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Forum Index > Off-topic Talk > Medieval combat paintings galore Reply to topic
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Christopher B Lellis




Location: Houston, Texas
Joined: 01 Dec 2012

Posts: 268

PostPosted: Thu 19 Dec, 2013 11:58 am    Post subject: Medieval combat paintings galore         Reply with quote

I chanced upon this jewel of a website. The tags link at the top of the page will take you to hundreds more.
This website could keep me occupied for days if I have the time. Thought I'd share it.

http://manuscriptminiatures.com/
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Ian S LaSpina




Location: Virginia, US
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Reading list: 5 books

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 301

PostPosted: Thu 19 Dec, 2013 12:10 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Please check out his sister sites as well:

http://effigiesandbrasses.com

and

http://armourinart.com/

My YouTube Channel - Knyght Errant
My Pinterest
"Monsters are dangerous, and just now Kings are dying like flies..."
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Christopher B Lellis




Location: Houston, Texas
Joined: 01 Dec 2012

Posts: 268

PostPosted: Thu 19 Dec, 2013 12:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Ian S LaSpina wrote:
Please check out his sister sites as well:

http://effigiesandbrasses.com

and

http://armourinart.com/


Will do, thank you.
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Mark Moore




Location: East backwoods-assed Texas
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Likes: 6 pages
Reading list: 1 book

Posts: 2,294

PostPosted: Thu 19 Dec, 2013 4:01 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks for posting this, Christopher! Holy smokes! Just clicking on 'sword' shows a ton of cool stuff. Neato! Thanks again. Big Grin ........McM
''Life is like a box of chocolates...'' --- F. Gump
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Christopher B Lellis




Location: Houston, Texas
Joined: 01 Dec 2012

Posts: 268

PostPosted: Fri 20 Dec, 2013 10:20 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Mark Moore wrote:
Thanks for posting this, Christopher! Holy smokes! Just clicking on 'sword' shows a ton of cool stuff. Neato! Thanks again. Big Grin ........McM


No problem, my pleasure Cool
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Christopher B Lellis




Location: Houston, Texas
Joined: 01 Dec 2012

Posts: 268

PostPosted: Sat 21 Dec, 2013 3:14 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Anyone know what is happening here? Is this a biblical story or something else?

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Stephen Curtin




Location: Cork, Ireland
Joined: 17 Nov 2007
Likes: 110 pages
Reading list: 18 books

Spotlight topics: 1
Posts: 1,220

PostPosted: Sat 21 Dec, 2013 4:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I think its "the slaughter of the innocents" ordered by Herod the Great.
Éirinn go Brách
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Bennison N




Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Likes: 1 page

Posts: 416

PostPosted: Thu 26 Dec, 2013 3:46 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Does anyone know the significance of the red pommels?

Only the guy top left has a sword without one.

"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" - Confucius

अजयखड्गधारी
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Mart Shearer




Location: Jackson, MS, USA
Joined: 18 Aug 2012

Posts: 1,303

PostPosted: Thu 26 Dec, 2013 4:14 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Red is likely indicative of copper alloy or gilt pommels. Note Herod's crown and brooch are also rendered in red. It might also indicate something highly burnished (besides brass), as medieval miniatures of angels who are described as shining "like fire" are often shown in red. Light or brightness in the medieval mind being linked to the color of a wood fire.

An example from the same manuscript (Ingeborg Psalter):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons...alter3.jpg

ferrum ferro acuitur et homo exacuit faciem amici sui
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Jeffrey Faulk




Location: Georgia
Joined: 01 Jan 2011

Posts: 578

PostPosted: Mon 30 Dec, 2013 12:07 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

A note on the red:

The compound 'gesso' was frequently used as a base for gilding in medieval calligraphy. I'm not sure if this is a modern thing or if they did it back in the day, but in modern usage at least it is common to add some colouring to the gesso once mixed, frequently red, in order to make the normally white compound stand out from the white page.

It's possible that there were portions of the manuscript that were intended to be gilded but for whatever reason were not, and as such the red gesso was left alone as a substitute for the gilding.

Of course, red could simply have been painted as an alternative for gold, which is the most likely case here. The white pommel is probably simply an artistic 'typo'-- the illuminator was supposed to paint them all red but missed one because he's got 341 other pommels to paint in the next few pages...
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Lee O'Hagan




Location: Northamptonshire,England
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
Likes: 6 pages

Posts: 529

PostPosted: Mon 30 Dec, 2013 2:53 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Could it be his pommel is still silver as he's yet to harm his victim ?
Still innocent himself, the pommel shadowing leaves me thinking it's not a mistake,jmo Confused
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Mark Griffin




Location: The Welsh Marches, in the hills above Newtown, Powys.
Joined: 28 Dec 2006

Posts: 802

PostPosted: Mon 30 Dec, 2013 3:23 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The material under the gilding on parchment ms is 'bole'. Usually from south and central far eastern Europe, Armenia was a preferred source. Gesso is too hard and not sticky enough whereas bole is basically clay and retains moisture for longer making it sticky to apply the gilding to. Gesso is much harder and is more likely found on panel paintings. Because it stays softer its good for burnishing, gesso would crack and crumble under pressure plus its not flexible enough to be used on parchment.

Its thought that the red colour enriches the overlying gold but I'm not that convinced and modern gilders are split on the subject.
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