Medieval artists transformed sober liturgical texts into exquisite treasures as they adorned or illustrated initials, decorated borders, and painted delicate miniatures in the radiant colors of stained glass. However, following the invention of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century, this exacting craft gradually became extinct. Preserved in bound volumes, and rarely exposed to light, even the greatest masterpieces of medieval and Renaissance illumination were seen by few outside the monasteries and churches for which they were created. It was not until the nineteenth century, after Napoleon's invasion of Italy and the dispersal of ecclesiastic and monastic libraries, that the preciousness and rarity of the painted page were once again appreciated. This publication presents one hundred forty-four leaves, cuttings, and illuminated manuscript fragments from the collection of Robert Lehman, one of the largest and most impressive private holdings of Italian manuscripts assembled after the First World War. Included are works by the major schools of illumination in southern Italy, Umbria, Tuscany, Emilia, Lombardy, and the Veneto. Also represented are works by three of the principal artists in the history of Italian paintings: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Stefano da Verona, and Cosima Tura.

204 pages, 169 illustrations (104 in full color), 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. Hardcover; clothbound, with jacket.

Original price $50

Treasures of a Lost Art
05-009287
Member Price: $22.45 each
Non-Member Price: $24.95 each


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