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Table Fountain, c. 1320–40. France, Paris. Gilt-silver and translucent enamels; overall: 33.8 x 25.4 x 26 cm (13 5/16 x 10 x 10 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade 1924.859

Conceptually and stylistically, this object is beyond all else a piece of Gothic architecture in miniature with vaults, pinnacles, columns, and traceried arches. Though the artist who created it is unknown, he was unquestionably inspired by the great Gothic buildings of his time.

The table fountain is a three-tiered assembly combining cast elements with bent sheets of gilt-silver. To these have been attached a series of enamel plaques representing grotesque figures, some of which play musical instruments. Water wheels and bells were added to capture motion and sound.

The rich detail, precious materials, and involved ornamentation of this deluxe object suggest it would have been expensive to produce and highly treasured by its original owner, someone of high status, and would have been deployed as an object of spectacle. This is the most complete example of its type known to survive from the Middle Ages. Medieval inventories reveal that small fountains like this, often taking various forms, and generally made from precious metals, once existed in large numbers, thus making the Cleveland table fountain an extremely rare object.

I'm looking for a medieval snail person! 🐌

I'm working on a little iOS app (not released yet!) where I bring weird and adorable creatures from medieval manuscripts to life in the iPhone's Dynamic Island.

I've already added a few creatures, but I'd really love to add a snail person next! 😂

I've been searching Wikimedia Commons, but I haven't found an illustration that feels quite right and is clearly available for commercial use.

Does anyone know where I could find a good medieval snail-person illustration that's in the public domain or available under a license that allows commercial use?

I'd really appreciate links to downloadable images with clear copyright or licensing information!

Researchers have been trying to identify which abbot is depicted here but so far have had no luck.

This funerary effigy represents one of the abbots of Cerne Abbey in Dorset, in southern England. His identity is unknown. Portrayed with tonsured (shaved) head and tightly curled beard, the abbot clasps a book in his left hand and traces of his crozier (staff) may be seen in his right hand—symbols of his office and pastoral authority. The figure is carved from "Purbeck marble," a limestone unique to the Purbeck Hills of Dorset. Very little remains of Cerne Abbey today, but it is known to have existed as early as the 9th century. The abbey was dissolved in 1539 by King Henry VIII during the English Reformation, at which time its buildings were razed to the ground. This is the only work of art that survives from the abbey and, though buffeted by time and history, retains much of its fine sculptural character. The sculpture has the additional distinction of being the only monument of its type in an American museum.

Effigy of an Abbot, c. 1225. England, Dorset, 13th century. Purbeck marble; overall: 105.1 x 48.3 x 22 cm (41 3/8 x 19 x 8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1977.71

The Colombino-Becker Codex is the collective name for the Colombino Codex and the Becker I Codex two pre-Hispanic manuscripts from the Mixtec culture that were originally part of a single document. The Colombino-Becker Codex was created in Tututepec, in the modern-day Mexican state of Oaxaca, during the 12th century. It is a mytho-historical document that illustrates parts of the lives of the Mixtec rulers Eight-Deer and Four-Wind. The codex is crafted from a strip of tanned deerskin, folded like a screen to form individual pages. Its illustrations are pictographic, stylized, and colored with plant-based pigments. The codex was divided during the early years of the Conquest. Both parts remained in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca until the 19th century, partly due to their close connection to the Villagómez family a lineage of indigenous leaders (caciques) from that area. The Becker I Codex left Mexico in the possession of the German collector Philipp Becker; following his death, it was donated to the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, Austria. The Colombino Codex remains in Mexico, held by the National Library of Anthropology and History in Mexico City; it is the only pre-Hispanic codex that remains within the country's territory. The Mixtec "Colombino-Becker" Codex is associated with Tututepec, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

My artist friends are in comic con for the weekend having fun and making good money:(
but I am home as I didn’t get an artist alley table this time.(sad lonely drawing sound)

I recently finished painting this 54mm white-metal figure representing a knight in the service of the House of Toggenburg.

The Counts of Toggenburg were a noble family from what is now eastern Switzerland. They played an important role in the region during the Middle Ages, particularly in the 13th–15th centuries.

Hope you enjoy the figure!

cast iron 39 x 32 x 38 cm, Museum of Asian Art as part of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin

I recently purchased this Arabic manuscript leaves the dealer’s handwritten label on the holder reads:
CORAN
OTTOMAN
Scripture NASKHI
HÉGIRE 570
The dealer also wrote “1263” elsewhere on the holder. Neither date is written on the manuscript itself.
I’m trying to determine whether these are genuine Qur’an manuscript leaves, their likely age and origin, and what the two dates might mean.
One thing that confuses me is that 570 AH would correspond to approximately 1174–1175 CE, well before the Ottoman Empire emerged. Could the dealer have made a dating or attribution error?
I’d appreciate any insights into the script!

Thank you!

This woodcut print illustrates Paradiso (Canto XXII) from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, depicting Dante and Beatrice as they ascend into the Eighth Heaven (the Sphere of Fixed Stars). They are surrounded by the souls of saints, apostles, and disciples floating among constellations.The print appeared in the prominent 1544 edition published in Venice by Francesco Marcolini, featuring commentary by Alessandro Vellutello.

This magnificent and extremely rare artifact is the front cover (or book binding) of the Golden Codex of Echternach (Codex Aureus Epternacensis).

It is one of the most significant works of Ottonian art (dating to the era of the German Empire, c. 11th century). Created between approximately 1030 and 1050, the cover is now housed in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. It represents the absolute pinnacle of medieval goldsmithing and craftsmanship. The cover consists of a wooden base overlaid with gold; it is literally studded with precious stones sapphires, emeralds, garnets, and pearls and embellished with delicate cloisonné enamel and filigree work. These stones were not merely decorative; they held profound symbolic meaning, representing the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Based on this:

https://manuscriptminiatures.com/4360/9258

I posted the original version of this last week. My kids had some gold acrylic paint left over from some painting they did the other day so I decided to illuminate the figures with it.

I came across a similar question in r/arthistory but for the 16th century. So I thought it might be fun to ask this for an earlier period.

From gothic, to proto-renaissance, to international gothic, to the Italian and Northern Renaissance, there is a diverse selection

The Madonna is seated humbly on the ground nursing her child. Saint George and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael kneel nearby, while Christ’s disciples appear radiating from the Madonna’s halo in the form of stars. In contrast with the Virgin’s purity, Eve lies in the lower part of the painting. Coaxed by the serpent, she raises the forbidden fruit to her mouth, thus condemning humankind through her original sin. The juxtaposition of these two images affirms the Incarnation and the role of Christ and the Virgin in the redemption story. The deep scratches on the surface of the panel, especially on the serpent’s face and Eve’s wrist, likely resulted from a zealous Christian’s symbolic attack on the power of evil. The artist, Olivuccio di Ciccarello, is known to have been active in the Marche in central Italy. Little is known of his life except that he was an important and prolific painter in Ancona, where he died. His paintings were formerly attributed to Carlo da Camerino, an apparently nonexistent artist, on the basis of a mistaken reading of his signature on a crucifix.

Like the title says, I’m looking for any middle age art-marginalia, doodles, miniatures etc that features hybrid knights—monsters or creatures where one half is a knight and the other half is an animal. Included are some examples I’ve come across myself but I would love to find more, especially if the animal half is draconic. Anybody got anything good?

Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai. Artist unknown. Theorized/supposed to have been created by a crusader painter due to the styling of the beard which was uncommon in Byzantine art.

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Image pictured: Jan van Horst – Market Scene (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest) (1569)

These doodles were often made by later readers. All were found in manuscripts I browsed through for fun on digitalcollections.nlg.gr