Beatrice Radden Keefe

The Undefined Gothic

At the turn of the twentieth century, a Gothic fever swept Europe as artists searched for meaning in a lost age.

Illuminating the Scriptorium

“There is possibly too much emphasis on the ‘wackiness’ of medieval life and thought. How easily we chortle at the goings-on in the margins of Gothic manuscripts, as if the pages were meant only to be silly.”

Happy Island of Psalters and Cucumbers

Thirteen hundred years ago, the monks on the German lake island of Reichenau tended a rich meadow of wall painting, manuscript making, and Latin poetry. An exhibit celebrating the anniversary chronicles the monastery’s history and art.