This fascinating book offers a most engaging and fresh glimpse into the world of the Middle Ages. It accompanies an exhibit of some thirty diverse illuminated manuscript pages, and in a series of short descriptive essays on each of the miniatures the reader is taken on a remarkable journey from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, from which we can learn not only a great deal about the art of illumination, but also about the monasteries and cathedrals of Europe and such prominent medieval centres as the cities of London, Florence, Paris and Nuremberg. Moreover, Christopher de Hamel's wide knowledge and vivid reflections provide the historical and cultural context that help us to fully understand and truly appreciate these special works of art. The illuminated pages presented here are part of the impressive and broad-ranging collection assembled over twenty-five years by the medieval scholar and long-time Chicagoan Sandra Hindman. They represent both biblical and secular subjects and include the work of master illuminators such as Maestro Daddesco, Giovanni di Paolo and the Master of Mary of Burgundy. In addition to the colour reproductions of all the exhibited pages, the essays are sumptously illustrated with further related and comparative images, many of which are drawn from the collections of the Chicago Institute of Art itself. The Introduction to the volume is by the well-known medievalist James Marrow, and there is also a Catalogue by Matthew Westerby giving full details, descriptions, provenance and bibliography of the exhibited illuminations.
About the Author: Christopher de Hamel is perhaps the best-known name world-wide in the field of medieval Manuscripts. He has written multiple books on manuscripts and book collecting, many of which have been translated into at least seven languages, and he has also lectured throughout the world. For nearly forty years he worked at Sothebys London in the Department of Western Manuscripts and later as a Consultant. Recently retired as Librarian of the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, he is Fellow of the College, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a member of the Roxburghe Club. In 2016 he published the best-selling book Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts for which he was awarded the prestigious Wolfson History and Duff Cooper Prizes. James H. Marrow is Professor Emeritus of Art History, Princeton University, and Honorary Keeper of Illuminated Manuscripts, The Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, England). He is author of many books and articles on late medieval art, with special attention to illuminated manuscripts from the Netherlands. Among his publications are Passion Iconography in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance: A Study of the Transformation of Sacred Metaphor into Descriptive Narrative (1979), and with Sandra Hindman, Books of Hours Reconsidered. Matthew J. Westerby holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His area of specialization is Romanesque art of medieval Spain.