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CMA: Medieval Art
@cmamedieval.bsky.social
Sharing public domain works from the Medieval Art department of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 177v, St. Sebastian https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.177.b

This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

The Gotha Missal: Fol. 114r, Text https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.287.114.a

This elegant Latin manuscript is known today as The Gotha Missal after its eighteenth-century owners, the German Dukes of Gotha. The volume was originally copied and illuminated in Paris around 1375 -- a commission of the Valois king, Charles V "the Wise" (1364-1380), one of the great bibliophiles of the fifteenth century and brother of Dukes Philip the Bold of Burgundy and Jean de Berry. Manuscript missals were not intended for the lay user, but rather for the use of the celebrant at Mass. The present volume was therefore meant to be used by the king's private chaplain and was probably housed in Charles's private chapel, possibly in his principle residence, the Palace of the Louvre (demolished in the sixteenth century). The main decorative body of the missal consists of two full-page miniatures comprising the Canon of the Mass and twenty-three small miniatures. The style and high quality of the decoration points to its inclusion withing a select group of manuscripts accepted today as from the hand of Jean Bondol. Bondol was active at the court of Charles V from 1368 until 1381 where he headed the court workshop and also served as the king's valet de chambre. The blind-tooled leather binding dates to the fifteenth century.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Missale: Fol. 186: Decorated Initial T[e igitur] (full page) https://clevelandart.org/art/2006.154.186.a

Missale: Fol. 186: Decorated Initial T[e igitur] (full page)
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 73v https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.73.b

This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Leaf from a Gradual: Decorated Initial (verso) https://clevelandart.org/art/1927.425.2.b

This leaf was excised from a volume of a large set of choral books known to have been commissioned by Bartolomeo delle Rovere for Ferrara Cathedral. Delle Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, was the Bishop of Ferrara from 1474 to 1494 and his arms appear in the rondel at the bottom of the page-a shield bearing an oak tree (rovere in Italian) surmounted by a patriarchal cross, the symbol of his rank and authority. Payment records indicate that Argenta worked on the choir books for Ferrara Cathedral from 1478 to 1486. The large historiated initial R dominates the extensive decoration including a realistically painted scene in which a priest (center) surrounded by acolytes stands over the body of the deceased as he reads the Office of the Dead. The ceremony takes place within a vaulted chapel that recedes in space to create the illusion of perspective. This leaf and the one to the right are from the same set of choir books.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425), fol. 286v, St. Marcel https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.286.b

This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 126v, Nativity https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.126.b

This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Book of Hours (Use of Rouen): fol. 83r https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.227.83.a

Book of Hours (Use of Rouen): fol. 83r
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 12v, November calendar page https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.276.12.b

Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 12v, November calendar page
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CMcmamedieval.bsky.social

Wheel-lock Petronel https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.97.1

A petronel was a type of long pistol made with a wheel-lock ignition. Despite its length, the petronel was fired at the wrist like a pistol and not at the shoulder like a rifle. They were generally made in pairs during the early 1600s. Civilian versions were elaborately decorated for aristocratic clients.
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CMA: Medieval Art
@cmamedieval.bsky.social
Sharing public domain works from the Medieval Art department of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social
259 followers3 following215 posts
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