The Prayerbook of Alfonso of Aragon and Manuscript Illumination in Early 15th-Century Valencia
Wednesday 20 February 2019
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Free and open to all
Research Forum Seminar Room, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Vernon Square, Penton Rise, King’s Cross, London, WC1X 9EW
The Psalter-Book of Hours of Alfonso V the Magnanimous is one of the most important illuminated books commissioned by this Valencian monarch. This king used the book as an instrument of propaganda concerning his royal authority and piety, making this manuscript one of the most important records of the social history of medieval Valencia. A presentation of the miniatures will be accompanied by a brief introduction to Valencian manuscripts of the period, essential to understanding the specific characteristics of the complex manuscript studied here. The production process of the manuscript will also be analysed, and an attempt will be made to establish connections between this and other codices made in Valencia at the same date, trying to generate possible inflection points between these pieces and to define the artistic personalities who participated in this book of hours.
Dr. Nuria Ramón-Marqués is a lecturer in Art History at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Her research focuses on the study of painting and illuminated manuscripts from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Crown of Aragon. Her doctoral thesis on the study of the Valencian medieval miniature, entitled The illumination of manuscripts in Valencia Gothic. From the beginning until the death of Alfonso V the Magnanimous (1290–1458) (2 vol. Universitat de València, 2005), made possible the reconstruction of the artistic personality of the Valencian miniaturist Domingo Crespí. Nuria is the author of several articles and books including The illumination of manuscripts in Gothic Valencia (1290–1458) (Valencia, 2007) that continues to have a significant scientific impact since it constitutes the most complete corpus of these works and a reference in the area of medieval painting and miniature.
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