II. Organization of the Index:
Based on the model of the “Handschriftencensus” of German-language works,
( http://www.handschriftencensus.de/ ), the Index of Manuscripts Illuminated in Women’s Scriptoria includes Latin as well as vernacular books. It lists information about the illuminations along with textual and codicological information in an effort to provide an overview of the manuscript matrix, connecting its written content and intended use with its art.
Multiple indexes (still to be added) will allow researchers to examine book production by convent, city, region, religious order, date, content, illustration themes, type of work, format, or language. Thus, users can put together information on questions such as the ratio of vernacular to Latin (or hybrid) texts of a particular kind or find manuscripts with a specific sort of illumination.
The manuscripts listed here are divided into three groups:
I. Artists whose names are known from colophons and other documents (arranged alphabetically).
II. Manuscripts of anonymous illuminators identified by an archivist, cataloguer or researcher as originating in a women’s convent scriptorium or having a colophon or other reference that identifies the artist as a nun. (These are organized by convent, city, and region.)
III. Anonymous manuscripts probably by nuns that have not been specifically attributed by a scholar, researcher, cataloguer or archivist to a women’s scriptorium, but which stylistically resemble other manuscripts firmly attributed to women’s convent workshops and which are characterized in addition bythree or more of the following descriptive criteria:
1. Written by a female scribe
2. A manuscript in the vernacular or a mixture of Latin and German
3. A Latin liturgical book with instructions and/or glosses in German or simplified Latin
4. Particular forms of hybrid works (such as the Easter and Christmas "orationalia" produced
in North-German women's convent scriptoria)
5. Content thematically characteristic of manuscripts from women’s convents (vernacular
prayer books, German translations of saints’ lives, vernacular sermon collections)
6. Very small size (not a book of hours but smaller than approx. 5 x 3.5 in. [12.7 x 8.9 cm]
7. Women depicted prominently in the manuscript (many nuns and female saints, numerous
images of women in the margins)
8. Use of fine embroidery or needlework in the production of the manuscript
9. Images and iconography typically stemming from manuscripts produced in convent
scriptoria (e.g., many images of the infant Christ, nuns embracing Christ)
10. Suggestion by a cataloguer that the manuscript could be from a women’s religious
community or convent workshop.
11. From the same hand as another manuscript with several of the above.
12. Originally owned by or originating at a women’s house or double convent
13. Originating at a convent known to have produced other manuscripts illuminated by
women artists.
COPYRIGHT NOTE:
This index is sponsored by AGFEM and copyrighted by Creative Commons. The materials are made available to researchers but not for commercial use and may not be modified. References to these materials must cite: “Index of Manuscripts Illuminated by Women in Religious Communities of the Middle Ages (http://www.agfem-art)” and must include the date of the entry and the name of the author of that entry.
Based on the model of the “Handschriftencensus” of German-language works,
( http://www.handschriftencensus.de/ ), the Index of Manuscripts Illuminated in Women’s Scriptoria includes Latin as well as vernacular books. It lists information about the illuminations along with textual and codicological information in an effort to provide an overview of the manuscript matrix, connecting its written content and intended use with its art.
Multiple indexes (still to be added) will allow researchers to examine book production by convent, city, region, religious order, date, content, illustration themes, type of work, format, or language. Thus, users can put together information on questions such as the ratio of vernacular to Latin (or hybrid) texts of a particular kind or find manuscripts with a specific sort of illumination.
The manuscripts listed here are divided into three groups:
I. Artists whose names are known from colophons and other documents (arranged alphabetically).
II. Manuscripts of anonymous illuminators identified by an archivist, cataloguer or researcher as originating in a women’s convent scriptorium or having a colophon or other reference that identifies the artist as a nun. (These are organized by convent, city, and region.)
III. Anonymous manuscripts probably by nuns that have not been specifically attributed by a scholar, researcher, cataloguer or archivist to a women’s scriptorium, but which stylistically resemble other manuscripts firmly attributed to women’s convent workshops and which are characterized in addition bythree or more of the following descriptive criteria:
1. Written by a female scribe
2. A manuscript in the vernacular or a mixture of Latin and German
3. A Latin liturgical book with instructions and/or glosses in German or simplified Latin
4. Particular forms of hybrid works (such as the Easter and Christmas "orationalia" produced
in North-German women's convent scriptoria)
5. Content thematically characteristic of manuscripts from women’s convents (vernacular
prayer books, German translations of saints’ lives, vernacular sermon collections)
6. Very small size (not a book of hours but smaller than approx. 5 x 3.5 in. [12.7 x 8.9 cm]
7. Women depicted prominently in the manuscript (many nuns and female saints, numerous
images of women in the margins)
8. Use of fine embroidery or needlework in the production of the manuscript
9. Images and iconography typically stemming from manuscripts produced in convent
scriptoria (e.g., many images of the infant Christ, nuns embracing Christ)
10. Suggestion by a cataloguer that the manuscript could be from a women’s religious
community or convent workshop.
11. From the same hand as another manuscript with several of the above.
12. Originally owned by or originating at a women’s house or double convent
13. Originating at a convent known to have produced other manuscripts illuminated by
women artists.
COPYRIGHT NOTE:
This index is sponsored by AGFEM and copyrighted by Creative Commons. The materials are made available to researchers but not for commercial use and may not be modified. References to these materials must cite: “Index of Manuscripts Illuminated by Women in Religious Communities of the Middle Ages (http://www.agfem-art)” and must include the date of the entry and the name of the author of that entry.