Dr Bryony Coombs
@bryonycoombs.bsky.social
Art Historian I Medieval and Early Modern, PhD, FSA Scot, FRHistS
Renaissance Teaching Fellow, Edinburgh Uni
Franco-Scottish cultural connections: art, architecture and material culture.
https://edinburgh.academia.edu/BryonyCoombs
https://bryonycoombs.com
Renaissance Teaching Fellow, Edinburgh Uni
Franco-Scottish cultural connections: art, architecture and material culture.
https://edinburgh.academia.edu/BryonyCoombs
https://bryonycoombs.com
Pinned
✨🎉Hello new BlueSky people 👋
Who am I?
New Book: Visual Arts & the Auld Alliance.
New project: Scotland on Parchment: Scraped, Limned and Bound due 2026. Inaugural book in a new EUP series Visual and Material Cultures of Scotland🎉✨ @edinburghup.bsky.social
New approaches: wp.me/peZVQm-8R
Who am I?
New Book: Visual Arts & the Auld Alliance.
New project: Scotland on Parchment: Scraped, Limned and Bound due 2026. Inaugural book in a new EUP series Visual and Material Cultures of Scotland🎉✨ @edinburghup.bsky.social
New approaches: wp.me/peZVQm-8R
A very chilly walk to Dunbar.... ❄️🌊
January 4, 2026 at 4:21 PM
A very chilly walk to Dunbar.... ❄️🌊
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
Tenuretrack professor in Cultural and Societal Storytelling (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven)
academicpositions.com/ad/ku-leuven...
academicpositions.com/ad/ku-leuven...
Tenuretrack professor in Cultural and Societal Storytelling (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven) - Academic Positions
Full-time tenure-track position in cultural storytelling research and teaching, with focus on inclusion and sustainability. PhD required. English proficiency...
academicpositions.com
December 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Tenuretrack professor in Cultural and Societal Storytelling (Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven)
academicpositions.com/ad/ku-leuven...
academicpositions.com/ad/ku-leuven...
Research goals✨2026 (🤞✍️📚🙏):
1. Anselm Adornes book: Publication March!
2. Scotland on Parchment book: Writing! Book deadline 12/26.
3. New Directions/Art Worlds-Chapter
4. Embodied Knowledge-Chapter
5. Auld Alliance-Chapter
6. Proposal for new series on Scot Art Hist
7. Experiential learning project
1. Anselm Adornes book: Publication March!
2. Scotland on Parchment book: Writing! Book deadline 12/26.
3. New Directions/Art Worlds-Chapter
4. Embodied Knowledge-Chapter
5. Auld Alliance-Chapter
6. Proposal for new series on Scot Art Hist
7. Experiential learning project
January 1, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Research goals✨2026 (🤞✍️📚🙏):
1. Anselm Adornes book: Publication March!
2. Scotland on Parchment book: Writing! Book deadline 12/26.
3. New Directions/Art Worlds-Chapter
4. Embodied Knowledge-Chapter
5. Auld Alliance-Chapter
6. Proposal for new series on Scot Art Hist
7. Experiential learning project
1. Anselm Adornes book: Publication March!
2. Scotland on Parchment book: Writing! Book deadline 12/26.
3. New Directions/Art Worlds-Chapter
4. Embodied Knowledge-Chapter
5. Auld Alliance-Chapter
6. Proposal for new series on Scot Art Hist
7. Experiential learning project
Have a wonderful Christmas Bluesky people!✨
With some lovely details from the wonderful Coupar Angus Psalter.
With some lovely details from the wonderful Coupar Angus Psalter.
December 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Have a wonderful Christmas Bluesky people!✨
With some lovely details from the wonderful Coupar Angus Psalter.
With some lovely details from the wonderful Coupar Angus Psalter.
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
41 #Manuscripts from the #Vatican this week www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2025...
Includes more Ge'ez, poems sucking up to Barberinis, lotsa Sistine music by Palestrina, Biordi, et al, some classics, an Exultet Roll in use, and more!
#MedievalSky #Skystorians
Includes more Ge'ez, poems sucking up to Barberinis, lotsa Sistine music by Palestrina, Biordi, et al, some classics, an Exultet Roll in use, and more!
#MedievalSky #Skystorians
Vatican Manuscripts Added Week 51 of 2025
A total of forty-one manuscripts were digitized in the past week, perhaps the last working week of 2025. This week's distribution was all over the place, Capp.Sist contributed the most with eleven. F...
www.wiglaf.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:45 AM
41 #Manuscripts from the #Vatican this week www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2025...
Includes more Ge'ez, poems sucking up to Barberinis, lotsa Sistine music by Palestrina, Biordi, et al, some classics, an Exultet Roll in use, and more!
#MedievalSky #Skystorians
Includes more Ge'ez, poems sucking up to Barberinis, lotsa Sistine music by Palestrina, Biordi, et al, some classics, an Exultet Roll in use, and more!
#MedievalSky #Skystorians
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
As we approach the Winter Solstice, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century.
#WinterSolstice
BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r
#WinterSolstice
BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r
December 17, 2025 at 10:23 PM
As we approach the Winter Solstice, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century.
#WinterSolstice
BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r
#WinterSolstice
BL Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r
Slightly dystopian views up Arthur's Seat after the fire in August...
December 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Slightly dystopian views up Arthur's Seat after the fire in August...
I have been puzzling over this for a while & thought that it might be worth opening out to the floor to hear some opinions.🙏
What is this medieval marginal figure doing?
They are clearly working with some kind of tool on fabric, cloth or skin... any thoughts on what the tool or process might be?🔎
What is this medieval marginal figure doing?
They are clearly working with some kind of tool on fabric, cloth or skin... any thoughts on what the tool or process might be?🔎
December 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM
I have been puzzling over this for a while & thought that it might be worth opening out to the floor to hear some opinions.🙏
What is this medieval marginal figure doing?
They are clearly working with some kind of tool on fabric, cloth or skin... any thoughts on what the tool or process might be?🔎
What is this medieval marginal figure doing?
They are clearly working with some kind of tool on fabric, cloth or skin... any thoughts on what the tool or process might be?🔎
😲
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
😲
Final proofs off for Anselm Adornes: Travel, Trade, Cultural Exchange, and Intellectual Networks in Scotland, Bruges, and Jerusalem. It is so beautiful!
Such a rewarding project. With enormous thanks to my co-editors @jillharrison1.bsky.social and Giovanna Guidicini
www.brepols.net/products/IS-...
Such a rewarding project. With enormous thanks to my co-editors @jillharrison1.bsky.social and Giovanna Guidicini
www.brepols.net/products/IS-...
December 18, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Final proofs off for Anselm Adornes: Travel, Trade, Cultural Exchange, and Intellectual Networks in Scotland, Bruges, and Jerusalem. It is so beautiful!
Such a rewarding project. With enormous thanks to my co-editors @jillharrison1.bsky.social and Giovanna Guidicini
www.brepols.net/products/IS-...
Such a rewarding project. With enormous thanks to my co-editors @jillharrison1.bsky.social and Giovanna Guidicini
www.brepols.net/products/IS-...
Trying to fit in all the research trips before the break so that 2026 is clearer for writing. Today a very misty and chilly Glasgow U.L. and such treasures....
December 16, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Trying to fit in all the research trips before the break so that 2026 is clearer for writing. Today a very misty and chilly Glasgow U.L. and such treasures....
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
Hooray! The British Library has just released a beta version of its rebuilt Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue: searcharchives.bl.uk
2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️
2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️
December 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Hooray! The British Library has just released a beta version of its rebuilt Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue: searcharchives.bl.uk
2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️
2,619 hits for 'petition' in Western Manuscripts, texts in English, in case you're curious. 🗃️
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
What a desk!
#writingdesk
BnF MS Français 17211; Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, French translation by Claude de Seyssel, volume 1; early 16th century; f.1r @gallicabnf.bsky.social
#writingdesk
BnF MS Français 17211; Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, French translation by Claude de Seyssel, volume 1; early 16th century; f.1r @gallicabnf.bsky.social
December 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
What a desk!
#writingdesk
BnF MS Français 17211; Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, French translation by Claude de Seyssel, volume 1; early 16th century; f.1r @gallicabnf.bsky.social
#writingdesk
BnF MS Français 17211; Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, French translation by Claude de Seyssel, volume 1; early 16th century; f.1r @gallicabnf.bsky.social
A lovely day of doing Christmas things: making a wreath while listening to the Reith Lectures. Lots to think about (how can I do more...).
Each yr a new decoration, this yr Holbein joined the cast & still childishly delighted to see my book in an actual bookshop (thank you Blackwells).
Each yr a new decoration, this yr Holbein joined the cast & still childishly delighted to see my book in an actual bookshop (thank you Blackwells).
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
A lovely day of doing Christmas things: making a wreath while listening to the Reith Lectures. Lots to think about (how can I do more...).
Each yr a new decoration, this yr Holbein joined the cast & still childishly delighted to see my book in an actual bookshop (thank you Blackwells).
Each yr a new decoration, this yr Holbein joined the cast & still childishly delighted to see my book in an actual bookshop (thank you Blackwells).
I spend quite a lot of time in class discussing the importance of scale.... I might use this in the future...🤩
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/
The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used
> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I spend quite a lot of time in class discussing the importance of scale.... I might use this in the future...🤩
This medical miscellany is fascinating:
Is the scribe/illuminator grinding his pigment as he writes or is he trying out the recipe he is transcribing?
And is one figure pulling the others foot off 🫣
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, D III 14
Is the scribe/illuminator grinding his pigment as he writes or is he trying out the recipe he is transcribing?
And is one figure pulling the others foot off 🫣
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, D III 14
December 11, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This medical miscellany is fascinating:
Is the scribe/illuminator grinding his pigment as he writes or is he trying out the recipe he is transcribing?
And is one figure pulling the others foot off 🫣
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, D III 14
Is the scribe/illuminator grinding his pigment as he writes or is he trying out the recipe he is transcribing?
And is one figure pulling the others foot off 🫣
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, D III 14
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Phew: another output for the PTAS project ✔️
A really stimulating afternoon discussing experiential learning, heritage in education, recipes, historical fashion, pedagogy & so many exciting projects currently underway. With massive thanks to @jillburke.bsky.social for a fabulous keynote✨
A really stimulating afternoon discussing experiential learning, heritage in education, recipes, historical fashion, pedagogy & so many exciting projects currently underway. With massive thanks to @jillburke.bsky.social for a fabulous keynote✨
December 9, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Phew: another output for the PTAS project ✔️
A really stimulating afternoon discussing experiential learning, heritage in education, recipes, historical fashion, pedagogy & so many exciting projects currently underway. With massive thanks to @jillburke.bsky.social for a fabulous keynote✨
A really stimulating afternoon discussing experiential learning, heritage in education, recipes, historical fashion, pedagogy & so many exciting projects currently underway. With massive thanks to @jillburke.bsky.social for a fabulous keynote✨
1. Some manuscripts have real character.
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
1. Some manuscripts have real character.
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
“…some of the most compelling women characters you’re likely to find in print. [… Dorothy] Dunnett’s female characters have both feet firmly planted in a sixteenth-century world”
Historian @yvonneseale.bsky.social on the women of THE LYMOND CHRONICLES
#BookWormSat 💙📚
yvonneseale.org/blog/2019/05...
Historian @yvonneseale.bsky.social on the women of THE LYMOND CHRONICLES
#BookWormSat 💙📚
yvonneseale.org/blog/2019/05...
The Women of the Lymond Chronicles
Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles may be one of the most influential series of novels that most people have never heard of. The books follow nobleman Francis Crawford of Lymond on his high-stakes ad...
yvonneseale.org
December 6, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Bryony Coombs
REVIVING THE TRINITY STONES
We would love to welcome you to our exciting free exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh in 2026. We would also be hugely grateful for donations to help us run our 8 week outreach programme of events, walks and talks.
www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the...
We would love to welcome you to our exciting free exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh in 2026. We would also be hugely grateful for donations to help us run our 8 week outreach programme of events, walks and talks.
www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the...
Donate to REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious part of old Edinburgh, organized by Jill Harrison
Please Help us REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious and frag… Jill Harrison needs your support for REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious part of old Edinburgh
www.gofundme.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
REVIVING THE TRINITY STONES
We would love to welcome you to our exciting free exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh in 2026. We would also be hugely grateful for donations to help us run our 8 week outreach programme of events, walks and talks.
www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the...
We would love to welcome you to our exciting free exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh in 2026. We would also be hugely grateful for donations to help us run our 8 week outreach programme of events, walks and talks.
www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the...
Look at this lovely evidence for pouncing: The artist would first produce a template to be copied by placing a sheet of parchment under the original picture & making prickings along the outline in such a way that the pricks penetrated through to the lower sheet of parchment, leaving a dotted line. 🪡
December 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Look at this lovely evidence for pouncing: The artist would first produce a template to be copied by placing a sheet of parchment under the original picture & making prickings along the outline in such a way that the pricks penetrated through to the lower sheet of parchment, leaving a dotted line. 🪡
Someone just sent me this image of me taking a workshop with my favourite enormous copy of Bower's Scotichronicon and I could not look more more delighted with this...😆
[Edinburgh CRC MS 186 Scotichronicon, by Walter Bower, 1510]
[Edinburgh CRC MS 186 Scotichronicon, by Walter Bower, 1510]
December 5, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Someone just sent me this image of me taking a workshop with my favourite enormous copy of Bower's Scotichronicon and I could not look more more delighted with this...😆
[Edinburgh CRC MS 186 Scotichronicon, by Walter Bower, 1510]
[Edinburgh CRC MS 186 Scotichronicon, by Walter Bower, 1510]
One reason that I was looking at this was to jog my memory. I am trying to find 13th -14th C manuscripts with this type of penwork... spiderweb type tendrils - can anyone think of any examples? It's a case of, I am sure that I have looked at examples in the past, but can't recall where...🤦♂️
December 4, 2025 at 8:39 AM
One reason that I was looking at this was to jog my memory. I am trying to find 13th -14th C manuscripts with this type of penwork... spiderweb type tendrils - can anyone think of any examples? It's a case of, I am sure that I have looked at examples in the past, but can't recall where...🤦♂️
Love the extraordinary inventiveness of the penwork in this MS c. 1300. The battle between penwork and illumination is particularly pleasing...
Walters Ms. W.102, Book of hours
Walters Ms. W.102, Book of hours
December 4, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Love the extraordinary inventiveness of the penwork in this MS c. 1300. The battle between penwork and illumination is particularly pleasing...
Walters Ms. W.102, Book of hours
Walters Ms. W.102, Book of hours