Racial Diversity

medievalpoc:

Ashburnham Pentateuch

f. 65v: A mother and father grieve for their child

Spain or Italy (5th or 6th C.)

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS nouv. acq. lat. 2334

Consider this manuscript in light of the article I posted 2 days ago about historical European mixed race families. A lot of similar articles go right from Roman Britain to Renaissance Italy, but documents like this that often bridge the historical “gap” because go unremarked upon because they’re often not considered analgous to written records or artistic depictions. What they do, rather, is show that in the imagination of artists during this time, racial diversity was part of their social consciousness and how they envisioned concepts like “a family”. My thanks to Dr Caitlin R Green on bringing this manuscript to my attention.

thegetty:

Illuminated manuscripts were products of encounter, exchange, and exploration in the Middle Ages.

Interested in the Global Middle Ages? This weekend, April 16 and 17, come by our free interdisciplinary symposium that examines artists, patrons, and audiences as agents who desired real, imagined, or exotic representations and narratives about the world and its peoples. 


These artworks are currently on view in Traversing the Globe through Illuminated Manuscripts at the Getty Center through June 26. 

Keep reading

bodleianlibs:

MARCH. The traditional labour of the month is trimming trees. You can either do this delicately with a billhook, like the gentleman on the left, or DECISIVELY with an axe, like the gentleman on the right.

You can view the original of this image for free online!

houghtonlib:

Take a closer look at our digitized collections than ever before with our brand new image viewer. Click the “View in Beta” button from any digitized book to try it out. The new site offers easier browsing, enhanced zoom, and the ability to compare images side-by-side.  This site is still in beta testing, so let us know if you have any feedback.

MS Lat 253

Houghton Library, Harvard University

Yay more scribal resources!

FREE EBOOK: The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry | MetPublications | The Metropolitan Museum of Art   

FREE EBOOK: The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry | MetPublications | The Metropolitan Museum of Art