures once belonging to emperors and kings, and
now worth many millions.
The authors: Ingo F. Walther
(1940-2007) was born in Berlin and studied medieval studies,
literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He
published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th
and 20th centuries. Walther's many titles for TASCHEN include Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, Art of the 20th Century, and Codices Illustres.
Norbert Wolf
graduated in art history, linguistics and medieval studies at the
universities of Regensburg and Munich, and earned his PhD in 1983. He
held visiting professorships in Marburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Düsseldorf,
Nuremberg-Erlangen, and Innsbruck. His extensive writings on art
history include many TASCHEN titles, such as Diego Velázquez, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Caspar David Friedrich, Expressionism, Romanesque, Landscape Painting and Symbolism.
