Splendor in Miniature COURSE: AS.010.217.21 Summer Term II, June 29-July 31, 2015 Instructor: Rebecca Quinn Teresi, rquinn10@jhu.edu MWF 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM COURSE DESCRIPTION: Before print, books particularly illuminated manuscripts were precious commodities. Apart from their function as text, these objects, painstakingly decorated using costly materials, symbolized wealth and status for European elites. This course traces the sumptuous art of manuscript illumination from its birth in Late Antiquity to its heyday in the High Middle Ages and afterlife in the Renaissance after print s arrival. Students will read widely and experience these objects first-hand in our outstanding local collections. REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS: Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, 2nd ed. (Phaidon: 1997). [ISBN 978-0714834528, c. $30.00] Michelle Brown, Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. (Getty: 1994). [ISBN 978-0892362172, c. $15.00] $15 for book-making materials, payable to the JHU Conservation Lab by 1 July 2015 COURSE COMPONENTS: Attendance and participation 10% Quizzes (3) 45% Presentation 20% Journal project (5 installments) 25% see final pages of Syllabus for details A note about attendance: Attendance is required and expected. Because this is a summer course, only one absence (the equivalent of three days worth of missed class during a full term) will be tolerated. There are no make-up quizzes or deadline extensions. A note about collections visits: Throughout the course, we will have the privilege of visiting some outstanding local collections. Please come to class with freshly washed hands (in the event you are invited to handle materials), no large bags, and pencils rather than pens for note-taking.
COURSE CALENDAR: = assigned reading; = assignment due date; = outing WEEK I: THE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT AND ITS EARLY ITERATIONS 29 Jun: Introductory Lectures: Manuscripts from Antiquity to Byzantium Codicology and the Materiality of the Manuscript Codex de Hamel (Introduction); Theophilus 1 Jul: The Missionary Text: Masterpieces of Hiberno-Saxon Illumination de Hamel (ch. 1); Brown (2003) 11:30-12:30 Bookmaking Day 1, MSEL Conservation Lab *folding down sheets, making gatherings. 3 Jul: Barbarians with Books: Wonders of the Carolingian and Ottonian Periods Journal assignment 1 due de Hamel (ch. 2); Kessler Screening of The Secret of Kells (2009), 75 mins. WEEK II: THE MONASTERY AND THE UNIVERSITY: BOOKS FOR STUDY AND PRAYER 6 Jul: The Scriptoria and the Monastic Library, Cradles of Western Civilization Quiz 1 de Hamel (ch. 3); Leclerq 8 Jul: Paris, Bologna, and the Rise of the University de Hamel (ch. 4); Caruthers [sections divided by instructor] 11:30-12:30 Bookmaking Day 2, MSEL Conservation Lab *sewing quires, lining spine. 10 Jul: The Making of a Manuscript Journal assignment 2 due Noel & Quandt; Marks
WEEK III: THE LUXURY BOOK IN PRIVATE HANDS: FROM SACRED TO PROFANE 13 Jul: The Book of Hours and Private Devotion Quiz 2 de Hamel (ch. 6); Wieck [on reserve in MSEL, not digitized] 15 Jul: Secular Vernacular Literature and Medieval Best Sellers de Hamel (ch. 5); Buettner 11:30-12:30 Bookmaking Day 3, MSEL Conservation Lab *construction of chemise cover. 17 Jul: Additional Manuscript Genres, 1300-1500 Journal assignment 3 due; submit presentation topic for approval de Hamel (ch. 7) Guest Lecture: Alisa S. Gross, Banquets and Bathhouses Manuscripts and facsimiles in the JHU Special Collections Part IV: MARGINALIZED FIGURES AND FIGURES IN THE MARGIN 20 Jul: Marginalia and Experimentation on the Periphery of the Page Quiz 3 Camille; Nishimura & Nishimura 22 Jul: The Other in Medieval Manuscripts Higgs Strickland; Patton 11:30-12:30 Bookmaking Day 4, MSEL Conservation Lab *gold leaf, illumination and ink-making techniques. 24 Jul: Treasures from the Walters Journal assignment 4 due Herbert Visit to The Walters Art Museum, Tour of the Peabody Library Part V: MANUSCRIPTS AFTER GUTENBERG: PARCHMENT AFTER THE PAPER REVOLUTION 27 Jul: The Persistence of Manuscript after 1450: Luxury and Status de Hamel (ch. 8), Pettegree Incunabula in the Johns Hopkins University Special Collections 29 Jul: All Manner of Splendor Student presentations 31 Jul: Afterlife: Printed Books and Printed Images Journal assignment 5 due Harrison Visit to Print Study Room, Baltimore Museum of Art
RESERVE READINGS Accessible via Blackboard or in MSEL Brown, Michelle P. Introduction & The Genesis of the Lindisfarne Gospels. In The Lindisfarne Gospels. Society, Spirituality & The Scribe. University of Toronto Press, 2003, 13-38. Buettner, Brigitte. Profane Illuminations, Secular Illusions: Manuscripts in Late Medieval Courtly Society. Art Bulletin 74:1 (March 1992): 75-90. Camille, Michael. Making Margins. In Image on the Edge. Reaktion Books, 1992/2013, 11-55. Caruthers, Mary. Memory and the Book. In The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture. Cambridge University Press, 2008, 274-337 [sections to be divided in class]. Harrison, Charles. The Printed Picture in the Renaissance. In Making Renaissance Art, edited by Kim W. Woods. Yale University Press, 2007, 211-247. Herbert, Lynley A. The Manuscripts of the Walters Art Museum: Henry Walters Gift to the World. Scripsit 34:1 (July 2012): pages to be identified. Higgs Strickland, Debra. Making Men Known by Sight: Classical Theories, Monstrous Races, & Sin. In Saracens, Demons, & Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art. Princeton University Press, 2003, 29-59. Kessler, H. Book. In Seeing Medieval Art. University of Toronto Press, 2004, 87-105. Leclerq, Jean. Cult and Culture. In Love of Learning and Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Fordham University Press, 1961/1982, 37-50. Marks, P. J. M. The British Library guide to Bookbinding: History and Techniques. British Library, 1998, selections, 7-20. Nishimura, Margot M., and David Nishimura. Rabbits, Warrens, and Warenne: The Patronage of the Gorleston Psalter. In Studies in Manuscript Illumination: A Tribute to Lucy Freeman Sandler, edited by Carol Krinsky and Kathryn A. Smith. Brepols, 2008, 205-18. Noel, William and Abigail Quandt. From Calf to Codex. In Leaves of Gold: Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collectors, edited by James R. Tanis. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001, 14-20. Patton, Pamela A. The Cantigas de Santa María and the Jews of Castile. In Art of Estrangement. Penn State University Press, 2013, 135-169. Pettegree, Andrew. The Invention of Printing. In The Book in the Renaissance. Yale University Press, 2010, 21-42. Theophilus. The Various Arts. Translated by C. R. Dodwell. T. Nelson, 1961, sections 23-32 on gold leaf and pigments in books, pages to be identified. Wieck, Roger S. Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art. Morgan Library, 1997. *on reserve in library, not digitized on Blackboard
ASSIGNMENTS Quizzes: The quizzes will take roughly 20-30 minutes of class time and will be given at the end of class. The quizzes are designed to test your knowledge of the material and ensure that you are keeping up with the assigned readings. Quiz 1 will to test your knowledge of codicology, drawing from terms and diagrams in Michelle Brown s book (1994). Quiz 2 covers parts I and II of course, including terms and definitions, dates of major events in European history, and slide identification, as well as ten minutes (each) of thematic writing on two unknown slides. Quiz 3 focuses on Part III of course, particularly the identification of genre, including terms, definitions, dates of major events in European history, and slide identification, as well as ten minutes (each) of writing on two unknown slides. Journal project: The journal project is designed to allow students to engage more intimately with the techniques and topics discussed in class. We will construct, fill, and decorate our own codices with the help of the staff at the MSEL Conservation Lab. Journal 1: practice copying at least three scripts in your journal (see Brown, A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600, 1993, on reserve in MSEL). Practice pricking and lining a page, and copy the first 5 verses from the Gospel of John, making use of rubrication and a historiated initial (use your imagination for the initial, but use the Douay-Rheims translation for the Biblical text). Count the number of quires in your journal and the number of leaves, recording this information on the front inside cover. Number the leaves in pencil (i.e.: f. 1r/v, etc.) Journal 2: Over the period of a week (7 days), read all 150 Psalms, following the Divine Office. Memorize a Psalm; record the text in your journal and illustrate it (use your imagination). Print a still from The Secret of Kells; paste it in your journal. Identify a possible source from a medieval manuscript, print it, and paste in your journal. Write 150 words (in journal) commenting on the pairing. Journal 3: Over a period of one day, follow the Hours of the Virgin (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline). Choose one of these episodes, copy the Latin text, and create your own illustration. [Choose a day where you have a relatively flexible schedule; consolidating/postponing Matins and Lauds is recommended.] Journal 4: Choose your 12 favorite Saints. Create a twelve-month calendar and add their feast days, along with important liturgical feasts (choose 5). Illustrate each calendar page with an invented labor of the month that relates to your life. Add playful marginalia to all completed pages of the journal. Journal 5: Give your book a colophon. Print images of 3 Dürer woodcuts from the Small Passion and color them appropriately (or inappropriately, as the case may be). Paste the prints into your book, copy relevant gospel verses to accompany them.
Presentations: The presentations will be ten minutes in length. Students will select an object from Sotheby s July 7 sale not to exceed the sum of 350,000 and make the case for fellow students in the class (the acting Acquisition Committee ) to purchase it for the Johns Hopkins University Library Special Collections. Choices must be submitted to the instructor for approval no later than July 17. Presentations should be polished and accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow and a summary handout. For a catalogue of the sale, see: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2015/medievalrenaissance-manuscripts-l15240.html