Illuminating Illustration: Picture Book Art Inspired by Illuminated Manuscripts

The integral relationship of picture and word that was essential to the art of medieval manuscripts is largely absent from books today. In picture books, however, we still have opportunities to enjoy the interplay of verbal and pictorial creations. This interplay and other qualities of manuscript illumination have inspired modern book artists to use that medieval art as a model. This exhibition presents illustrations in which artists employ medieval style (mostly from Western Europe) for a variety of purposes and effects. The illustrations were made from the late nineteenth century to the present, and they accompany several different kinds of stories. With narratives that teach the history and techniques of illuminated manuscripts, illustrators have adopted those very techniques to enliven the story and its historical lessons. 

Curated by Kirsten Milliard, Trinkett Clark Intern.