Manuscript: Did you mean...?

This is the first folio of the manuscripts of the Excerpta de Virtutibus et Vitiis, stored in Tours, France. It is part of the Constantinian Excerpts, a Byzantine encyclopedia compiled in the 10th century. The capital letter shows the title...

Picture 47 of the Ambrosian Iliad - an illuminated manuscript of Homer's work dating to the 5th century CE) - showing Achilles making a sacrifice to Zeus in order to ensure Patroclus' safe return (from the Iliad book 16, 220-252).

A medieval manuscript illustration showing the deathbed of Joan I of Navarre (1273-1305) who served as queen of Navarre and countess of Champagne and Brie between 1274 and 1305. (British Library)

Illuminated manuscripts are handwritten books that are highly decorated in precious materials like gold or silver. The use of metallic materials like gold and silver is what gives these texts their name ‘illuminated’, as they reflect the...

Iceland's National Treasure: The Flateyjarbók A presentation of the extraordinary manuscript of Flatey, the largest Icelandic medieval manuscript, made up of no fewer than 225 vellum leaves! How it came into being, what kind of material...

Marco Polo (1254-1324 CE) was a Venetian merchant and explorer who travelled to China and served the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan (l. 1214-1294 CE) between c. 1275 and 1292 CE. Polo's adventures are recounted in his own writings, The Travels...

Johannes Gutenberg (l. c. 1398-1468) was the inventor of the printing press (c. 1450) who seems to have developed the device from wine and oil presses of the time. Gutenberg’s printing press not only revolutionized book making but literally...

Lao-Tzu (l. c. 500 BCE, also known as Laozi or Lao-Tze) was a Chinese philosopher credited with founding the philosophical system of Taoism. He is best known as the author of the Laozi (later retitled the Tao-Te-Ching translated as “The Way...

Byzantine art (4th - 15th century CE) is generally characterised by a move away from the naturalism of the Classical tradition towards the more abstract and universal, there is a definite preference for two-dimensional representations, and...

Nephthys was one of the original five gods of ancient Egypt born of the union of Geb (earth) and Nut (sky) after the creation of the world. She was the fourth born after Osiris, Isis, and Set and was the older sister of Horus (usually referred...