Sacred Beauty:
Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from the Collection of Robert J. Parsons
January 29 - May 10, 2009
The exhibition features 16 significant manuscript illuminations, primarily from the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain. Each page features a painted scene and many have additional decorations, including illuminated initials, drolleries and tromp-l'oeil flora and fauna in the margins. These individual pages of exquisite quality, produced in tempera, gold and ink on vellum, all come from religious books used for devotional purposes, such as books of hours for private prayer, missals, psalters and choir books. The earliest page, Three Maries and the Fiery Angel at the Tomb, c1310, by Nerio da Bologna, reflects the residual Byzantine style in Italian art at the time of Giotto. French and Netherlandish works demonstrate the late Gothic and emerging Northern Renaissance styles of the 15th and 16th centuries. The latest work, from the 17th century, features the classicism of the High Renaissance and early Baroque traditions.
The collection was assembled by Duke alumnus Robert J. Parsons (Ph.D., English, 1980) and will be on view in an installation accompanied by religious works of the 14th to 17th centuries from the Nasher Museum's permanent collection.
Support for the exhibition comes from the Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies at Duke University and Duke Divinity School.
