iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 5h

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 23r clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.23.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.

011

Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Initial I with Elimelech and Naomi: Leaf from a Latin Bible (1 of 2 Excised Leaves) clevelandart.org/art/1999.123

The Johannes Grusch Workshop is named for the priest responsible for copying one of its bibles in 1267. The shop first appeared on the scene during the late 1230s, and an oeuvre of thirty-nine manuscripts has been identified. The workshop's oldest dated work is a missal made for Rouen Cathedral between 1235 and 1245. The style expressed by the Grusch artist consists of flat little figures with inked draperies of a fairly irregular sort. The bodies have white heads with small features, like the short-bearded chins of the men and pursed mouths. A large number of painters were apparently associated with this workshop, which changed its style considerably over its thirty-year period of activity. Its painting can be divided into early, middle, and late styles.

001

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 8h

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 124v clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.124.b

011

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 12h

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 98v clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.98.b

001

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Leaf from a Psalter with Historiated Initial (B): King David clevelandart.org/art/1964.149

010

Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art

Paul Cezanne @cezanne.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Maison Maria with a View of Chateau Noir, 1895 botfrens.com/collections/43/content…

011226

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 262v clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.262.b

012

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hours of Charles the Noble, King of Navarre (1361-1425): fol. 209r, Text clevelandart.org/art/1964.40.209.a

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.

052

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 118v clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.118.b

011

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Fol. 98r, Kings I, historiated initial F, Elkanah and Hannah kneeling before an altar with God appearing above clevelandart.org/art/2008.2.98.a

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.

010

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Annunciation to the Shepherds clevelandart.org/art/2011.61

The anonymous painter of this leaf has been associated with other books of hours that were produced in and for the city of Troyes. Nevertheless, his style may have originated in Paris where he seems to have developed his compositions, figures, and settings. He painted in a highly personal style that can be easily recognized by its facial types, architectural forms, and, in many miniatures, an apparent love of sumptuous textile patterns. The present miniature combines charm with dignified monumentality. The shepherd and shepherdess gaze upward toward the host of angels. At their feet, a dog is curled in slumber while sheep graze in lush green fields. The receding vista of chateaux, a lake, and distant hills cloaked in blue haze is the very essence of what a medieval miniature should be.

010

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 60r clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.60.a

011

Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art

CMA: Islamic Art @cmaislamic.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Nushirwan Listens to the Owls (recto): Illustration and Text, Persian Verses, from a Manuscript of the Khamsa of Nizami, Makhzan al-Asrar [Treasure of Secrets] clevelandart.org/art/1944.487.a

This scene is from the Makhzan al-Ashrar, the first of the Quintet. Although more historically oriented than the following poems, it served more as a vehicle for moralizing tales than for historical events. In this scene Nushirwan asks the sage Buzurgmihr to explain what the owls perched on a ruined building are saying. He explains that one owl is offering the other as many ruined cities as he likes in exchange for his daughter's hand. He thus reproves Nushirwan for his love of conquest and war and the consequent destruction of many cities.

031

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Fragment of an Ornamental Crest from a Reliquary Shrine clevelandart.org/art/1990.26

020

Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art

Henri Matisse @henrimatisse.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The Pink Studio (1911) preceded The Red Studio by months and charts a more cautious experiment. Walls and objects retain their individual colors against a pink ground as Matisse moved toward the stronger chromatic immersion he would pursue soon after.

010027

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 145v clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.145.b

011

CMA: Medieval Art @cmamedieval.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain: Fol. 280r clevelandart.org/art/1963.256.280.a

000

Reposted by CMA: Medieval Art

Gustav Klimt @klimtgustav.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Young Girl Seated (1894) depicts a pause, not a pose. Here, we see Klimt’s growing interest in private, psychological moments. The soft focus and relaxed posture mark a departure from formal portraiture, hinting at an early search for deeper human truths.