Golden Books
AcknowledgementsThe medieval manuscript is by its very nature a medium of reproduction. From the earliest scriptoria of the Middle Ages to the specialty publishers that produce luxury replicas today, the process of copying has defined the art of the book. Whether painted by hand, printed from a press, or captured in photography, facsimiles allow these precious books to be widely seen even when the originals are locked away in vaults and treasuries. The relationship between copies and originals has taken on heightened importance in the contemporary moment, when travel to distant collections is often unsafe or unsustainable, and access to illuminated manuscripts restricted for all but the most highly trained professionals. Without reproductions, these books would be no more visible now than they were in the medieval world, locked away and only revealed on rare occasions.
This exhibition examines medieval books through print and digital copies, with a focus on the University of Pittsburgh’s outstanding facsimile collection. Rare and collectible in their own right, these lavish books are designed to reproduce the look and feel of their inaccessible models as closely as possible. Among the most stunning visual qualities of modern facsimiles is their ability to approximate the appearance of gold, a favored material used by medieval artists to enliven the pages of the most prized manuscripts with glittering, sparkling surfaces. This section brings together four examples that are particularly rich in their use of this precious material, emphasizing not only the beauty of the facsimiles but also their ability to convey some sense of the thrill medieval readers must have felt when they first beheld the sumptuous originals.
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- Medieval Manuscripts in the Digital Age Ana RodrÃguez Castillo
