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cmamedieval.bsky.social
CMA: Medieval Art
@cmamedieval.bsky.social
710 followers 3 following 2.2K posts
Sharing public domain works from the Medieval Art department of
the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social
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cmamedieval.bsky.social
Close Helmet (from a funerary achievement?) https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.1787
This helmet was originally intended for field use. Later, it seems to have served a funerary purpose, probably as an ornament (known as a funerary achievement) suspended over the church tomb of an unidentified knight. As such, it would have been a rich and imposing symbol of the dead knight's social rank and personal authority.
November 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
cmadrawings.bsky.social
Verona Sketchbook: Female profile (page 65) https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.223.mmm
Verona Sketchbook: Female profile (page 65)
November 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Two Pounds (obverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.214.a
Two Pounds (obverse)
November 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
renemagritte.bsky.social
Soir d'orage, strange perfume by mem - 1946
https://botfrens.com/collections/61/contents/19502
cat: X40
November 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Partisan https://clevelandart.org/art/1916.31
Partisan
November 15, 2025 at 12:13 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Miniature from a Latin Bible: St. Luke https://clevelandart.org/art/1968.190
Inspired by Byzantine painting, this rare miniature represents the last surviving fragment of a once magnificent bible. The fundamental text of every medieval monastery was the Latin Bible. Monastic bibles at this time were usually large, cumbersome books (commonly in two or three volumes) designed to be recited from a lectern-rather than for private study. This exquisite miniature was excised from such a bible and introduces the beginning of the Gospel of St. Luke. Undoubtedly copied and painted in the scriptorium at Cluny, the bible may have been influenced by a manuscript carried to Cluny from Byzantium, or else may represent the work of an Italian artist working at Cluny but acquainted with Byzantine modes of painting. A large monastery such as Cluny probably had up to a dozen copyists continuously producing such manuscripts. A surviving 12th-century booklist records that Cluny possessed some 570 volumes, a large number for the time.
November 15, 2025 at 10:39 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Book of Hours (Use of Rouen): fol. 54v https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.227.54.b
Book of Hours (Use of Rouen): fol. 54v
November 15, 2025 at 8:39 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 210r https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.210.a
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
November 14, 2025 at 6:47 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 149r https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.149.a
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
November 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 111v, St. Apollonia https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.276.111.b
Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 111v, St. Apollonia
November 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 104v, St. Anthony Abbot https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.276.104.b
Printed Book of Hours (Use of Rome): fol. 104v, St. Anthony Abbot
November 14, 2025 at 2:17 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Candlestick https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.25.1
Candlestick
November 14, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
klimtgustav.bsky.social
Portrait of Emilie Flöge
https://botfrens.com/collections/109/contents/28499
Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Emilie Flöge" captures the elegance and individuality of Flöge, a fashion designer and Klimt's lifelong companion, with its elaborate patterns and rich colors. The artwork reflects Klimt's signature style, blending elements of symbolism and Art Nouveau, characterized by intricate decorative details and opulent ornamentation.
October 31, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
cmaislamic.bsky.social
Page from a Shah-nama (Book of Kings) of Firdausi (Persian, about 934–1020) https://clevelandart.org/art/1960.199.a
This section of the Shah-nama is famous for the clever conversational repartee between Rustam and his opponent Ashkabus. When Ashkabus remarked that in choosing not to ride a horse Rustam had signed his own death warrant, Rustam retorted, “Would it be the case then that in your country . . . lions, tigers, and crocodiles [all] ride on horses to battle?” Rustam then brought down the horse of Ashkabus with a single arrow; his next arrow pierced Ashkabus in the chest.
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 270v https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.270.b
This manuscript was illuminated by a circle of at least five highly organized manuscript painters active in the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges. The principal illuminator was Alexander Bening, who painted the majority of the book's miniatures. Manuscripts produced by this circle of artists are renowned for the decoration of their borders, which typically feature a rich variety of realistically-painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. This prayer book, called a book of hours, was intended not for a cleric, but for the private devotions of a lay person-in this case, Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain (1451-1504). Isabella's coat of arms embellishes the book's frontispiece. It is unlikely that the book was commissioned by the Queen herself; rather, she probably received it as a diplomatic gift from someone courting her patronage, perhaps Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros. A Franciscan friar, Jimenez was dependent upon Isabella for his advancement, first to the post of Queen's confessor in 1492, and then to Archbishop of Toledo in 1495.
November 13, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
max-m-ernst.bsky.social
Praise to Tanguy https://www.wikiart.org/en/max-ernst/not_detected_234399
Praise to Tanguy
October 31, 2025 at 4:44 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Fol. 368v, Malachi, historiated initial O, Malachi seated with a scroll https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.368.b
Biblical manuscripts were highly prized and important possessions of churches, monasteries, cathedral schools, and universities throughout medieval Europe. The biblical texts were known as the vulgate, the translations made by Saint Jerome in the fourth century from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, which became the definitive and official Latin version of the Roman Church. In the 13th century, the bible was, for the first time, produced as a single volume with an officially sanctioned sequence to its books and chapters as illustrated by this example. The very extensive decoration of this bible is arranged hierarchically to indicate the relative importance of the various texts so that full or almost full-page initials mark the openings of the first prologue, Genesis, and the first Gospel; historiated initials mark the beginning of each book and illuminated initials mark the Prologues.
November 13, 2025 at 3:53 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425), fol. 281v, St. Valentine https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.281.b
This precious volume was obviously highly prized by its owner, the French-born King of Navarre, who had his coat of arms painted on no less than twenty folios. Rather than directly commissioning this manuscript from a specific workshop, it seems that Charles the Noble acquired his book of hours -- perhaps ready-made for the luxury market -- while on a trip to Paris in 1404-05. A collaborative effort, six painting styles are evidenced within the pages of this codex, those of two Italians, two Frenchmen, and two Netherlanders. The painter who was responsible for the planning and decoration of the book, and who produced seventeen of the large miniatures, was a Bolognese artist known as the Master of the Brussels Initials. His principal assistant, responsible for most of the borders, was a Florentine who signed his name "Zecho" da Firenze on folio 208 verso.
November 13, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
cmakorean.bsky.social
Geese Returning Home https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.159
The scene of geese descending to a sandbar originated with a very popular Chinese poem and theme in painting, Eight Views of Xiao Xiang River. The geese are the symbol of the fall because they migrate from northern areas like Siberia to stay in Korea during the late fall and winter. In Korea, the word for geese in the grove, <em>noan</em>, has the same pronunciation with the word for "the comfortable life at old age." With this double meaning for a happy life, the motif of returning geese gained popularity both in Goryeo porcelain and in Joseon paintings.
October 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Missale: Fol. 185v: Crucifixion with borders (full page) https://clevelandart.org/art/2006.154.185.b
Missale: Fol. 185v: Crucifixion with borders (full page)
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Historiated Initial (U) Excised from a Bible https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.131.5
Historiated Initial (U) Excised from a Bible
November 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
Solidus of Justinian II with Bust of Christ (obverse) https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.47.a
Byzantine Gold Coins The vast number of surviving Byzantine coins attests to the level of trade across the empire. Controlled and supervised by the emperor, the producers of coins took care to represent his authority and reflect his stature. Talented artists were recruited to engrave the dies (molds) used for the striking of coins. Emperors increasingly came to include their heirs and co-emperors on their coinage, as well as other family members or even earlier rulers. Coins were recognized, then as now, as small, portable works of art. With their inscriptions and images, Byzantine coins provide valuable documentation of historical events and a record of the physical appearance of the emperors. The coins shown here include the solidus, the basic gold coin of 24 karats; the tremissis, a gold coin of one-third the weight and value of the solidus; and the nomisma, which in the 10th century replaced the solidus as the standard gold coin.
November 12, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
basquiat.bsky.social
Untitled, From Leonardo, 1983
https://botfrens.com/collections/27/contents/1170586
John B. Turner Fund
October 30, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art
cmaprints.bsky.social
The Repose in Egypt https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.99.15
These eight woodcuts (1959.99.8-15) progress from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, to the events of her early motherhood and beyond. This included the joy of sharing her pregnancy with her cousin Elizabeth, Jesus’s birth, and the subsequent arrival of the magi. After Jesus’s circumcision and presentation at the temple the Holy Family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod and stayed there for several years. The seemingly out of place last scene shows a glimpse of their daily life in Egypt as Joseph continues his carpentry and Mary spins wool. The Holy Family is surrounded by angels and helpful putti and are blessed by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overhead.
October 30, 2025 at 4:19 PM
cmamedieval.bsky.social
The Gotha Missal: Fol. 15r, Text https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.287.15.a
This elegant Latin manuscript is known today as The Gotha Missal after its eighteenth-century owners, the German Dukes of Gotha. The volume was originally copied and illuminated in Paris around 1375 -- a commission of the Valois king, Charles V "the Wise" (1364-1380), one of the great bibliophiles of the fifteenth century and brother of Dukes Philip the Bold of Burgundy and Jean de Berry. Manuscript missals were not intended for the lay user, but rather for the use of the celebrant at Mass. The present volume was therefore meant to be used by the king's private chaplain and was probably housed in Charles's private chapel, possibly in his principle residence, the Palace of the Louvre (demolished in the sixteenth century). The main decorative body of the missal consists of two full-page miniatures comprising the Canon of the Mass and twenty-three small miniatures. The style and high quality of the decoration points to its inclusion withing a select group of manuscripts accepted today as from the hand of Jean Bondol. Bondol was active at the court of Charles V from 1368 until 1381 where he headed the court workshop and also served as the king's valet de chambre. The blind-tooled leather binding dates to the fifteenth century.
November 12, 2025 at 1:44 PM