Living with Nature Manuscripts Exhibition Opens
Items from the Living with Nature exhibition
Living with Nature is the latest exhibition presented by Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books in Basel and explores the dialogue between humans and their natural environment through almost a millennium of manuscript production.
Taking place at the same time as Art Basel Week (June 15-20), many of the manuscripts are on display in Switzerland for the first time and include many focusing on medical, scientific and religious subjects as well as richly illuminated Books of Hours featuring fantastic beasts, hardworking peasants, luscious plants, and astronomical diagrams.
Highlights include:
* The Physiologus (Germany, Erfurt, c. 1150-1180) which contains a wide variety of creatures shown in a collection of stories about nature and its inhabitants seen through a moralising lens, with some representing Christ, others standing for original sin and the threat posed by the devil
* Croÿ-Arenberg Hours (Flanders, Ghent c. 1510-1520) illuminated by the Master of Sir George Talbot and other masters which evokes a picture of a life in synchronisation with the seasons, the labors of the month shown in stunningly illustrated borders taking the observer through the yearly cycle and its rituals
This exhibition is accessible by appointment only and guided tour slots can be booked online.
