Every year around New Year’s Eve in my social media certain late-medieval miniatures goes viral: they depict a young man who most likely drank too much alcohol. However popular the depiction may be, most of people sharing and forwarding this image have no idea where it comes from. It is…
Book of Hours of Catherine de Clèves (van Kleef) is the most richly decorated 15th c. Netherlandish book of prayers. It was created in Utrecht after 1434 and is in The Morgan Library & Museum (MS M.917/945). I have previously written about its miniatures decorating Monday prayers for the Purgatory…
Once in a while I like to write about something medieval that supposed to had been serious, but somehow came out a bit ridiculous. That kind of post was the one about strange food in the depictions of the Last Supper (available HERE) or the one about misrepresented image of…
Medieval literature and art show us that the lovers’ gift back then was not so much a bunch of flowers, but rather a wreath: a ring made of flowers and ribbons. Such a love symbol is mentioned in the 13th-century Roman de la Rose, and we may also see it…
Some time ago I have written about animals from medieval bestiaries (post available HERE) and back then I have mentioned that this topic is a subject for more than one post. That post focused on “real” animals described in medieval books, so now it is time to take a look…