Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art

Wieck, Roger S.

ISBN 10: 0807614181 / ISBN 13: 9780807614181

Published by George Braziller, 1997

About this Item

Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back.

Seller Inventory # 0807614181

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art
• Publisher: George Braziller
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807614181
• ISBN 13: 9780807614181
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Introduces Books of Hours to general readers, and features examples of illuminated pages from medieval and Renaissance books. Discusses iconography, specific artists, and the role of the books in everyday life, and translates key passages. Includes color examples of illuminated pages from The Pierpont Morgan Library, with explanatory captions. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Reviews

Notes Wieck (curator of medieval manuscripts at the Pierpont Morgan Library), ``The Book of Hours was the bestseller of the late middle ages.'' Heavily, often gorgeously, illustrated prayer books commissioned by the wealthy, they got their name because they contain a sequence of 37 prayers to the Mother of God intended to be recited throughout the course of the day. From the Morgan Library collections Wieck has drawn some 100 examples, reproduced in color. Much of the work is stunning, including a straightforward portrait of a meditative Christ, and a 1440 painting of a Bosch- like Mouth of Hell. The miniaturists who provided paintings for the books also decorated borders and even filled entire pages with abstract designs as well as with the tiny, precise figures of devils, angels, sinners, and saints. They also relied on their own world for inspiration for backgrounds, providing some wonderful views of medieval peasants and landscapes, castles and churches. Wieck provides a deft survey of the subject, and the illustrations, still fresh after six centuries, glowing with color and a fervent sense of faith, offer a unique glimpse of another time. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.