A rabbit attempts to play a church organ, while a knight fights a giant snail and a naked man blows a trumpet with his rear end. These bizarre images, painted with squirrel-hair brushes on vellum or parchment by monks, nuns and urban...

This online gallery provides images of the Limbourg Brothers' (1370-1416) illuminated manuscripts from 1408 to 1416. Also included is a short biography abou their lives.

An interesting collection of manuscripts. Teachers and students can explore dozens of images of medieval and early Renaissance manuscripts, both religious and secular. Clicking on the image will pull up a brief description of the work's...

Examine a book of hours, or prayer book, made for French queen Jeanne d'Evreux in the early 14th century at this Metropolitan Museum site. Illustrations, closeups, and explanatory annotations populate the site, which is especially...

Digitized version of the Aberdeen Bestiary, written and illuminated in England around 1200. Access full-page displays and detailed views of illustrations, along with transcriptions of the text in English and the original Latin. Also...

Artcyclopedia maintains an impressive list of links related to known medieval European manuscript illuminators, from the 13th century to the 16th. Page includes links to museum sites and archives where images of illumination can be...

All in French, but the beautiful illuminated manuscripts can be appreciated without reading the detailed explanations. Advanced French students will enjoy the audio explanations.

Through four different "looking closer" tools you can get an in-depth discovery of a well-known manuscript from the Renaissance.

Bestiaries, illustrated volumes of animals and birds, were an expression of the intersection of the natural and religious worlds in medieval art and science. At this large database on the subject, you can learn about the symbolic content...

A selection of high-quality images from the Flemish manuscripts in the British Library along with a timeline of contemporary European events.

This resource from the Metropolitan Museum of Art provides information about The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, ca. 1324-1328, folios from the illuminated manuscripts.

Caravaggio (1571-1610), is an Italian painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting.

Browse pages from the Murthly Hours, a kind of prayer book popular in medieval Europe, with many, many illuminated illustrations depicting scenes from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

A page-through exploration of the duly famous Lindisfarne gospels, an extraordinary illuminated manuscript of the seventh century. Includes helpful commentaries, which can be read or listened to, and a magnifying glass for looking at the...

A careful study of a portrait painting of the Comtesse d'Haussonville that illuminates the important qualities of Ingres's faultless neoclassical style.

An image of "Illumination from a Manuscript", created by Jean Pichore in 1503 (Illumination).

Taken from Milton's second publication of his epic poem. These short summaries were included to help illuminate the meaning of the original text. Site by New Arts Library.

A demonstration of the art of a twenty-first-century calligrapher working in the medieval tradition of manuscript illumination, the Saint John's Bible is an artist-made version of the of sacred scriptures of Judaism and Christianity....

An online exhibit presenting Persian bookmaking throughout history. Provides images of calligraphy, illumination, book bindings, and examples of texts and genres.

Centered in Germany and the Netherlands during 1400 and 1500s, the northern European tradition of Gothic Art was greatly affected by the technical and philosophical advancements of the Renaissance in Italy. While less concerned with...

View highlights from an exhibition of medieval French manuscripts, whose subjects range from the religious, to the courtly, to the historical. See a slideshow (with narration) of featured works from the exhibition and sample three...

The subject matter of this medieval manuscript by the friar, Jacobus de Cessolis, is interesting--looking at the game of chess from a societal standpoint. Even more interesting from the viewpoint of the history of art is the illustrated...

The United Kingdom's British Library is the largest library in the world. It's collections include cultural artifacts from around the world on topics such as art, music and literature. Explore virtual reproductions of classic works of...

Test your knowledge of illuminated manuscripts using this seven-question quiz.