Flowers in Medieval Manuscripts

Medieval Life in Manuscripts

by Celia Fisher

Plant and flower motifs were originally used in manuscript borders for ornamental and symbolic reasons, but during the fifteenth century, illuminators in Ghent and Bruges achieved such botanical realism and variety that their fascination with the flowers themselves is evident. Each section of Flowers in Medieval Manuscripts includes relevant details of the manuscripts from which the illustrations are taken, and the concluding section discusses manuscript production in relation to these margins. Celia Fisher looks at all kinds of flowers, from the conservative lily and rose, to the lesser known cranesbill, dianthus, and even cannabis.

65 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Leyre Martín Aizpuru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un librito muy ameno de leer y una auténtica delicia para la vista por la calidad de los facsímiles incluidos en él. Se aprenden muchas curiosidades sobre el empleo y los valores de las plantas en los manuscritos medievales. Cito una entre tantas: los manuscritos iluminados de la época medieval solían ir enmarcados con imágenes de viñas y otras plantas. De este recurso a la viña deriva el término "viñeta".

[Heather Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The University of Toronto Press has a series of relatively thin books of thematic groups of elements from manuscript illustrations. I find them a valuable source of image inspiration (an brainstorming for historic artifacts to collect or reproduce) when they intersect a topic I'm interested in. This volume presents an array of depictions of flowers and foliage, both from illustrated herbals and included in marginal decorations. The flowers are often vibrantly naturalistic, allowing not only species identification but showing a range of color variations for items such as pinks (dianthus) and irises. My own interests tend to lean towards inspiration for my own gardening, but this collection could also serve as inspiration for needlework project (or for manuscript illumination, of course). The text discusses not only the context of the manuscripts in which the images occur, but botanical details of the plants and their habitats, as well as why they were relevant to medieval life and so chosen to be depicted.