Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages (Metropolitan Museum of Art) [Hardcover]

Melanie Holcomb (Author), Lisa Bessette (Contributor), Barbara Drake Boehm (Contributor), Evelyn M. Cohen (Contributor), Kathryn Gerry (Contributor), Ludovico V. Geymonat (Contributor), Aden Kumler (Contributor), Lawrence Nees (Contributor), Wendy A. Stein (Contributor), Faith Wallis (Contributor), Karl Whittington (Contributor), Elizabeth Williams (Contributor), Nancy Wu (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300148941 | ISBN-13: 978-0300148947 | Publication Date: July 7, 2009

In the Middle Ages, artists explored and tested the medium of drawing, producing whimsical sketches, illustrated treatises, and finished drawings of extraordinary refinement. This fascinating volume is the first to examine and celebrate the achievements of medieval draftsmen in depth. It reproduces rarely seen leaves from more than fifty manuscripts dating from the 9th to the early 14th century. In the accompanying texts, Melanie Holcomb and other experts in the field consider the techniques, uses, and aesthetics of medieval drawings, casting light on their critical role in the intellectual life of the Middle Ages.

(20090619)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[The] show comes with an excellent catalog that brings together a pithy introductory essay by Ms. Holcomb and lengthy entries by Ms. Williams and a dozen other curators and scholars.  That number alone suggests both the broad scope of the works on view and the rarity of the occasion…”—The New York Times 

(New York Times )

About the Author

Melanie Holcomb is Associate Curator in the Medieval Art Department at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300148941
• ISBN-13: 978-0300148947
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Pen & Ink

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars revealing look at early drawing, August 20, 2009

By 

Ivor E. Zetler (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (Hardcover)

I would like to begin this review with a warning. If you are an enthusiast for drawings as we are normally accostomed to, it is highly likely that you might experience some disappointment with many of the drawings presented in this catalogue. This is not to claim that they are of inferior quality; it is just that they are so different.

Do not expect the complexity, style or perspective that one might encounter in great drawings by masters such as Durer, Leonardo or Rubens. Our eyes are so conditioned to this type of style that the flatness, relative simplicity and naivity in these earlier drawings can come as a shock and a challenge to the senses.

The 50 drawing examples have been sourced from university and monastic libraries. Some of the examples are charts, diagrams and maps. For a detailed overview see the NYT review by Roberta Smith. This catalogue comes with interesting essays and the reproductions are of a high standard. Recommended to those with an open and enquiring interest in the early history of drawing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Beautiful Book!, December 16, 2010

By 

Andrew Charig (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (Hardcover)

Well, not everyone's cup of tea, of course.

This pictorial extravaganza is based on the exhibits, with their notes, of a show of medieval drawings displayed at the Met in 2009. The graphic reproductions are gorgeous for definition and color (in several cases you can see the script on the opposite side of the vellum sheet showing through its transparency). It is prefaced by an illustrated thirty-page analysis and summary, and followed by copious notes, index, and geographical outline of where the works are normally held. I imagine it was arranged as a fine souvenir for the attendees; but only the better-heeled ones - it is obviously a very expensive production indeed - but ideal for a certain kind of coffee-table.

I suppose a display like this is not the right place for a presentation on the technical aspects of medieval draughting, but I found myself wanting to know more about what the artists' inks and paints were made from (some of those colors are still brilliant after 1000 years), and how they managed quills and brushes. If there are plans to extend the book, this is an area to consider.

But a magnificent production. Too bad I'm limited to five stars.