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Art History & Visual Art – Specialized Topics

This guide provides resources on specialized topics related to art history and visual and material culture.

Getting Started: Medieval Art

This section provides information on English language resources for topics related to Medieval art, including print books and ebooks, article databases, images, streaming media, and digital resources.

Get started with the Quick Links section of this guide before exploring the resources in this section.

Note: 

Print materials on Early Modern art are located in the Music, Art & Architecture Library.
Print materials on related history, aesthetics, and humanities topics can be found at the Koerner Library and/or Rare Books & Special Collections.

Databases

Start your search by looking at the Databases section of the general Art History & Visual Art guide.

Then explore the topic-specific databases below.

Articles / Journals

Print & Electronic Journals @ UBC Library

To find a specific journal, search by Title here:


For a selective list of print journals related to Medieval art, browse the UBC Library Catalogue with the following subject headings, while using the "Subject begins with" or "Subject contains" search options. Here are a few examples:


Select Art Publications

This is a selection of art journals in UBC Library holdings related to Medieval art:     

                  

  • Gesta
    Online coverage: 1963-Present.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N1 .G488 (1963-2013). 
  • Journal of Medieval History
    Online coverage: 1997-Present.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library (ASRS) at: D111.J68 M44 (1975-2003).
  • Art Bulletin
    Online coverage: 1919-Present.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N1 .A4 (1913-Present).
  • Peregrinations
    Online coverage: 2002-2019.
  • Art History
    Online coverage: 1981-Present.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N1.A78 H58 (1978-2003).
  • Architectural History
    Online coverage: 1958-Present.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: NA1 .A59 (1958-2009; 2011-2014).
  • Speculum
    Online coverage: 1926-Present.
    Also available in print from PARC at: PN661 .S6 (1926-2006).
  • Word & Image
    Online coverage: 1997-Present. 
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N1.W64 I62 (1985-2008).
  • Studies in Iconography
    Online coverage: 1993-2016 
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N7810.S78 I26 (1975-Present).
  • Medievalia et humanistica
    Available in print at Koerner Library at: D111 .M5 (1943-2019).
  • Mediaevalia 
    Online coverage: 2010-Present.
    Also available in print at Koerner Library at: CB351 .M38 (1975-1992; 2001-2019).
  • Medieval Archaeology
    Online coverage: 1957-Present.
    Also available in print at from PARC at: D111 .M46 (1957-2000; 2002-2009).
  • Comitatus
    Online coverage: 1970-Present
    Also available in print from PARC at: PR251 .C65 (1971-1994;1997-2004).
  • Antiquaries Journal
    Online coverage: 2006-Present.
    Also available in print at Koerner Library at: DA20 .S61 (1921-2005; 2008).
  • Viator
    Online coverage: 1970-Present.
    Also available in print at Koerner Library at: CB351 .V53 (1970-2016).
  • Scriptorium
    Online coverage: 1946-2012.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library (ASRS) at: Z108 .S35 (1996-2019).
  • RIHA Journal
    Online coverage: 2010-Present.
  • Peregrinations
    Online coverage: 2002-Present.
  • Bulletin monumental
    Online coverage: 1834-2016.
    Also available in print at the Music, Art & Architecture Library at: N1.B84 M65 (1851-1972 (incomplete); 1973-Present).
  • Revue des études byzantines
    Online coverage: 1943-2019.
    Also available in print at Koerner Library at: DF501 .R4 (1946-2018).

Books on Medieval Art

Highlighted Resources

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Sourcebooks & Documents

Bibliographies

Illuminated Manuscripts

UBC Library has many high quality facsimiles of illuminated manuscripts in its collections. A facsimile is an exact copy of the contents and format of an original manuscript or book.  Here are just a few examples at UBC Library: 

   

Image source: UBC Library Communications & Marketing.

  • The Book of Kells
    A facsimile of this 8th century illuminated Gospel book is housed in a display case in the Ridington Room, on Level 3 of the Music, Art & Architecture Library in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC). The accompanying presentation and commentary book is housed in Rare Books & Special Collections, on Level 1 of the IKBLC.
  • Codex Vindobonensis
    First considered to have been the hour book of Charles the Bold (1433-1477); then of his daughter Marie, Duchess of Burgundy (1457-1482). The illuminations are ascribed in part to the Master of Mary of Burgundy.
  • The Luttrell Psalter
    Commissioned by Sir Geoffrey Luttrell (1276-1345), a medieval knight and lord of the manor of Irnham in Lincolnshire, ca. 1320-1340. Written and illustrated on parchment in England by anonymous scribes and artists.
  • The Morgan Crusader Bible
    Miniature paintings depict events from the Hebrew Bible, set in the scenery and costumes of 13th century France, depicted from a Christian perspective. The original folios are held in the collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the J. Paul Getty Museum.
  • Codex Gerundensis
    The Gerona Beatus [Sancti Beati a Liebana in Apocalypsin Codex Gerundensis] is a 10th century illustrated manuscript of the Commentary on the Apocalypse -- a reflection on the Book of Revelation -- by Spanish monk Saint Beatus of Liebana (c. 730-800).
  • Trinity Apocalypse
    Produced in England, ca.1255–60, its 75 miniatures depicti scenes from the biblical Book of Revelation in the Anglo-French illustrated Apocalypse tradition.
  • Vienna Genesis (Weiner Genesis)
    Likely produced in Syria in the first half of the 6th century, the text is a fragment of the Book of Genesis from the Greek Old Testament translation with miniatures at the bottom of the folios. 

Images

Websites