Les Enluminures

Today, we kick off our October season programming by exploring Manuscript TM111:  Dell’idea del futuro, or On the idea of Future, an unpublished treatise on chiromancy. What is Chiromancy and how is it related to fortune telling? Can you read and use this manuscript yourself? How is Chiromancy related to Carl Jung? Find out in today’s episode.  Resources: Les Enluminures TM1111: Dell’idea del futu...

Scribes were key players in the recording and preservation of knowledge in the medieval period. But who were they? What did they do and how did they live? What distinguishes a scribe from an author, and what professions most closely resemble the role of the medieval scribe today? Find out this week on the Les Enluminures podcast.  Resources:  The Medieval Scribe and the Art of Writing: https://ult...

At the core, a medieval manuscript is composed of bifolia sewn together and bound. But what materials were these pages made of and how does that affect the way you should treat your manuscripts today? Listen in as we discuss paper, parchment, papyrus, amate and wax tablet manufacture during the process of making a manuscript. We will provide some helpful tips on parchment preservation and suggest...

Laura Light, director and senior specialist, Text Manuscripts at Les Enluminures, takes a moment today to discuss Les Enluminure’s textmanuscripts.com. What is a text manuscript, and what makes them different from illuminated manuscripts with text? Who buys text manuscripts and how are they used now? Join Laura to discover the answers to these and many other questions. She also discusses the detai...

Today, Dr. Kathryn Rudy speaks with host Sandra Hindman on a fascinating range of topics related to “touching” the book as well as the innovative techniques she has developed in her forensic approach to the study of manuscripts. Kathryn Rudy pioneered the use of the densitometer to measure the grime that original readers deposited in their books, but today she delves even further into her creative...

Medieval jewelry was luxurious and costly. It was a treasured element of an individual’s sense of community, identity and of course a display of status. But why might medieval people conceal little fragments of bone, skin, or hair inside of these gorgeous objects? How did this container function, and what made these tiny, portable and wearable reliquaries different from display reliquaries found i...

We all live with jewelry and encounter historical examples in paintings, photographs and pop culture. Yet, many types of historical jewelry are unknown because they have simply not been studied. Join Sandra Hindman today as she discusses a little known type of ring: the iconographic ring. What are these precious objects? How did they come to be named and what are they made from? Who would have wor...

In this episode we cover the basic processes around the three most important materials applied to the parchment page: gold, ink, and pigment. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a dye and a paint? How did scribes and artists cut their quills and make their brushes? And how, exactly, did medieval artists make their manuscripts shimmer and sparkle with gold?

Have you ever wondered which catalogues our Founder and President, Sandra Hindman, loves the most? Find out this week as she discusses two of her most favored catalogues and their contents, discussing everything from the colors the ancient Romans preferred, rose colored glasses, Hebrew manuscripts, Dora Maar, and her work reconstructing the life of an important medieval artist.

How did manuscript books come to be? What is a Manuscript? How does a manuscript differ from a printed book? Join us today in this introductory mini episode for an overview of the organization and production of medieval manuscripts from the monastic scriptorium to university stationers. 

From Roman inscriptions to digital typography, the study of handwriting and Latin scripts spans centuries and requires a deep knowledge of materials from copper plates to parchment, rings, wax and digital tablets. Join us today as our host Sandra Hindman sits down with Marc Smith, Professor of Paleography at the Ecole des Chartes in Paris to explore the history of handwriting. Have you ever wonder...

Filled with high quality paintings by notable Renaissance artists, the outstanding Burke Collection of Italian miniatures is the subject of this podcast.  Sandra Hindman sits down to discuss her work on the newly published Burke Collection catalogue with her co-editor Federica Toniolo and with Gaudenz Freuler. Federica Toniolo is Professor of the history of illuminated manuscripts and medieval art...

They were the bestsellers of the Middle Ages. In this episode, our host Sandra Hindman of Les Enluminures sits down with Richard Davies of AbeBooks to discuss books of hours. Sandra explains the contours of the bestseller: what books of hours contained, who owned them, how they were decorated and the purpose they served. These paraliturgical manuscripts provided access to private, personalized dev...

Who is Christine de Pizan? Most know of her as a prolific medieval author, or at least know that she found a seat at Judy Chicago’s table. But how did she work and procure materials? Who worked for her and with her? How did she select her illuminators? Did she deal directly with the Queen? Find out with author and art historian Inès Villela-Petit and our host Sandra Hindman as they discuss the dis...

Today host Sandra Hindman speaks with the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Daniel Weiss. How has his development as a scholar, medievalist and author affected his work as a businessman and CEO? What is the future of museums and institutions following this virtual shift to art in the age of COVID-19? Weiss gives listeners insight into the inner workings of the Met and remarks on...

In this episode Dr. Nina Rowe discusses her latest book The Illuminated World Chronicle: Tales from the Late Medieval City with our host Sandra Hindman. They discuss some of the thrilling and often titillating stories found in World Chronicle manuscripts including the tale of the Devil on Noah’s Ark. Dr. Rowe has uncovered the deep connections these texts have to the cities in which they were prod...

Today our host Sandra Hindman, founder and President of Les Enluminures, checks in with Chairman of the Masterpiece Fair Philip Hewat-Jaboor from his residence in the Channel Islands. They discuss his early love of art and youthful career working for Sotheby’s, as well as the burning question on all of our minds: how will art fairs survive and thrive in the digital age?  If you are curious about t...

Renowned jewelry historian Diana Scarisbrick discusses the origins of her interest in jewelry with host Sandra Hindman in this podcast recorded between London and Chicago. They discuss her early, formative interactions with rings through S. J. Philips, the antique jewelry shop founded in 1869. From there they move into a discussion of the importance of working directly with objects, Scarisbrick’s...

Budding spring gardens and May flowers inspired our host Sandra Hindman to sit down with Marc Montefusco, the Managing Horticulturist of the Medieval Gardens at the Met Cloisters. In today’s conversation, they discuss the three gardens at the Cloisters (the Cuxa Cloister garden, the Bonnefont Cloister garden, and the Trie Cloister garden) the history of the gardens as an integral element of the Me...

Richard Davies of AbeBooks, the pioneering ecommerce bookseller, interviews Sandra Hindman for Les Enluminures' first crossover podcast with Behind the Bookshelves.  His interesting profile of her includes questions and answers such as:  Does she think of herself as an academic, a bookseller, an art expert, or what?  When and why did she start her business? How does she find her material? What doe...

Jan van Eyck has “never not been famous.” The most gifted Flemish court painter is the subject of today’s podcast, prompted by the recent exhibition Van Eyck: An Optical Revolution at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent. Host Sandra Hindman sits down with two leading scholars working on van Eyck; Dominique Vanwijnsberghe and Lieve de Kesel. They discuss both scholar’s contributions to the catalogue V...

Sensory studies and the immersive experience of art is a budding topic among contemporary scholars. Herbert Kessler’s recent publication Experiencing Medieval Art offers readers of all levels easy entry to the most complex topics in current medieval art history. An unusual exploration of the triumphs and the faults of the traditional Medieval survey text, Kessler’s revised edition of Seeing Mediev...

From the shoemakers of the Black forest to J.P. Morgan’s mansion, today William “Bill” Voelkle reflects on his fifty-year career at the Morgan Library and Museum with host Sandra Hindman. They discuss his early interest in science and mathematics as well as the Northern Renaissance course that changed his life. Voelkle’s early work at Columbia University with Meyer Schapiro and Julius Held, and la...

For centuries, the power of love has been expressed through the bestowal of objects conveying deep affection, eternal commitment, or passionate desire. Today, Sandra Hindman and Beatriz Chadour-Sampson discuss The Power of Love, Chadour-Sampson’s new book on the history of amorous inspirations for novel jewelry vocabularies and historical revivals. Egyptian amulets, Rome, the Middle Ages, Shakesph...

For their final discussion of Diamonds, Sandra Hindman and Benjamin Zucker consider their roles and relationship as dealer and collector in bringing this historical exhibition to fruition. Beginning with childhood recollections of stamps and postcard collecting, it quickly becomes apparent that the space between dealer and collector is uniquely blurred for both parties. Dr. Hindman discusses her p...