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A Scholarly Skater

  • Gargoyles and Grotesques of Casa de las Conchas, Salamanca, Spain

    This little winged fellow looks like he’s absolutely thrilled with his view from the roofline of the Casa de las Conchas in Salamanca, Spain. This late-fifteenth and early sixteenth-century building is named for its numerous shell-shaped decorations (concha is the Spanish word for shell) – symbols of the Spanish chivalric Order of Santiago de Compostela…

  • The Office of the Dead – Day 31

    The Office of the Dead – Day 31

    The Office of the Dead was a section of funerary prayers in the book of hours. It could be accompanied by some pretty spooky and fantastic images.

  • Apocalypse Manuscripts – Day 30

    Apocalypse manuscripts concern the Book of Revelation. All this apocalyptic subject matter provided plenty of opportunities for vivid illustrations.

  • Alchemical Manuscripts – Day 29

    Alchemy may be pretty dead today, but in the Middle Ages, it was synonymous with science. Find out about illuminated manuscripts related to alchemy.

  • Where to Enjoy Manuscripts Online – Day 28

    In this post, you’ll discover some places to browse medieval illuminated manuscripts online, including fully-digitized manuscripts from around the world.

  • The Hours of Catherine of Cleves – Day 27

    The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is a book of hours that’s supposedly the greatest Dutch illuminated manuscript ever. It’s now at the Morgan Library in NY.

  • The Morgan Library Crusader Bible – Day 26

    The Morgan Library Crusader Bible is a medieval illuminated Bible with tons and tons of illustrations. See some of them in this post.

  • Lapidaries – Day 25

    Lapidaries are medieval manuscripts about gemstones and other minerals, which were believed to have all kinds of meanings and significances.

  • Gargoyles and Grotesques of St. Denys, Aswarby, Lincolnshire

    This square-ish fellow kind of reminds me of an early video game creature. When I went to get the image link, I noticed it was titled “Hunky Punk”, which I thought was interesting. I googled the term and discovered that  “hunky punk” is a term specifically used in Somerset, England to describe grotesques (never true…

  • Weird Manuscripts – Day 24

    Discover a selection of noteworthy medieval illuminated manuscripts with unusual shapes, strange imagery, and more.

  • Heart-Shaped Books – Day 23

    Browse a selection of cordiform books (medieval illuminated manuscripts shaped like hearts) in this wildly-popular post.

  • Visigothic Script – Day 22

    Scripts in medieval manuscripts were like fonts; they were different styles of writing the same letters. Learn about one type of script with a cool name.

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The mission of A Scholarly Skater Art History is to make art and architecture accessible to everyone.
I’m Alexandra, an art historian who believes that looking at art can enrich everyone’s life. Welcome to my website! Read more about me here.

All the content on this blog was written by a real art historian.

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