Showing papers in "Quaerendo in 2008"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the publishing strategies of the Verdussens firm in the course of the seventeenth century by elaborating two case studies, one from the period 1629-30, and an other from the years 1649-50.
Abstract: After the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, the book trade in the Southern Netherlands was in decline. Some printing houses managed to stay in business by specialising in Counter-Reformation publications. One of these was the Verdussen firm. This article shows how the publishing strategies of the Verdussens changed in the course of the seventeenth century by elaborating two case studies, one from the period 1629-30, and an other from the years 1649-50. These two examples provide an insight into the organisation, geographical scope and importance of the book trade in two different sets of socio-economic circumstances. It also shows the significance of Antwerp as a hub in the Catholic book trade and highlights the creative solutions publishers made use of in order to keep their heads above water.
4 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative explanation for the appearance in the Tres Riches Heures of one or more naturalistic portraits is presented, pointing to ways in which the Limbourg Brothers may have been encouraged by their courtly environment to personalize this manuscript in this particular way.
Abstract: This chapter outlines an alternative explanation for the appearance in the Tres Riches Heures of one or more naturalistic portraits. In particular, it points to ways in which the Limbourg Brothers may have been encouraged by their courtly environment to personalize this manuscript in this particular way. In order to do so, the chapter focuses on ways that naturalistic portraiture formed part of a broader visual language that facilitated the representation of individuals in the late Middle Ages. In addition to naturalistic portraits, that language included what Michel Pastoureau has termed 'para-heraldic' signs. The chapter discusses the broader context of those signs, exploring how they were used, the places they appeared, and the motivations of their makers. It concludes by pointing to ways in which that evidence can inform our understanding of the calendar scenes in the Tres Riches Heures . Keywords: Limbourg brothers; naturalistic portraiture; para-heraldic sign; Tres Riches Heures
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a preliminary study based on 384 documents from the Low Countries from the period 1300-1500, indicates that this could be a successful approach: analysis of a few letterforms (g, d, e) leads to the conclusion that these forms indeed show a datable evolution.
Abstract: One of the main objects of the discipline of medieval palaeography is the construction of a 'scale' of datable elements in the script, which would enable us to fix undated manuscripts in time and space. Such a scale could best be constructed on the basis of the script found in charters and other documentary sources, as these come in sufficient numbers and are nearly always exactly dated. This preliminary study, based on 384 such documents from the Low Countries from the period 1300-1500, indicates that this could be a successful approach: analysis of a few letterforms (g, d, e) leads to the conclusion that these forms indeed show a datable evolution. Moreover, the types of script found in this corpus neatly fall within the Lieftinckian categories used in the study of book script, showing that the scripts in books and administrative documents are by no means separate entities.
2 citations
TL;DR: The choice of a publisher's device, combining Christian with humanistic elements, proves that he was aiming at a wide public, both Catholic and Protestant, Latin and vernacular, local and international.
Abstract: Zacharias Heyns, a son of a schoolmaster and an apprentice to Jan Moretus, established his bookshop in Amsterdam between 1592 and 1594. The choice of a publisher's device, combining Christian with humanistic elements, proves that he was aiming at a wide public, both Catholic and Protestant, Latin and vernacular, local and international. He cooperated with several printers, since he himself never ran a printing shop. In his early years he published schoolbooks in small formats, as well as humanistic books for the international market. For the local market he published Dutch translations of French books in octavo or smaller formats. Around 1600 he changed his policy and displayed a talent to assess which genres were going to be popular with the new public in Amsterdam, often rich immigrants from the Southern Netherlands, who could afford more expensive books. Whether it was a costume book, an emblem book, a fable book, a biblical epic, a travel story, a geographical description or a military manual, when the texts were not available Heyns simply translated, adapted or wrote them himself.
1 citations
TL;DR: The Grandes Heures as discussed by the authors provides another example of badges that were added to an illumination and the blank page with the impressions of the badges is the starting point of this contribution.
Abstract: The names of Jean de Berry and the Limbourg brothers are inextricably bound up with the Belles Heures . The book must have been read and admired, after the duke passed away and the book changed hands. Very few traces of wear and tear inform us of the way the manuscript was used after it left the residence of the duke of Berry. The blank page with the impressions of the badges is the starting point of this contribution. The practice to add badges to devotional books only seems to have become popular during the second half of the fifteenth century. Pilgrimage souvenirs were tangible relics of a devotional journey and, as such, a suitable addition to a book containing devotional texts for personal use. The Grandes Heures , provides another example of badges that were added to an illumination. Keywords: Belles Heures ; Grandes Heures ; Jean de Berry; Limbourg brothers; pilgrimage souvenirs
1 citations
1 citations
TL;DR: The Limbourg Brothers Nijmegen Masters at the French Court (1400-1416) exhibition as discussed by the authors, which was shown at Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmens in the autumn of 2005, provided an opportunity to examine the relationship between miniatures painted in the Northern Netherlands and those painted by the Limbourg brothers.
Abstract: One of the most rewarding results one can hope for when mounting an exhibition, is that grouping together or juxtaposing works of art will bring to light new relationships that hitherto have gone unnoticed, or have not been given the prominence they deserve. The exhibition The Limbourg Brothers Nijmegen Masters at the French Court (1400-1416), shown at Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen in the autumn of 2005, provided such an opportunity. The most important group of artist active between 1425 and 1440 were the masters of Zweder of Culemborg. Arguably the most remarkable illuminator, the Master of Catherine of Cleves had a large artistic vocabulary, borrowing not only from his Dutch colleagues, but also from Southern-Netherlandish painters. The relationship between miniatures painted in the Northern Netherlands and those painted by the Limbourg brothers is not purely compositional or iconographical. Keywords: Catherine; The Limbourg Brothers ; Zweder
1 citations
TL;DR: The Limbourg brothers' paintings of John the Fearless were exhibited in the Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen in 2005 as discussed by the authors, where they were considered as the painter of the portrait of the duke of Burgundy.
Abstract: The splendid exhibition on the Limbourg brothers, held in Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen in 2005, not only provided a welcome occasion to reconsider their manuscript illuminations but also provided an opportunity to pay attention to the work of their uncle, Jean Malouel (or Johan Maelwael, to call him by his Dutch name), who was the painter of the Valois dukes of Burgundy in Dijon from 1396 until his death in 1415. In the portrait of John the Fearless, the text makes only sense after the murder of the duke at Montmoreau in 1419. Although Maelwael cannot be considered as the painter of the portrait of John the Fearless on which the drawing and the painted copy in Chantilly are based, it is logical to assume that he, as the court painter, executed portraits of the duke. Keywords: Dukes of Burgundy; Johan Maelwael's portrait
1 citations
1 citations
1 citations