This illuminated manuscript is a document of the first importance in the history of Dutch manuscript illumination, and it contains an important medieval Dutch devotional text. The Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove is a compendium of Christian knowledge written by a learned Dominican, Dirc van Delf. The text is in two parts, one for winter, and one for summer. This manuscript is of the winter part, and it is incomplete, omitting the prologue and chapters 13,14, and 35-72. The arms of the Bavarian Counts of Holland and the kneeling owner on fol. 1 indicate that this manuscript was the actual copy prepared for the dedicatee of the text, Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, from the original text of his chaplain, and is therefore to be dated to 1404 at the latest, when Albrecht died. The manuscript consists of 165 folios and contains 35 historiated initials. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

This illuminated and illustrated Arabic manuscript of the Gospels by Matthew (Mattá), Mark (Marquṣ), Luke (Lūqā), and John (Yūḥannā) was copied in Egypt by Ilyās Bāsim Khūrī Bazzī Rāhib, who was most likely a Coptic monk, in Anno Mundi 7192 / 1684 CE. The text is written in naskh in black ink with rubrics in red. Jesus heals two blind men. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

Taking a very close look at the Book of Kells

The Fitzwilliam Museum has brought together some dazzling, intricate manuscripts, whose colours foreshadow modern art … in the middle ages

This illuminated manuscript is a document of the first importance in the history of Dutch manuscript illumination, and it contains an important medieval Dutch devotional text. The Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove is a compendium of Christian knowledge written by a learned Dominican, Dirc van Delf. The text is in two parts, one for winter, and one for summer. This manuscript is of the winter part, and it is incomplete, omitting the prologue and chapters 13,14, and 35-72. The arms of the Bavarian Counts of Holland and the kneeling owner on fol. 1 indicate that this manuscript was the actual copy prepared for the dedicatee of the text, Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, from the original text of his chaplain, and is therefore to be dated to 1404 at the latest, when Albrecht died. The manuscript consists of 165 folios and contains 35 historiated initials. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

This mid-fifteenth century illuminated Book of Hours is written entirely in Dutch on fine vellum, and is remarkable for its eighteen grisaille miniatures. The technique, wherein the figures are modeled primarily in a gray wash, became a favorite in the Netherlands, and the hand behind the paintings in this manuscript has been identified with a group of artists known as the "Masters of the Delft Grisailles." This manuscript has been grouped with more than a dozen related works, including New York PML M. 349, London, Victoria and Albert Geo. Reid Ms. 32, Leiden B.P.L. 224, Brussels, BR 21696, Antwerp, Plantein Moretus Ms. 49, and the Hague K.B. Ms. 74 G 35. The manuscript is comprised of 152 folios and is almost completely intact, lacking only two miniatures, and retains its original brown leather binding decorated with mythological beasts and a now illegible inscription. The calendar is for the use of Utrecht, which helps localize its original ownership, as might a mostly erased ownership inscription that has been partially recovered by Marrow. The illumination begins the suffrage. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

This illuminated manuscript is a document of the first importance in the history of Dutch manuscript illumination, and it contains an important medieval Dutch devotional text. The Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove is a compendium of Christian knowledge written by a learned Dominican, Dirc van Delf. The text is in two parts, one for winter, and one for summer. This manuscript is of the winter part, and it is incomplete, omitting the prologue and chapters 13,14, and 35-72. The arms of the Bavarian Counts of Holland and the kneeling owner on fol. 1 indicate that this manuscript was the actual copy prepared for the dedicatee of the text, Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, from the original text of his chaplain, and is therefore to be dated to 1404 at the latest, when Albrecht died. The manuscript consists of 165 folios and contains 35 historiated initials. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

The British Library's Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts is a fantastic resource for anyone wishing to discover the richness and diversity of medieval manuscript illumination. We're delighted to report that this Catalogue has been recently updated, with new manuscripts online and new images added to some of the existing entries. Here...

Apostles ventriloquized Grandes Heures de Rohan, BNF MS, Latin 9471 (15thc) #medievaltwitter

This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables and five elaborately ornamented harags, or headpieces, this manuscript represents the Golden Age of what has been termed the Gunda Gunde style, named after a monastery in the town of Agame. The Gunda Gunde style is characterized by bold blocks of color defined by detailed and often delicate linear motifs. Figures are highly stylized and expressive, while the accompanying canon tables and harags are filled with intricate interlace and geometric forms. The manuscript is exceptionally well preserved, and is an excellent and rare example of Ethiopian illumination from one of its most important artistic centers. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

Vitae sanctorum

Miniature extraite du Livre d'heures de la Famille Des Fours Dans sa maison (en arrière plan la chambre à coucher et le lit), la Vierge, sous un baldaquin, agenouillée et les mains jointes en signe d'humilité, médite sur un livre (missel ou livre d'heures) posé sur un coffre prie-Dieu rose, sur lequel se trouve également un vase avec trois grands lys, symbolisant la triple virginité de Marie : "ante partum, in partu, post partum". L'archange Gabriel est venu apporter la parole divine : "Ave Maria, gratia plena". Notes : Avec l'Annonciation ou la Salutation angélique et le début de Matines "Domine labia mea aperies" s'ouvre le cycle des huit Heures de l 'office de la Vierge. Classiquement en tête de chaque Heure apparaît une enluminure à pleine page dans l'ordre habituel du cycle de l'enfance du Christ. Bibliothèque-médiathèque de Nancy, Ms. 1874 (fol. 17v°) Plus de détails sur :

MS M.710 fol. 19v, The Adoration and Journey of the Magi, Silk lifted, Berthold sacramentary, Weingarten, Germany, 1215-1217.

A nimbed Lucy of Syracuse, is seated on floor holding an open book on her lap. She is in front of a patterned hanging and beside a colonnade, beyond which is a courtyard inhabited by figures. A potted flowering plant is in the colonnade. The scene is framed by a border decorated with flowers, including an iris in a vase, a pink, and a sweet pea, and inhabited by a butterfly.

Book of Hours Italy, Ferrara, ca. 1461 MS M.227 fol. 13r Source

This highly decorated Gospel Book was made in Armenia in the early seventeenth century. An extensive colophon reveals that it was commissioned by a woman named Napat' as a memorial for herself and her family, and the book was consequently given by her to the Church of Saint Sargis in Amida. The artist, Hovannes, and the scribe, Melk'on, are known collaborators on a number of of other manuscripts, and this book is an excellent example of their skill. Richly painted Evangelist portraits and intricate canon tables are complimented by simpler marginal illuminations that often connects to the Gospel passages they adorn. Related manuscripts by this artist and scribe team include Erevan, Matenadaran, no. 1245, and London, British Museum, Add. Ms. 27, 301. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.

The High Altar at Worcester is dominated by Sir George Gilbert Scott's sculpted alabaster reredos depicting Christ enthroned with the Four Evangelists. The rear face has an incised and gilded design of a cross with the same five figures symbolised by their emblematic creatures. Worcester Cathedral is the commanding presence on the skyline of the city, perched on high ground overlooking the River Severn. It is one of England's most rewarding cathedrals, though denied first rank status owing to the heavy handed Victorian restorations it underwent, an unavoidable consequence of being built of soft red sandstone (a problem shared with Chester and Lichfield) and thus a 19th century feel pervades inside and out in it's mostly renewed external stonework and furnishings. The cathedral impresses with it's scale, one or our longer churches, crowned by a magnificent central tower (originally surmounted by a lead spire, lost sometime after the Refomation; subtle alterations to the tower's design were made when it was refaced in the Victorian restoration) and with a secondary pair of transepts flanking the choir (as at Salisbury, Lincoln, Rochester & Canterbury). Of the former monastic buildings the cloister and Norman chapter house have survived (along with the refectory, now part of neighbouring King's School), making this a more complex and enjoyable building to explore. The earliest parts are of the Norman period with the superb 12th century crypt under the choir. The west end of the nave is also Norman work, though very late and unusual in design, with transitional pointed arches. However the bulk of the building we see dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, the east end in Early English gothic style (where most of the windows were restored to stepped lancets by Sir George Gilbert Scott during the Victorian restoration, having been altered over the centuries), whilst the remainder of the nave and tower largely of the Decorated period (the cathedral originally also possessed a detached octagonal bell tower with a lead spire, which stood near the north east corner but was demolished in 1647). Of the original furnishings little remains beyond the fine set of misericords in the choir stalls. The stained glass too is nearly entirely Victorian (only some meagre, much restored medieval fragments survive in traceries of the south aisle). Much of the Victorian glass is quite impressive, particularly the great east and west windows by Hardman's of Birmingham. Worcester is however especially rich in tombs and monuments of all periods, with medieval effigies of bishops, knights and ladies, not all in good condition but worth seeking out. There are also several large tombs from the post-Reformation period (especially in the cluttered south aisle) and some fine Baroque work in the north transept. The most significant of the monuments here are Royal; in the centre of the choir lies the fine 13th century effigy of King John, best remembered for signing the Magna Carta. Nearby is the superb chantry chapel of Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII, whose premature death aged 15 changed England forever (one of the most pivotal moments in our history, had he survived the Reformation may never have happened). The gorgeous late Perpendicular gothic chapel stands to the south of the High Altar and is remarkable for it's rich sculpted detail. www.worcestercathedral.co.uk/

Anthony of Padua: Preaching to fishes―Within a landscape, a nimbed and tonsured Anthony of Padua, wearing a monk's habit with a pouch at the belt, raises a crucifix held in both his hands above fishes gathered in the water around him. A heron and other birds flock beside him. Anthony of Padua: Miracle of kneeling mule―In the background and to the left, Anthony, wearing a habit, kneels before a mule and a container with oats. A crowd gathers around. Beyond are the buildings of a city. The scene is framed by a border decorated with a diamond pattern. The panels contain jeweled flowers.

This illuminated manuscript is a document of the first importance in the history of Dutch manuscript illumination, and it contains an important medieval Dutch devotional text. The Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove is a compendium of Christian knowledge written by a learned Dominican, Dirc van Delf. The text is in two parts, one for winter, and one for summer. This manuscript is of the winter part, and it is incomplete, omitting the prologue and chapters 13,14, and 35-72. The arms of the Bavarian Counts of Holland and the kneeling owner on fol. 1 indicate that this manuscript was the actual copy prepared for the dedicatee of the text, Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, from the original text of his chaplain, and is therefore to be dated to 1404 at the latest, when Albrecht died. The manuscript consists of 165 folios and contains 35 historiated initials. To explore fully digitized manuscripts with a virtual page-turning application, please visit Walters Ex Libris.