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Folia Magazine wishes all of you the happiest of Holidays with this delicate, lantern-lit Nativity scene! This incredible illumination is included in a luxury Book…
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The cover page of the Paradiso displays an architectural structure that is complex yet light, almost like a triumphal arch. It gets its extraordinary lightness…
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As the three poets continue their journey through Purgatory, they reach the sixth Terrace, where souls are punished for the sin of Gluttony. Statius, Virgil,…
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"Peacock and hedgehog", illumination from the manuscript "Spiegel der Weisheit", ms. Egerton 1121, f. 74r, ca. 1430, British Museum, London. The vanity of a peacock is reproved by a modest hedgehog, who rolls into…
"Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere", illumination from the manuscript "Lancelot du Lac", ms. Royal 20 D IV, f. 1r, ca. 1360-1380, British Library, London. This illumination portrays King Arthur engaged in conversation with his barons,…
World Prematurity Day has been observed worldwide on 17 November since 2011. Its aim is to raise awareness of preterm birth and the concerns of preterm babies and their families. The idea behind WPD was born in…
"Scenes from the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi", single illuminated leaf from a dispersed "Legenda aurea" manuscript, 1994.516, ca. 1320–42, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This rich illumination depicts four scenes from the…
Facsimile of the opening historiated page from Alfonso V of Aragon's copy of the "Divina Commedia", ms. Yates Thompson 36, f. 1r, between 1444 and c. 1450, British Library, London. The historiated initial, a capital…
In the Middle Ages, the kittens we pet and love today were either considered mere tools for catching mice or they were even hated. Whether they were seen as manifestations of the devil, transmuted witches…
Jacques Rossiaud’s Sexualités au Moyen age reveals some interesting trivia about sexuality in the Middle Ages. The essay by the French historian illustrates medieval sexual habits and beliefs, denying some clichés on the subject and…
In our imagination George, the knight-martyr, is the saint that kills the dragon, but his most ancient representations tell us a completely different story. As a symbol of evil and paganism, the dragon appears frequently…
Falcon hunting, concerts outdoors and courtly leisure: the month of May is really delightful in Middle Ages, if you are blue-blooded. Let’s discover how and why illuminators painted it so. . Leggi l'articolo in italiano…
Ugly, melancholic, unlucky in love. Maddalena, Lorenzo the Magnificent's favorite daughter, did not enjoy a very happy life. Yet she could find her comfort: she was actually the owner of one of the most precious illuminated manuscripts of her time and, in the last…
