<p>If you have only the slightest of interest in the decoration of Medieval Manuscripts you should be planning a visit to Cambridge before the end of the year; actually before December 11th, for that is when this most fantastic of exhibitions closes. Prompted perhaps by the recent acquisition of the newly discovered Macclesfield Psalter, the University has assembled the best of its manuscripts and those of its colleges in a double exhibition, partly in the Fitzwilliam Museum and partly in the University Library. There, in suitably subdued lighting, the Illuminations of the Middle Ages shine brightly forth - the skilful handiwork of master craftsmen-artists spanning a thousand years. The manuscripts range from the Gospels that Augustine brought with him to Canterbury at the end of the sixth century to the letters patent, writs and charters issued to the University and its Colleges by the later Medieval and Tudor monarchs. It is a breathtaking collection. The manuscripts and the catalogue are cleverly arranged thematically according to their contents and function: The Coming of Christianity, The Bible and its Study, Liturgy and the Offices, Private Devotion, Humanistic manuscripts, and so on, and chronologically within each section. What do I mention next? Will my favourites be yours? The vivid coloured drawings in the Eadwine Psalter, the intense blues and greens of the Bury Bible, countless lively and intricate miniatures in Books of Hours and Psalters, many with floriated backgrounds to inspire William Morris, or Athelstan presenting a book to Saint Cuthbert; and there are musical and scientific and zoological illuminations; and a fine picture of Tully; and, of course, the Macclesfield Psalter itself. The Macclesfield Psalter is Cambridge's latest spectacular acquisition; and it has a room to itself. Described as "the most important medieval illuminated manuscript found in Britain in living memory" it was written and illuminated in East Anglia about 1330. Its illumination is a combination of refined beauty and ribald humour, all depicted in glowing gold and rare pigments. The Psalter has been taken apart which allows the leaves to be displayed separately, and a large number of illuminations to be viewed in the exhibition hence the gallery to itself. It is a once-in-lifetime opportunity to see so much of this spectacular manuscript at one time. This catalogue is filled with authoritative descriptions by Paul Binski, Rosamund McKitterick, Teresa Webber, Nigel Morgan, Jonathan Alexander, Christopher de Hamel, Nicolas Rogers and Stella Panayotova.</p>

The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Medieval Book Production (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History)

Binski, Paul

Panayotova, Stella

Harvey Miller

This new publication constitutes Part Two of the multi-volume Cambridge Illuminations Research Project cataloguing all western illuminated manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges. It covers manuscripts produced in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, ranging from the early Gospels of St Augustine made in sixth-century Rome, through the carefully designed patristic texts from twelfth-century Tuscany and Lombardy, the great law books of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Bologna, the opulent Books of Hours, elegant Humanistic volumes and enormous Choir Books of the fifteenth century, and finally to the richly decorated and densely ornamented books of sixteenth-century Spain. In addition to the famous treasures, these catalogues include a considerable number of previously unpublished cuttings, among them new attributions to leading artists and exciting discoveries, all of which offer a stimulating source for further research. Every manuscript catalogued is also illustrated, frequently with several images, all reproduced in full colour. Entries for Italian manuscripts are arranged chronologically in the period up to 1200, while manuscripts produced after 1200 are catalogued by region of origin and within that division again by sequence of date. Manuscripts that cannot at present be allocated to a particular region are grouped in a special section, and Spanish books are again catalogued in chronological order.

A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges. Part Two: Italy and the Iberian Peninsula (Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge)

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Brepols Publishers

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