The Book of Deeds: March 2012

The idea that tights are not pants is something that goes back to the medieval ages. In the mid-fifteenth century there was a law that restricted the wearing of short tunics that revealed the male butt to the upper class. This fashion choice back then, as it is today, was not a practice accepted by all. Some considered it a deformation for honest man, and utterly shameful.

References

References

Kenne, B. (2011). Tights, a medieval fashion faux pas, return!. The Iris Views From the Getty. http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/tights-a-medieval-fashion-faux-pas-return/

Hays, J.N. (2005). Epidemics and pandemics: Their impacts on human history. ABC-CLIO, Inc. pg 48.

Lucas, Robert H. Medieval French Translations of the Latin Classics to 1500', Speculum, 45 (1970) 225-53 (p. 237).
Muchnic, S. (1996). Alexander: Great, yes, but not perfect: Antiquities and manuscripts drawn from the Getty collection shed light on the ruler's life and some of the fantastic mythology it inspired. LA Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-10-20/entertainment/ca-55711_1_alexander-show

Whitten, C. (2001). Alexander the Great: World Conqueror. Interesting.com http://www.interesting.com/stories/alexander/

Vanderjagt, A. (2008) Early Humanist Concern for the Hebraica veritas. Hebrew bible, old testament: From the Reaissance to the Enlightenment. Ed Magne Saebo. Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Gottingen. p. 159

Telling Stories:Smbols of a Life. The J. Paul Getty Museum. http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/stories/lesson02.html

Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great. The J. Paul Getty Museum. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1701

Book of the Deeds of Alexander the Great. The J. Paul Getty Museum. http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1701&handle=book&pg=1 -http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=1701&handle=book&pg=14

Materials and techniques of manuscript production: 6. Ink. Medieval Manuscript Manuel. http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/ink.html

Student Handout: Background about Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great: for The Many Different Sides of War. 2009. The J. Paul Getty Museum. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cts=1331792459984&ved=0CCwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.getty.edu%2Feducation%2Ffor_teachers%2Fcurricula%2Fhistorical_witness%2Fdownloads%2Fworksheet18_01.pdf&ei=RophT4vIDqjC2wXF5cSgCA&usg=AFQjCNEbM9_JJaR4Li9f7DqiPM2iZXEBdw&sig2=jJqgp7tCJpS9O0GtODnriQ

Summary

The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great was a fairly large manuscript by Vasco da Lucena depicting all the deeds of Alexander the Great, good and bad, to help Charles the Bold become a great Duke of Burgundy. The work has several blank pages, but also has some of the best illuminations done by Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation.

Illumination/Painting

The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great includes fourteen miniatures in bright colors. They were illuminated by Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation, an anonymous Flemish illuminator, whose greatest work was found in this manuscript. They were done in tempera colors, gold leaf, and gold paint.

Decoration

The manuscript includes fourteen miniatures and flowers decorating the edges of pages filled with text. The flowers are next to the decorated first letter of a new section in the manuscript, which came after a rubrication.

Rubrication

The text has rubrication throughout, but most notably under each miniature and occasionally in the middle of the text.

Ink

All I could find on what The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great was written with was ink on parchment. It looks as if only black or brown and red ink were used. Through research it is my guess that it was probably written using iron gall ink, which was the common ink used in the later medieval ages. The red ink could have been made in two different ways. Either vermilion turned red by mixing it with egg whites and gum arabic, or vinegar infused brazilwood chips mixed with gum arabic.

Hands of different scribes

This copy of the text was transcribed by the scribe Jean du Quesne in Lille, France. There seemed to be no indication that there was multiple or possible multiple scribes that worked on this manuscript.

Script(s) or type of writing

I could not find any information about what type of writing was used to write this manuscript, however through my research of the time and place and by looking at the pages, I believe that a Gothic cursive script was used.

Collation and how was it put together: rulings, page, or leaf layout

The Getty refers to each page The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great as a folio with a number. The book was put together with a page layout

Material written on

The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great was written on parchment

Binding

I could find no information on how the manuscript was bound, which is somewhat surprising considering all the other information that the Getty Museum provided.

Size

The manuscript for The Book of Deeds is seventeen by thirteen inches.

Colophon

This copy of the manuscript has no colophon that I could find, but it was written by Vasco da Lucena and the miniatures were thought to be done by Master of the Jardin de vertueuse consolation, a Flemish illuminator active from 1450 - 1475 and whom worked in Bruges.