Resources
Gallery Talks
Jennifer Kandray on the Saint Rupert Psalter, a tiny but precious 9th-century manuscript in Salzburg.
Julia Lepre on the Tale of Genji Scroll, a key highlight of medieval Japanese book arts.
Phillip Mendenhall on the Souvigny Pillar, a sculptural facsimile in the Carnegie Hall of Architecture.
Meg Wolfe on Animals that appear throughout the exhibition and their role in medieval life.
Liliana Xu on Religion and the presence of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic manuscripts in the exhibition.
Activities for Kids (and Kids at Heart)
The Nostalgic Filter Children's Activity Book contains coloring pages as well as games and puzzles inspired by manuscripts in the exhibition; download the PDF here to print from home and check your answers here if you are stumped.
FOR A LIMITED TIME: Submit a meme to our contest and sign our guest book! Participants will receive a free copy of the Nostalgic Filter Children's Activity Book in the mail; sign up here and follow @uag_pitt on Instagram to see winning memes.
Try your hand at these online puzzles featuring the Golden Haggadah, the Ingeborg Psalter, and the Golden Qur'an.
Suggestions for Further Reading: Print Resources (with links to Pitt's library catalogue)
Alexander, Jonathan J. G. Medieval Illuminators and Their Methods of Work. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.
Bell, Nicolas. Music in Medieval Manuscripts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001.
Bovey, Alixe. Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts. London: British Library, 2002.
Camille, Michael. “The ‘Très Riches Heures’: An Illuminated Manuscript in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Critical Inquiry 17/1 (Autumn 1990): 72-107.
Camille, Michael. “Sensations of the Page: Imaging Technologies and Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts.” In The Iconic Page in Manuscript, Print and Digital Culture, edited by George Bornstein and Theresa Tinkle (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998), pp. 33-53.
De Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. London: Phaidon Press, 1994.
De Hamel, Christopher. Making Medieval Manuscripts. Oxford: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2018.
Hindman, Sandra, ed. Manuscript Illumination in the Modern Age: Recovery and Reconstruction. Evanston, Illinois: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 2001.
Nordenfalk, Carl. Color of the Middle Ages: A Survey of Book Illumination Based on Color Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts. Pittsburgh: University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, 1976.
Page, Sophie. Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts. London: British Library, 2002.
Suggestions for Further Reading: Web Resources
Baltimore, Walters Art Museum
“A Treasure for the World: The Manuscripts of the Walters Art Museum,” by John Platt, Amanda Reid, Jake McMahon and Kelly Carter.
Chicago, Newberry Library
“Illuminated Manuscripts and Printed Books: French Renaissance Gems of the Newberry Library.”
London, British Library
“How to Make a Medieval Manuscript,” by Kathleen Doyle and Patricia Lovett.
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
“The Alchemy of Color and Chemical Change in Medieval Manuscripts.” October 10, 2016.
“Making Manuscripts.” June 17, 2014.
“The Medieval Calendar.” August 23, 2012.
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
“The Art of the Book in the Middle Ages.”
“The Book of Hours: A Medieval Bestseller,” by Wendy A. Stein.
New York, Morgan Library & Museum
“Morganmobile.”
“Pages of Gold: Medieval Illuminations from the Morgan.”
Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh
“Color of the Middle Ages Reimagined: A Retrospective of Dr. Carl Nordenfalk and his 1976 Exhibition of Medieval Manuscript Facsimiles,” by Kenneth Wahrenberger, Archival Scholars Research Award (ASRA) project, 2019.
San Marino, Facsimile Finder
“Definition of Facsimile: What is a Facsimile Edition?” October 28, 2020.