Models in Medieval Book Painting

Medieval illuminators used a variety of models and prototypes when designing new books. Recent years a group of art historians have worked to uncover this praxis. New book presents some of the results.

The Use of Models in Medieval Book Painting
Ed. by Monika E. Müller
Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1-4438-5532-7
ISBN-10: 1-4438-5532-4

ABSTRACT:

Until recently, the phenomenon of copying in medieval book painting has been considered mainly in terms of the reconstruction of pictorial sources used for the composition or iconography of miniatures, initials, or decorative elements. Although historic sources only rarely mention the circumstances of manuscripts’ production, one particular widely-accepted hypothesis has prevailed until now, according to which artists used model drawings or sketch books with the aim of facilitating the production of copies and the creation of new picture cycles. However, it is no longer sufficient to regard medieval book painting in its diachronic dimension only through these lenses. Rather, one should consider Robert W. Scheller’s critique that “When using the model hypothesis one must always be mindful of other factors which are known to have played a part in the transmission of art in the Middle Ages”. The contributions of this volume deal with these issues by focusing on book painting between the 10th and 16th centuries.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 

• Monika E. Müller:  Introduction
• Peter K. Klein: The Role of Prototypes and Models in the Transmission of Medieval Picture Cycles: The Case of the Beatus Manuscripts
• Laurence Terrier Aliferis: The Models of the Illuminators in the Early Gothic Period
• Guido Siebert: Glass Painters and Manuscript Illuminators
• Cynthia Johnston: A Model Community? An Investigation into the Use of Models in the Work of William de Brailes
• Miranda Bloem: Changing Workshop Policies: Passion Cycles by the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg
• Christine Seidel: Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Jean Colombe: The Usage of Models in Late 15th  Century French Manuscript illumination
• Joris Corin Heyder: Corporate Design Made in Ghent/Bruges? On the Extensive Reuse of Patterns in Late Medieval Flemish Illuminated Manuscripts

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Monika E. Müller received her PhD on San Pietro al Monte di Civate (Lombardy) in 2005, and is a Scientific Collaborator at the University Library of Düsseldorf. She has published in the fields of Medieval wall and book painting, and monastic libraries in Northern Germany. She currently teaches at the Universities of Göttingen and Düsseldorf.

FEATURED PHOTO:

Book of Hours by the Master of Zweder van Culemborg
Long time loan from SHV Holdings NV, Utrecht
Date: Ca. 1430-1435
National Library of the Netherlands: 79 K 2

READ MORE

Re-Inventing Traditions. On the Transmission of Artistic Patterns in Late Medieval Manuscript Illumination