Many are full of naturalistic details that heighten the visual experience. The images that follow had a variety of functions: some served as moral exemplars, while others instilled fear or terror to inspire pious living, or reminded the living of the fleeting nature of life. Illuminated manuscripts provided the medieval reader-viewer with a rich array of images that often rival those that we encounter on Halloween, from gory scenes of decapitated martyrs or arrow-pierced saints to walking cadavers, creepy spiders, spooky cemeteries, and even witches and ghosts. Today, Halloween is more often dominated by stories of ghosts and ghouls, trick-or-treating, brave romps through haunted houses and graveyards, and of course, dressing up in costume. This church feast honored all saints, known and unknown, and celebrated the end of the summer harvest and the coming of winter. The earliest texts were typically religious in nature, including Gospels and Lectionaries. Illuminated manuscripts were luxury goodsexpensive and labor-intensive. The production of books became a lucrative, rich art form. Among the most curious of all illuminated manuscripts, the Black Hours strikes our contemporary eyes with its unique dark blueish shades. Despite the misnomer, the production of illuminated manuscripts was an important industry in the Early Medieval Period. Black Hours Manuscript, created in Bruges, 1475-1480 CE, via the Morgan Library and Museum. It was set aside as a night to commemorate the dead, to fast, and to prepare oneself for All Saints’ (or Hallows’) Day on November 1. An Obscure Illuminated Manuscript: The Black Hours. Illuminated, Medieval Illustration, Art, Illuminated Letters, Medieval. ![]() All Hallows’ Eve (October 31) was an important part of the Church year in the European Middle Ages. medieval illumination, odd arrangement of open space Illuminated Manuscript Borders. From intriguingly detailed illustrations to random doodles, the drawings and other marks made along the edges of pages in medieval manuscriptscalled marginaliaare not just peripheral matters. This year I’ve decided to embrace suspense and to uncover some of the most horrifying images in the Getty manuscripts collection-horrifying by medieval standards, that is. I have conflicting feelings about Halloween: I’m easily frightened, but I also enjoy a good masquerade. Not horrifying: Martyrs and Saints Worshiping the Lamb of God Female Martyrs and Saints Worshiping the Lamb of God in Spinola Hours, about 1415–20, Master of James IV of Scotland.
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