Art in a Time of War: The Master of Morgan 453 and Manuscript Illumination in Paris during the English Occupation (1419–1435)

• Illumination & illustration of books
• Medieval art history
• Cultural & intellectual history (c. 500-1500)
• France (c. 500-1500)

In the Hundred Years’ War, when Paris fell to the English in 1420, the French capital became an occupied city. Parisian patrons of the book arts – and most of their illuminators – fled. The fifteen-year occupation of Paris has been deemed a fallow period for French illumination. Greg Clark’s study reveals a subtler reading of the manuscripts. He traces the career of a Netherlandish artist – dubbed the Master of Morgan 453 – who worked in Paris, Amiens, and Picardy during these troubled times. Clark thoroughly analyzes the work and influence of this animated expressionist and iconographic trailblazer.
Roger S. Wieck, The Morgan Library and Museum

“The strength of the book is not just in the textual and visual information presented, which is vast, but also in its ability inspire future research. Clark has laid the groundwork for fruitful investigations.”  (Paula Mae Carns, in The Medieval Review, 18.03.12)