Medieval Art - Tumblr Posts

Este es un broche del siglo XIII que he estudiado en la escuela de arte, en el secundario, ¡¡Hay que lindos recuerdos!!

Gold annular brooch with rubies and sapphires, inscribed "IO SUI ICI EN LIU DAMI: AMO:' (I am here in the place of the friend I love)", French or English, 13th century

from The British Museum

Ribloggo il post di @memories-of-ancients che seguo ed adoro: oggi ci propone questa croce imperiale risalente al Sacro Romano Impero, datata circa 1024-1025 con aggiunte costruite nel 1325 (forse il piedistallo?) Adoro l'arte bizantina e soprattutto i manufatti con molte, moltissime pietre preziose! Sono pur sempre maestro d'arte orafa come formazione

Imperial Cross of the Holy Roman Empire, introduced in 1024-1025 with additions made in 1325.

from The Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Oh hell yes! I'm all for this!

Blue is always my knight in shining armor, granted it's usually samurai for me, but I'll gladly change that put for metal...klank klank baby!

That's for the tag. I eagerly await more.

Kings Guard

A TMNT Dark Ages Short

(Iteration is your choice)

Song used while writing this piece"

Part 1

Her gaze, forest green, like his surroundings. Her skin, rich earth tones, like the ground beneath his feet. He came here often, to the abandoned mill. Whenever he needed to be reminded of her sweetness and warm heart. After all, it’s where they first met. Her long wavy hair hung down over her shoulder as she looked up at him, smiling, a clump of small blue flowers in her right hand. 

He stood there now, quill poised above light parchment, his heart full of things he wanted to say and things he didn’t. He gazed out over the rolling hills, his eyes catching on bright yellow and purple wildflowers. No. Even that beautiful landscape couldn’t begin to describe her. He looked around, seeking inspiration for his words, then it struck him. The way the old mill had fallen to the ravages of time. How every brick seemed to tell a story. 

He sighed, slowly moistening his lips with his tongue, then spoke out loud as he wrote. “My Dearest Angel, Time has no meaning when I am with you. The world could fade away and I would simply not care. To feel you in my arms,” the blue banded warrior paused, his quill held slightly above the parchment in his left hand, “ is truly maddening to one’s soul.” He puffed out a weary sigh, reading over what he just wrote. What had started off as a love letter, was now quickly becoming a goodbye letter. 

“I know what we have is forbidden. That you have a duty-”

“Milord?” A familiar young man’s voice pulled the warrior from his thoughts. 

He quickly set the parchment and quill down on the ruined windowsill next to him. “What is it?” He asked gruffly, squinting back at the young man. 

“I’m sorry to bother you, Milord, at such a late hour, but King Herald is in need of your services.” 

“Now?” Did the king not sleep? “Did he even try to call upon Sir Raphael?”

The young man shook his head. “No, Milord. He asked for you specifically.”

“Oh for heavens…ah forget it.” The tall warrior grumbled, grabbing the parchment and quill roughly from the windowsill, balling up the parchment as he walked past the young man. The words he wished to express weren’t coming as easily as he thought they would anyway. “Get my horse ready!” 

“Yes, Milord! Right away!”

No matter where he went, Sir Leonardo was always under the watchful eye of the king. So, it wasn’t a surprise when the young lad, known as Micah, found him in the old abandoned mill. It also came as no surprise when the king asked for him, and not one of his brothers, to escort him to wherever he wished to go. Sir Leonardo had long suspected that it was to keep him from visiting the princess while he was away. Though the king had never caught them together, he had his suspicions. 

The king’s castle was one of the biggest in the country. It had been added on to over the centuries and now stretched over a considerable piece of land. Home to over eight hundred servants and at least fifty royals attending court, Sir Leonardo found himself at the very center of the public eye. His presence was most often requested for royal events, such as balls and dinners. Not to say the least, when the king needed to be escorted to neighboring towns and other ventures. 

Everyone was quick to praise the experienced warrior on his fighting abilities and his protection of the king, but Sir Leonardo only wanted one thing. He wanted it more than gold. More than silver. He wanted her. 

Sir Leonardo walked down the familiar marble hallway towards the king's chambers. It was late, so he knew the king would be sitting in his chair, a well worn chess board in front of him. 

“Ah! There he is! My most trusted warrior!” The king smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I wish to be escorted to Tarva. We leave at first light!” He announced without preamble. 

Sir Leonardo bowed, then rose, inclining his head, noticing that the king was in fact sitting on the edge of his bed. Tarva? What in god's name could the king be looking for in Tarva? “Your highness?” He tilted his head slightly, concern coating his tone. “Tarva?”

“Yes. Tarva.” The king coughed. “I received word that a messenger from Shekee awaits me there.” The king gripped the front of his robe, pulling it tighter around him. “But first we need to wait for your brother. I’ve asked Sir Donatello to join us.”

Sir Leonardo’s eye ridges rose, his lips quirking into a smile. It had been at least a fortnight since he had seen his brother, but that meant that this wasn’t usual business.  “It will be good to see him.” 

“Yes. I imagine it would. He is not only an excellent warrior, but an even better messenger. I trust him explicitly when it comes to urgent matters. He only just got back last night.” The king watched Sir Leonardo carefully. When he didn’t react he continued. “I would have sent Micah to tell you, but-”

Sir Leonardo laughed inwardly. For the first time, it seemed the king wasn’t able to find him. “I’m sorry, King Herald, I was dealing with a family matter.”

The king squinted for a second, his left brow arching, his jaw tensing, then relaxed his face. “It’s quite alright.” He said tightly, then added. “In the future, please make yourself a little easier to find. I need you available at all times. Day or night.”

Sir Leonardo nodded. “Yes, your highness.”

“Excellent. Well, while we’re waiting for your brother, you’re free to do as you please for the time being.” The king straightened, smoothing down the front of his robe. “Also, as a favor to me. Please stay away from the mutant market. You’re a king's guard for heaven's sake! Act like it!” He inclined his head, his dark eyes softening. 

Sir Leonardo grimaced. He hated when the king expected him to act like a human. Because he in fact wasn’t. “Yes, your high-”

“No.” The king waved his hands in front of him as he stood. “None of that.” He walked up to Leonardo, his face solemn. “I know. I truly do.” He put his hand on Leonardo’s right shoulder. “I know that what I’m asking of you takes strength and courage to do so. I’m not delusional. As I’m also not delusional when it comes to matters of the heart.” The king looked up into Leonardo’s deep blue eyes. 

This was it. The king was going to tell him that he knew about what was going on between his daughter and …..

“I’ve noticed how you and your brothers are no longer as close as you once were.” The king said, gently patting Leonardo’s shoulder. Leonardo’s eyes widened as his heart skipped a few beats. “When we return, seek your brothers out. Family is too important to leave matters unattended.”

Leonardo bowed, his mind racing. “I will, your highness. Thank you.”

The king nodded. “Excellent. I will send Micah to retrieve you when Sir Donatello arrives. We leave directly afterwards.”

Tags: @thelaundrybitch @wynndigogh

Authors Note:

Hey guys! So, I've been wanting to write something with the guys in medieval times and couldn't figure out how to place them in that time period🤷 Then I was hit with inspiration by watching Vikings! The one with Ragnar Lothbrok!

I don't know how long this is going to be, but I'm going to try and stick with it! I appreciate your support! Until the next part....Be safe and be free!🧡❤️💙💜🦊

𝑨𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈 & 𝑫𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒓𝒚

Back in the Medieval Ages cats were built differently.

~ Lead mortuary cross from victim of the Great Plague of 1348.

Culture: English

Date: 1340-1350

"Stigmata As Mandorla / Passage between Earth and Heaven / Christ Resurrected Through His Own Stigmata".

Álvaro Barcala. November, 2020.

From my series of drawings "Wonderful Blood".

Back in the Medieval Ages cats were built differently.

King Frederick of Sweden received a lion as a gift and was so proud of him, that in 1731, when he died, the king wanted him preserved, but there was no taxidermist available, so he began to decay. They finally found one who likely had never seen a lion before, so this is what the king received back. To this day, King Frederik's Lion can be seen at Gripsholm Castle, a former royal residence that is now a museum in Mariefred, Södermanland, Sweden.

The taxidermist based his work on a Lion of Medieval Art.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Gripsholm_Castle

Thanks Mac, and I feel like we all had a lot of fun with this one, particularly with the Hreakgleav and a couple of others!

A lot of these track really well (I absolutely love the description of the Klethghrom/peacock), although I feel the author might be being overly charitable about the Burngraega/Swan's song (I assume this ties in with the old fable about swans singing sweetly before they die?)

Couple of extra takeaways;

The Hrongnewit / kite was an interesting one, a ubiquitous scavenger in the middle ages in Britain (think a cross between seagulls and pigeons, but a lot faster), now fortunately making a comeback (I actually saw one a couple of weeks ago!). They're not that small, but maybe the 'puny' refers to its spirit (compared to some of the other bold and glorious birds of prey we've come across in our bestiary odyssey)? Regretfully, the use of the term 'shite-hawk' in the middle ages appears to be apocryphal...

There's also the Lokfotreag / Hoopoe (at least they got the colour right!). I wanted to give something a hoopoe-like crest here, but I wasn't expecting this descrption to be for that particular bird...

I've started feeling a little defensive of the hoopoe, to be honest - 'the filthiest of birds', associated with demons and black magic. They're just little guys! With cool crests and rad orange plumage and an awesome 'upupu' call...

Then I did a little bit of research and found out that they are violent birds with oil glands that stink like rotting meat, the chicks can direct streams of excrement towards predators, live in a dirty nest and regularly practice cannibalism on one another...

Fair enough then... 😐

Bestiaryposting Results: Miscellaneous Birds

So! This is the first in our six-week wind-down of Bestiaryposting, where we run through the Honorable Mentions that appear in the Aberdeen Bestiary but didn't get their own post here because the author of the Bestiary and I have different goals.

If you don't know what any of that means, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

To see the entry our artists are working from, click here:

To see the entry people are drawing now, so that you can potentially join in, click here:

Art is below the cut, in roughly chronological order.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided to do Literally All of the birds. I am fascinated by the detail here; I particularly like the pose on the Hreakgleav, and the feathers on the Klethghrom. I would direct anyone trying to figure out which is which to the linked post, which contains a key and brief descriptions of each.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has also given us a tree full of birds. The explanation in the linked post of which is which and what they were inspired by is illuminating (pun not intended), so check that out. I especially enjoy the interpretations of the Klethghrom and the Lokfotreag. (And thank you for providing alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has drawn three of the birds in their always-charming style. For explanations, close-ups, and individual treatments of each, please see the linked post. I really like the tail on the Hreakgleav and the... frankly insane look of the Klethghrom. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

All right, we're going to identify these rapid-fire because there are a bunch of them and I'm not going to hand you a whole-ass essay here. Readers are encouraged to add their own commentary.

Tluftasong

The manuscript identifies this one as "night owl", but I've seen other sources refer to this entry as the "night heron". I'll leave that one to people who know birds more.

Lokfotreag

This is the hoopoe. Which, as listeners to the podcast know, you can trade to demons for perpetual access to great parties. The illustration is very cool, and seems to show the young birds rejuvenating their aging parent.

Hurrashbeg

Really love the Stylized Plant, of course. One of the things that really strikes me about medieval manuscript art is how particular things that Definitely Don't Exist keep cropping up in different manuscripts, looking pretty much the same. Like, unless this is by the same artist who did the Rutland Psalter, it shows an interestingly consistent artistic tradition -- I swear that's the exact same plant, and in a couple other places in the manuscript they have the exact same wyvern.

Anyway, those are clearly magpies. I don't know why they're being shot at.

Konchilkuk

This one didn't get an illustration, but it's the woodpecker.

Wobrahfmet

Yep, that sure is a raven. They actually have a really long entry, but it's mostly about what they symbolize.

Hrongnewit

This one is the kite. Yeah, that looks pretty believable.

Klomurgrae

This is... apparently the ibis. Also, from the context of the entry, I think it's intended to be standing on a snake. Neither of those look like the things they are supposed to be.

Zagsmenrok

This is the blackbird. I have no explanation for why it's brown. The illustrator clearly has access to black ink.

Hreakgleav

Yep, that's very clearly an owl.

Wahrembeag

It tickles me that these are right next to each other, because there's a moderately-well-known Middle English poem called "the Owl and the Nightingale". This is pure coincidence; they're not together in the bestiary, there are a few birds in between.

Oh yeah, this is the Nightingale.

Sarbrufeat

This is the heron. The illustration seems broadly correct, but do herons come in white? That's an egret, surely.

Keltrumram

This is the coot -- doesn't look like one to me, but maybe the artist and I are familiar with different species of coot. Readers may recall its cameo in the Eagle entry; its own is unfortunately rather shorter.

Grozfarwat

Meet the quail. I was initially confused, but apparently the plume thing I associate with quails is not actually common to all species of quail. So... yeah, good quail.

Mortelgeng

Very definitely a crow.

Burngraega

Also very identifiable, here's the swan. Head and beak seem a bit flatter and wider than I would expect, though.

Klethghrom

This was basically the poster child for "too obvious to get its own entry". Here's the peacock.

And that's it for this week, it's late. Talk amongst yourselves, or tell me what you think about all these birds.

Ever see a depiction of St. George and the Dragon? It's pretty fair to say if you've seen one, you've seen them all: Georgie on a horse stabbing a flailing dragon creature, princess piously kneeling in the background, vague landscape alluding to the homeland of the artist's patron.

The most varied part is the dragons. No one had a real definition for the thing, it seemed. For your pleasure and entertainment, I have ranked some medieval depictions based on how impressive George's feat seems once you see the dragon.

Paolo Uccello, 1456

This is a terrifying beast. The hell is that. Uccello was one of the first experimenters with perspective, so the thing also looks surreal, like it's taking place on Mars, or a Windows 95 screensaver. I would not want to fight that, I would not want to be tied to that. (Sometimes the princess is tied to the dragon for some reason.) 10/10

Horse thoughts: Maybe if I look at the ground it will be gone when I look up

Unknown artist, c. 1505

This is a rare change of form for the dragon; it's the only one I've seen actually flying (or at least falling with style). It doesn't look particularly deterred by the spear through its throat, either. Also, George looks appropriately nervous. On the other hand, it hasn't got teeth, it seems to be fuzzy rather than having scaly armor, and George is bolstered by his army of Henry VII and his children, most of whom definitely didn't actually die in infancy. Still, wouldn't want to fight it, wouldn't want my pet sheep near it. (Sometimes the princess has a pet sheep for some reason.) 9/10

Horse thoughts: I am so glad I wore my mightiest feather helmet for this

Raphael, 1505

We are coming to Dragons With Problems. This guy looks about comparable in size to George, and does have wings, but doesn't seem to be using these things to his advantage (and has he only got one wing?) And how does he deal with the neck? He does have a comically small head, but holding it up with such a twisty neck seems complicated at best. But most egregiously, he is doing the shitty superheroine pose where he is somehow simultaneously showcasing his chest and his butt, with its unnecessarily defined butthole (more on this later) (regrettably). 8/10 bc it's Raphael

Horse thoughts: AM I THE BESTEST BOI? AM I DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB? WE R DRAGON SLAYING BUDDIEZ

The Beauchamp Hours, c. 1401

We had a spirited debate about this one at work. Again, the dragon has gotten smaller, and this one hasn't got even one wing. He's basically a crocodile. So the debate became: would you want to fight a crocodile if you had a horse and a pointy stick? Would the horse trample the animal, who can't get on its hind legs, or freak out and throw its rider? Would the pointy stick be enough to pierce the croc's thick hide? In this case, George seems to be controlling his horse and putting his pointy stick in the dragon's weak spot, so we can be impressed by his skill and strategy. However, his hat is dumb. 7/10

Horse thoughts: Dehhhh

Book of Hours, c. 1480

Here we have the same kind of croco-dragon, but George's focus on his strategy has gone out the window. He's flailing around, not even looking at his target, he's about to lose his pointy stick, he hasn't got a hand on the reins, and his sword seems to only be poking the invisible dragon over his shoulder. All he's got going for him is that his hat is slightly less dumb. 6/10

Horse thoughts: Yay, new friend! Come play with me, new fr- what is happening

Final dragons put behind this Read More for your safety:

Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1432

I'm thinking this guy is at least semi-aquatic. Webbed feet, wings that seem more like fins, bipedal but top-heavy, jaws that seem more for scooping than biting. Maybe she's crawled up here from the nearby body of water to lay her eggs, and this is all a big misunderstanding. Moreover, George's dagged sleeves seem entirely impractical for the situation. 5/10

Horse thoughts: i got my hed stuk in a jar and now it is this way forever

Unknown artist, c. 15th century

I hate this. I hate everything about it. Why has it got human eyes and teeth. Why is its nose melting. Why has it got a dick on its face and balls under its chin. The fin/wings are back but they look even more useless. Also, George is shifty as hell, schlumped over in his saddle with his bowler hat thing over his eyes. The baby dragon at the bottom eating some hapless would-be rescuer is kind of metal. 4/10 at least the thing is gonna die

Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Crack

Book of Hours, c. 1450

Remember what I said about the buttholes? First, sorry. Second, yeah, we're back to that. I'll admit this one is less about the danger from the dragon itself than the very specific choices the artist has made. They didn't need to do that. It's a lizard. They don't even have. And it's like they had an orifice budget and they skipped an exit wound for the spear to focus. Elsewhere. It's so detailed. And George had an even dumber hat. 2/10 take it away

Horse thoughts: I Have Smoked So Much Weed

Book of Hours, c. 1415

This is just bullying. There isn't even a princess. That is clearly an infant. Look at that smug look on George's face as he swings his sword that's bigger than the whole little guy. This is the equivalent of when DJT Jr. hunted those sleeping endangered sheep. 1/10

Horse thoughts: ....yikes

And this is the previous one, but now the baby dragon is cute. He's chubby. He's got toe beans. He's Puff the Magic Dragon. His eyes have already gone white, implying that George is just kicking its corpse around for funsies. What's the difference between the dragon and the lamb in the background? That the dragon is dead, like our innocence. This George is truly deserving of the dumbest hat of all. 0/10 plus one more butthole for the road

Horse thoughts: Perhaps it is we who are the buttholes.

I’m obsessed with snail deer

medieval dragon based off of this twitter post :]

I think everyone needs to see this art of Gawain in timeout

Manuscript time again, the man is being kidnapped someone come pick him up

I found my niche and it's the round table looking sad in jail

The best and The siren

happy pride month once again, here’s a redraw of this iconic medieval art

when did your heart become so calloused? when did it become so hard to put a hand on a shoulder?

bargue plates - the eye x book of hours palettes

Top to bottom:

✨ Book of Hours

⚜️ Book of Hours for the Use of Paris

❣️ Book of Hours of Jean de Lannoy

🌌 The Black Hours