What do you think?
Rate this book
Masterpieces of Illumination: The World's Most Beautiful Illuminated Manuscripts from 400 to 1600
Famous Manuscripts - The fascinating world of medieval miniature painting and illumination
504 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Ingo F. Walther
129 books34 followersIngo F. Walther was born in Berlin in 1940 and studied medieval studies, literature, and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He has published numerous books on the art of the Middle Ages and of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 24, 2019
Ogi kokių puošnių knygų būta tais viduramžiais!
Šis puikiai išleistas albumas reprezentuoja knygos(rankraščio) meną (iliustracijas) nuo 400 iki 1600 metų. Didelis gėris čia yra ne tik puikios iliustracijos, bet dar tai, kad informacija (tekstas) pateiktas visai ne nuobodžiai, ne sausai, jos nei per daug ir nei per mažai. Rekomenduoju meno, knygų, religijų, kulturų istorijos ir istorijos apskritai mylėtojams.
'Codex Borgi' iš prieš Kolumbinės Meksikos rankraščių.
Christine de Pisan (Pizan)- viena iš garsiausių ankstyvosios Europos rašytojų. 'Epistles of Othea'
Jan van Eyck (pasirodo buvo ir iliustratorius). 'John the Baptist' gimimas.
Dėkoju Goodreads draugui Aleksandrui už nuostabią rekomendaciją!
Šis puikiai išleistas albumas reprezentuoja knygos(rankraščio) meną (iliustracijas) nuo 400 iki 1600 metų. Didelis gėris čia yra ne tik puikios iliustracijos, bet dar tai, kad informacija (tekstas) pateiktas visai ne nuobodžiai, ne sausai, jos nei per daug ir nei per mažai. Rekomenduoju meno, knygų, religijų, kulturų istorijos ir istorijos apskritai mylėtojams.
'Codex Borgi' iš prieš Kolumbinės Meksikos rankraščių.
Christine de Pisan (Pizan)- viena iš garsiausių ankstyvosios Europos rašytojų. 'Epistles of Othea'
Jan van Eyck (pasirodo buvo ir iliustratorius). 'John the Baptist' gimimas.
Dėkoju Goodreads draugui Aleksandrui už nuostabią rekomendaciją!
July 20, 2016
"Masterpieces of Illumination: The World's Most Beautiful Illuminated Manuscripts from 400 to 1600" is essentially a reprint of "Codices illustres: The World's Most Famous Illuminated Manuscripts 400 to 1600." The former is one of many 25th anniversary Taschen editions, and bears the series logo on its dust-jacket and bright green cover (rather than the classier illumination of the Limburg Brother's Anatomical Man that adorns the cover of the latter). "Masterpieces" is also slightly smaller (9 ¾" x 12 ½") than the original (10 ¼" x 13 ¼"). There are a few other slight differences between the two editions: different endpapers; white paper for the appendix in "Masterpieces," ivory in "Codices"; and slightly darker illustrations in Masterpieces (only noticeable if you actually compare the editions side by side). Otherwise the two editions are virtually identical.
This is a truly wonderful book. It contains discussions and representative illuminations from 167 of the most famous and influential extant codices, books of hours, psalters, Bibles and histories from Europe and Asia (23 or the 167 are from Persia, turkey and India) during the 1200 years in which manuscript illumination flourished as an art form (and at the end of the text proper are samples from yet another 29 manuscripts). The full-color and often full-page illustrations are beautifully and accurately rendered, and the accompanying descriptions are both authoritative and unusually informative. The appendix contains artist biographies, along with a comprehensive bibliography, glossary, and index. In short, this is more than just a coffee-table book; in fact, I use it in my university course on manuscript illumination (along with Christopher De Hamel's excellent "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts," which forms the perfect companion piece to this volume.).
If you only read one book on the subject of manuscript illumination, this should be the one!
This is a truly wonderful book. It contains discussions and representative illuminations from 167 of the most famous and influential extant codices, books of hours, psalters, Bibles and histories from Europe and Asia (23 or the 167 are from Persia, turkey and India) during the 1200 years in which manuscript illumination flourished as an art form (and at the end of the text proper are samples from yet another 29 manuscripts). The full-color and often full-page illustrations are beautifully and accurately rendered, and the accompanying descriptions are both authoritative and unusually informative. The appendix contains artist biographies, along with a comprehensive bibliography, glossary, and index. In short, this is more than just a coffee-table book; in fact, I use it in my university course on manuscript illumination (along with Christopher De Hamel's excellent "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts," which forms the perfect companion piece to this volume.).
If you only read one book on the subject of manuscript illumination, this should be the one!
May 7, 2020
A totally useless volume. Not in the least informative, plenty of gorgeous pictures (as in all Taschen editions) but basically lacking the textual contents I expected to find.
A good coffee table book, but nothing more.
A good coffee table book, but nothing more.
October 28, 2013
Wonderful. Beautiful, Illuminating.
This book served as a terrific resource as I prepared my novel BOOK OF HOURS: THE BEGUILEMENT OF BROTHER ALPHAIOS, in which an audacious fifteenth century illuminator constructs a Book of Hours which challenges religious doctrine of the time. Hidden away from the Inquisition, the book languishes for nearly 600 years before it is found and restoration begun. The paintings selected by Walther and Wolf provided fertile soil for my imagined invention of many miniature paintings. It's a terrific resource for anyone interested in illuminated manuscripts.
Coming Winter of 2013
Book of Hours: The Beguilement of Brother Alphaios.
J.S. Anderson jsandersonauthor.com
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews