The Art of the Book: Its Place in Medieval Worship

by Margaret M. Manion (editor), Bernard J. Muir (Editor)

This collection of articles, by scholars with established reputations in the field, focuses on medieval books designed for use in Christian worship, both public and private. Examples are drawn from French, Italian and Dutch work of the fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. The contributors explore the various ways in which text and imagery complement and re-enforce one another, and the importance of music and chant is also addressed. The interdisciplinary focus ensures that it will be of wide interest to scholars in many different fields.


This is a work of original contributions by scholars with established reputations in the field; no other volume deals with the same material. Much of the visual material has been previously unpublished or inaccessible.

360 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Prof. Emeritus Margaret M. Manion is one of Australia’s pre-eminent art historians, whose scholarship on Medieval and Renaissance art, in particular the art of the illuminated manuscript, is acclaimed internationally. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (of which she was Deputy President) and of the Australian College of Education.

She was a foundation member for Australia of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art, a foundation member of the Società di Storia della Miniatura, Italy, and served for two terms as Foreign Adviser to the International Center of Medieval Art, New York. She is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Emeritus Trustee at the National Gallery of Victoria.