books n buildings

books n buildings

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campra:

Europa on Flickr.

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imagediver:

Click on the image to see the detail in a zoomable context.
Detail from Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raphael, 1505-1506

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indigenousdialogues:

A number of ancient Armenian manuscript bindings were embellished with odd objects haphazardly attached to the covers and in some cases, the spines. Items included coins, crucifixes, stones from personal signet rings, jewellery, and small metal repoussé objects shaped like hands, eyes, crescent moons, or human faces. Some of these objects were donated by the faithful as testimony to their Christian piety. Another reason is believed to be protection against the evil eye—these objects served as devices to avert evil, thereby protecting not only the donor but the manuscript itself.

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Vaulting in Königswiesen church, Austria
(thank you samcienfuegos for pointing the way)
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cinoh:

Al-Quazwīnī (ca. 1203-1283) The wonders of creation, 16th century Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ms. Orientali 45, f. 17v This encyclopædia, which contains a lengthy section devoted to cosmography, enjoyed wide circulation in the Islamic world. The compiler referred back to the Greek authors, in particular to Aristotle and Ptolemy. At folio 17v, the configurations of the Sun, Earth and Moon that give rise to eclipses. (via Al-Quazwini, The wonders of creation)

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poboh:

Les toits de France, Hans Silvester.

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f-featherbrain:

Design for a rose window
Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, New York 1848–1933 New York)
(via: the metropolitan museum of art)

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erikkwakkel:

Books in Heaven
I took this picture as I was about to enter the library of Monte Cassino on a cold morning last February. While most of my trips to study medieval books lead to university libraries, some are still held in monasteries. These are the best visits. The journey up the mountain to Monte Cassino had been long and winding, but there I finally was, in one of the oldest functioning European abbeys. The prior (also the librarian) picked me up at the gate. As we walked up the steps to the library he gestured I should turn around - and this is what I saw.
It is called the Heavenly Courtyard and that is just what it was for me. Not only because of the view, but also because the stairs I was climbing pretty much led to heaven: the abbey’s library. Monte Cassino is known for its extensive medieval book collection. I am co-author of a book about an eleventh-century medical manuscript made in the abbey and for three days I sat in the library looking at other books copied by “my” scribe. The prior worked across the table from me, alternating between typewriter and MacBook Pro. From time to time he wheeled in my tiny books on an oversized wagon. It was quite something.
When I was about to leave on the last day he gestured I should follow him. He walked me through the abbey and showed me a hidden mural painting, the long corridors with rooms for guests, and St Benedict’s crypt. With my hands still smelling like parchment I absorbed it all. It was not difficult to imagine my scribe walking here almost a thousand years earlier. Marvelling at the same things as I did. It was truly divine.

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erikkwakkel:

Brilliant Damage
Parchment often contains some kind of imperfection. Holes, for example, are a common occurrence on the page of a medieval book. The parchment maker’s knife, scraping off hair and fleshy bits from the animal skin, was sometimes handled with too much pressure, producing holes such as the one seen in this brilliant image. That a drawing of a dragon should perfectly align with such a hole is a coincidence. What I like about it is the view it opens to the next leaf. I can just imagine how the heartbeat of the medieval reader sped up when he saw that a dragon was about to be introduced into the story. Parchment damage as a sneak preview: excitement coming to a chapter near you.
Pic: Bamberg, Universitätsbibliothek, Msc. Nat. 1 (9th century)

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