Die flämische Buchmalerei des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts

Book excerpt: Since 1925 Friedrich Winkler's study Die flamische Buchmalerei des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts has been the standard work on Flemish miniature painting in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. More than sixty years after Winkler, a new up to date survey of the evolution of manuscript illumination is presented here. In this study Dr. Georges Dogaer summarizes the new insights that have emerged in this field and discusses recently discovered archival data. The author starts with a group of anonymous artists who were active around 1400, discusses in depth the splendid and refined manuscripts that were produced under the patronage of the Burgundian dukes and ends with the miniaturists of the so-called Ghent-Bruges School, which reached its final peak with the famous Bruges illuminator Simon Bening. Each of the forty chapters is devoted to one miniaturist or group of miniaturists. After a short biographical introduction the author presents a comprehensive description and evaluation of the artist's work. All significant aspects of style and technique are considered in detail. Each chapter includes a bibliography and a list of manuscripts. More than a hundred illustrations and 17 colour plates give a good impression of the skill of the artists under discussion. --jacket.