Many are full of naturalistic details that heighten the visual experience. Created by Attavante degli Attavanti in ink, tempera, and gold on vellum, 1495. The images that follow had a variety of functions: some served as moral exemplars, while others instilled fear or terror to inspire pious living, or reminded the living of the fleeting nature of life. Shining a Light on the Beautiful Illuminated Manuscripts of the Medieval Period By Madeleine Muzdakis on JanuA leaf from a Gradual, showing the initial P with the Nativity. Illuminated manuscripts provided the medieval reader-viewer with a rich array of images that often rival those that we encounter on Halloween, from gory scenes of decapitated martyrs or arrow-pierced saints to walking cadavers, creepy spiders, spooky cemeteries, and even witches and ghosts. Today, Halloween is more often dominated by stories of ghosts and ghouls, trick-or-treating, brave romps through haunted houses and graveyards, and of course, dressing up in costume. This church feast honored all saints, known and unknown, and celebrated the end of the summer harvest and the coming of winter. It was set aside as a night to commemorate the dead, to fast, and to prepare oneself for All Saints’ (or Hallows’) Day on November 1. All Hallows’ Eve (October 31) was an important part of the Church year in the European Middle Ages. This year I’ve decided to embrace suspense and to uncover some of the most horrifying images in the Getty manuscripts collection-horrifying by medieval standards, that is. I have conflicting feelings about Halloween: I’m easily frightened, but I also enjoy a good masquerade. She has regularly presented her work on early medieval manuscript illumination and female abbatial patronage in the Middle Ages at several professional. Not horrifying: Martyrs and Saints Worshiping the Lamb of God Female Martyrs and Saints Worshiping the Lamb of God in Spinola Hours, about 1415–20, Master of James IV of Scotland.
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