3 Stars
A coffee table book featuring a heavy reliance on Getty pieces.
The book assumes little prior knowledge by the reader explaining how the book will deviate from preconceived ideas or stereotypes of females (damsels in distress) during the Middle Ages. It is geared towards a curious general reader, who should find this engaging without being too academic. It is divided into four thematic sections.
Ideals of Womanhood: Beyond the norm in terms of illustrations with a couple extraordinary examples: an Ethiopian Virgin Mary, two unusual representations of Saints Catherine and Agatha, and a Persian manuscript featuring King Khusrau and Shirin.
Warnings to Women: The imagery addresses issues of immodesty and unchaste behavior, often erotic and bordering on salacious, the identity of the patron plays heavily into the interpretation of the illumination. The saving grace in this section is the idea of redemption.
Daily Life: Broad title for non-religious or parables that highlight events in women's lives. Illuminated manuscripts were not cheap or plentiful. Patrons requested them and thus they commemorate important events of wealthy persons. Weddings, lineage, Caesarian birth, etc, and if the events are of religious figures they are presented in secular environs: Maria Lactans and Saints' baptisms. The naturalism is a reflection of Northern European trends that is surprisingly unaddressed in the book. Additionally, various female occupations are represented: bakers, spinners, and harvesters.
Women in the Arts: Focuses on patronage, artists, and writers, The selection is not terribly large, but it does hold images that aren't often seen in a field where Book of Hours or prayer books dominate.
Overall, excellent concise explanations of the context surrounding the imagery. It addresses the intended audience or patron in many cases, at times this seems paradoxical to the theme or rendering of the image. Most of the images are from Northern European artists as reflected by the J. Paul Getty Museum's holdings. Additionally, there are several lovely illuminations that don't fall into the typical Book of Hours or Christian works with a Persian manuscript and Torah images.
Small gripe is that there are a few identifications of the illuminations that are discussed, but the evidence is not present in the image, often elsewhere in the work. Additionally, there are no essays about medieval women included in the book, the focus is the illuminations--yes, the reader will hear snippets about Heloise and Abelard and the lives of various saints, but not as much overall context of the time period. I guess I had hoped for a bit more depth regarding the subject rather than a just a gallery of images as lovely as it is.
The book assumes little prior knowledge by the reader explaining how the book will deviate from preconceived ideas or stereotypes of females (damsels in distress) during the Middle Ages. It is geared towards a curious general reader, who should find this engaging without being too academic. It is divided into four thematic sections.
Ideals of Womanhood: Beyond the norm in terms of illustrations with a couple extraordinary examples: an Ethiopian Virgin Mary, two unusual representations of Saints Catherine and Agatha, and a Persian manuscript featuring King Khusrau and Shirin.
Warnings to Women: The imagery addresses issues of immodesty and unchaste behavior, often erotic and bordering on salacious, the identity of the patron plays heavily into the interpretation of the illumination. The saving grace in this section is the idea of redemption.
Daily Life: Broad title for non-religious or parables that highlight events in women's lives. Illuminated manuscripts were not cheap or plentiful. Patrons requested them and thus they commemorate important events of wealthy persons. Weddings, lineage, Caesarian birth, etc, and if the events are of religious figures they are presented in secular environs: Maria Lactans and Saints' baptisms. The naturalism is a reflection of Northern European trends that is surprisingly unaddressed in the book. Additionally, various female occupations are represented: bakers, spinners, and harvesters.
Women in the Arts: Focuses on patronage, artists, and writers, The selection is not terribly large, but it does hold images that aren't often seen in a field where Book of Hours or prayer books dominate.
Overall, excellent concise explanations of the context surrounding the imagery. It addresses the intended audience or patron in many cases, at times this seems paradoxical to the theme or rendering of the image. Most of the images are from Northern European artists as reflected by the J. Paul Getty Museum's holdings. Additionally, there are several lovely illuminations that don't fall into the typical Book of Hours or Christian works with a Persian manuscript and Torah images.
Small gripe is that there are a few identifications of the illuminations that are discussed, but the evidence is not present in the image, often elsewhere in the work. Additionally, there are no essays about medieval women included in the book, the focus is the illuminations--yes, the reader will hear snippets about Heloise and Abelard and the lives of various saints, but not as much overall context of the time period. I guess I had hoped for a bit more depth regarding the subject rather than a just a gallery of images as lovely as it is.
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