Prior to the invention of the printing press, all books had to be written by hand. Manuscripts are the beautiful manifestation of this craft, and the most precious and expensive of such manuscripts were 'illuminated' through the use of brightly coloured pigments and gold embellishments. Beginning with a fresh and thoughtful introduction to illuminated manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts Masterpieces of Art goes on to showcase key works in this stunning artistic genre.

Recapture the historic grandeur of medieval art with lovingly detailed reproductions ranging from the creation of Eve to the Hundred Years' War. Thirty images include Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and secular sources.

The magnificent pages of medieval missals, books of hours, breviaries, and bibles sparkle with detail illuminating the world in which they were created. This splendid volume, featuring some of the finest illuminated masterpieces from the exceptional collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, details the remarkable collaboration and craftsmanship that went into the creation of these delicate treasures. Close-up details show the intricacies of the various techniques used to create these fragile and rarely seen works. By helping the reader to appreciate the individual elements of illumination--the initials, borders, illustrations, script, and binding--Rowan Watson brings the world of the scribes, illuminators, and book dealers to life, and sheds light on the cooperative religious communities in which many of them worked. Watson also looks at the survival of illumination after the printing press and its revival in the 19th century in the hands of such pioneering designers as Owen Jones and William Morris.

Presents a collection of antiquities from medieval Europe. This title features 150 important objects, including the most famous such as the Lewis chessmen, the Borradaile triptych, the St Eustace head reliquary, the Royal Gold Cup, the Royal Gittern and medieval court art from the palaces of Westminster and Clarendon as well as impressive pieces.

Rare letters and borders that once enhanced medieval bibles and other rare manuscripts are ornamented with exquisite florals, curvilinear motifs interwoven with religious figures, and other exquisite embellishments. More than 350 designs, including 256 letters.

Reproduces 50 of the most important Holy Scriptures, including the Hebrew Pentateuch and the Book of Kells

"From third-millennium-B.C. marble statuettes to gem-encrusted gold jewelry of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., the collection of antiquities in the J. Paul Getty Museum testifies to the extraordinary skill and artistic achievements of sculptors, potters, painters, metalsmiths, and other artisans of the ancient Mediterranean world. Indicating both the quality of the individual pieces and the range of the collection, this volume illustrates many of the outstanding objects, among them a rare life-size Greek bronze statue depicting a victorious youth and J. Paul Getty's personal favorite, the marble statue known as the Lansdowne Herakles. Also included are a number of Greek and Etruscan terracotta vases, bronze and marble sculpture, and delicate late Classical and Ptolemaic gold jewelry."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved