Category: Medieval Art and Architecture

  • Initials and Capital Letters – Day 6

    Initials and Capital Letters – Day 6

    Initials – capital letters within manuscripts’ texts – are key venues for decoration, aides in navigating the text, and veritable works of art.

  • The Black Hours – Day 5

    The Black Hours – Day 5

    Today’s post is about a truly stunning manuscript that demonstrates the relatively rare but wonderful phenomenon of manuscripts on colored parchment.

  • Text in Manuscripts – Day 4

    Text in Manuscripts – Day 4

    Art historians primarily see manuscripts as works of art, but we shouldn’t forget that they are also books intended to convey the written word.

  • A Fourteenth-Century Italian Choir Book – Day 3

    A Fourteenth-Century Italian Choir Book – Day 3

    Today’s entry features a page from a 14th-century choir book called an antiphonary. Like most medieval choir books, it’s huge and has big illustrations.

  • The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux – Day 2

    The Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux – Day 2

    The early-14th century Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux introduces us to the Book of Hours, surprising scale in manuscripts, and the wacky world of marginalia.

  • The Book of Kells – Day 1

    The Book of Kells – Day 1

    It only seems appropriate to start off 31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts with the Book of Kells, arguably the world’s most iconic illuminated manuscript.

  • 31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts

    31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts

    31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts is a series I wrote in October 2015 as part of my participation in a 31-day bogging challenge. Participants were encouraged to select a specific topic to focus on during the challenge, and I chose medieval manuscripts – a topic I love and studied extensively in college. Every day, I…

  • Carmina Burana

    I’ve been working on a dance routine to “Carmina Burana” and wanted to do some research on the history of the piece. I was planning to write more about gargoyles this week, but I decided to write about this instead when I saw a picture of the original medieval manuscript.* Before it was a well-known piece of…

  • Writing Prompt #17: Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis

     Today’s prompt didn’t particularly interest me or feel like a good fit for this blog, but the additional challenge was to write in a style different from my usual one, which I liked a lot. I like my writing to flow and include lots of description; I never skimp on the words. Therefore, I decided…

  • Writing Prompt #7: Contrast, Controversy, and the Cloisters Cross

    Today’s prompt told me to write about a contrast between two things. The first idea that came to mind for me was contrasting points of view or interpretations. Have you ever been in a situation where you and someone else experienced the exact same thing at the exact same time, yet both of you were…

  • Gargoyles and Grotesques of Westminster Abbey and Palace, London

    Gargoyles and Grotesques of Westminster Abbey and Palace, London

    An introduction to the gargoyles and grotesques of Westminster Abbey and Westminster Palace – two important Gothic and Gothic Revival structures in London.

  • Nerd Candy: Doodles in Medieval Manuscripts

    I loved medieval graffiti, and now I find out that there are medieval doodles, too! What more could a history nerd want? I just came across an article on Colossal (a very cool site, by the way, so be sure to follow it) about some work being done by Erik Kwakkel, a manuscript historian at Leiden University. Kwakkel is…

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The mission of A Scholarly Skater Art History is to make historical 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!
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Art history is an inherently subjective field, and my perspective isn’t the only one. I encourage all my readers to seek out differing opinions and read multiple sources to get a broader and more complete view of this complex and fascinating field of study. Read my disclaimers for more information.

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