Sunday, April 4, 2010

books of hours: tales from a former life


As I opened up the Arts section of the New York Times this morning, these images from the Limbourg brothers' Belles Heures took my breath away. They also took me back to a time in my life when I couldn't get enough of Medieval art and these exquisite Books of Hours. I'm convinced there is another version of me out there right now, living in Europe and researching and writing about devotional art. And hopefully finishing that thesis on female spirituality in the Rothschild Canticles that never came to fruition.

Today I've forgotten almost everything I once knew about Books of Hours, what it was that I was searching for as I pored over them on display at the Cloisters or while buried under books about them in my college library. But I still find them magical. It was nice to be reminded of that former life for a moment this morning.


Click here for the full New York Times article: "Close Reading: One Book's Take on Life, Death, and Devotion" by Karen Rosenberg.


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