"Those unharnessed runnersfrom glen to glen!Nobody tamesthat royal blood, each one aloofon its rightful summit,antlered, watchful.Imagine them, the stag of high Slieve Felim,the stag of the steep Fews,the […]
A Moment With Sweeney Astray and The Stags Read More »
These lovely Medieval flowers are always swoon-worthy in the margins of various Book of Hours, sometimes in medical texts, sometimes in gardening books. I can never get enough of looking at these beautiful images and feeling inspired, mostly to embroider May Morris-style textiles. They are helpful when writing historical fiction, for they reveal the unique
The Marginalia of Flowers Read More »
Above is a curious and captivating of two nude jousters — male and female(?) — on snails. This is from the Baldus de Ubaldis. Lectura super Institutionibus. 1480-1481. The best part of this image is that it remains an utter mystery as to what sort of allagorical or rhetorical meaning they were trying to express by
Jousting Snails: A Medieval Martial Art Read More »
I am not at all sure what the artist was thinking when he added this little marginal painting in a manuscript, but I love it. An angry oyster protecting a pearl? unwilling to be eaten? or just ornery from a life time of an irritating parasite giving him a silvery ulcer. Maybe a painter frustrated
What Is An Angry Oyster? Read More »
I have been madly in love with the recent offerings of hedgehog marginalia from Medieval Animal Data Network. These adorable looking creatures, are often rendered in the rich golden and red hues of fall, and harvesting grapes (despoiling the vineyards) using their spines like cocktail toothpicks. But most wonderful of all…a group of artists got
In Praise of the Hedgehog Read More »
Penelope Writes to Odysseus I am still in awe of these amazing little Medieval illustrations of the classical Greek and Latin heroines of Ovid writing imaginary epistles. Ovid’s work was translated into French by poet Octavien de Saint-Gelais, and it so delighted Louise of Savoy (1476-1531), mother of the future king Francis I of France,
When Heroines Write Their Own Stories Read More »
How stunning is this? The text reads "Ave Maria Gratia Plena" — "Hail Mary Full of Grace." But within the confines of each letter, the calligrapher depicts individual narratives creating tension between the two — the formality of the letters joined into sacred text and the liveliness of the people and animals engaged in very
Life in Letters: A Calligrapher’s Narrative Read More »
Artful alphabets please me. Here is a beautiful early 18th century Italian alphabet currently housed in Berlin, but happily digitized and available online. I like the the fact that my first intial “M” — is graced by Masks and Satyrs (and mules? stubborn girl). It reminds me of Zizola and the Satyrs in The Innamorati.
Alphabets, Satyrs, and My Name Read More »
love calligraphy that serves to do more than to write words — but rather, playfully suggests visual puns and curious designs. Letters can be either re-constructed to resemble an object (and a sentiment suggested by the object) as in the lovely piece of Arabic calligraphy below creating a coffee pot out of the Arabic phrase,
