Early Spanish Manuscript Illumination

Download or read book Early Spanish Manuscript Illumination written by John Williams and published by New York : G. Braziller. This book was released on 1977 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanish culture is the result of many civilizations - Visigoth, Jewish, Berber, Arabic - which mingled with the traditions of the Romanized Celtic-Iberian population, once colonized by Carthage. Of special interest among Spain's artistic treasure are the manuscripts produced from the seventh through the eleventh centuries, especially those masterpieces which were decorated in the Mozarabic style (the term given to the Christians who lived in the Iberian Peninsula under Moslem rule). These manuscripts present a strange vision of the world with strong, deep colors that cover the picture with vibrant bands of green, red, yellows and violet, providing the background for monsters, tempests, human figures of every description, - all displaying an incredible virile mysticism, evoking a new ideal, the antithesis of the Classic which was to influence the art of the latter Middle Ages throughout all Europe, but which was anticipated in Spain by nearly two centuries. - Publisher.