publicdomainreview:A few highlights from John O. Westwood’s sensational Victorian facsimiles of Angl
publicdomainreview:A few highlights from John O. Westwood’s sensational Victorian facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon and Irish medieval manuscripts.⠀ ⠀ While the style of the Book of Kells has by now grown relatively familiar, the lithographs of the many lesser-known manuscripts which appear in Westwood’s 1868 book reveal the astonishing variety of styles available to these artists, over a thousand years ago. Westwood’s intricate reproductions show us not only the artists’ ornate Celtic knots and squiggles but also their bold use of color and inventive integration of images and letters.⠀ ⠀ It sold for £21 in his day, that’s a whopping £1300 in today’s money⠀ ⠀ John Obadiah Westwood (1805–1893) was a bona fide polymath. An archaeologist, entomologist, editor, artist, and art historian, he was a regular contributor to the Gardner’s Chronicle, a founder of the Entomological Society of London, and the author of books about everything from sessile-eyed crustaceans to the early sculptured stones of Wales.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #manuscripts #art #medievalart #medieval #religion #bookofkells #books #illustration #celtichttps://www.instagram.com/p/B2CPgLanjzy/?igshid=47oqtugqg93p -- source link
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