Why Is Medieval Art So Weird?

Описание: The margins of medieval manuscripts (Marginalia) are strange places to be.

Here, inscribed around the words of various religious texts, you can find almost anything.

There are even (highly detailed) medieval battles royal scrawled across the margins, which — predictably — range from the normal to the bizarre.

This stuff is INSANELY CREATIVE. And, in some sense, seriously throws our understanding of the Middle Ages into question. This period is often referred to as “The Dark Ages” — a time fraught with violence, humorlessness, plague, mysticism, and a narrow-minded view of the world —

A time without any real, meaningful progress (in the modern sense).

…But that view doesn’t really square with the fantastical, satirical, often downright brilliant illustrations we find in these manuscripts.

The drawings are called marginalia (because they’re found in the margins)

…And, when it comes to their purpose, scholars are divided.

Marginalia might be used to:

Illustrate a point made in the text,

Make a joke,

Detail a flight of fancy,

Show familiar scenes of everyday life

…And their opposite,

Etc. — we may never know definitively. But we can explore.

First off, we notice the particular treatment of animals in these manuscripts.

They’re everywhere — and reflect peoples’ interest in animals both closer to home and far off

(As they often hadn’t actually seen many of these animals, many medieval illustrators relied on the second-hand accounts given in bestiaries, which explains — for example — this elephant’s inventive trunk.)

Sometimes, the original inspiration is less clear and, in others, the illustrations are more life-like.

For many in the middle ages, animals expressed certain human personality traits — and their behaviors could be understood allegorically. Monkeys, especially.

[Continued in video]

00:00 - Margins of Medieval Manuscripts
00:33 - The Dark Ages
00:58 - Marginalia
01:20 - Animals
02:22 - Monsters
04:06 - Topsy-Turvy
04:58 - Everyday life
05:40 - In conclusion

#medievalart #Marginalia #weirdart #thedarkages #art #history

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Works Cited:

“Beast in the Book: Animals in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Illustrations from the Middle Ages.” UF: George A Smathers Libraries. https://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/beasts...

Biggs, Sarah. “Monkeys in the Margins.” British Library. 29 April 2012. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscri...

Burgess, Anika. “The Secret Meanings Behind the Beasts in a Medieval Menagerie.” Atlas Obscura. 17 August 2018. www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-bestiary-allegories

Burgess, Anika. “The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books.” Atlas Obscura. 9 May 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
books-doodles.

Lawton, Becky and Julian Harrison. “Fantastic Beasts at the British Library.” British Library. 2 December 2016. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitiedmanuscrip...
the-british-library.html

Oatman-Stanford, Hunter. “Naughty Nuns, Flatulent Monks, and Other Surprises of Sacred Medieval Manuscripts.” Collectors Weekly. 24 July 2014. www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty -nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/

“Why knights fought snails in medieval art.” YouTube, uploaded by Vox, 29 March 2017,    • Why knights fought snails in medieval art  

Rutland Psalter, Decretum Gratiani, Isabella Breviary, Smithfield Decretals