Book Review: Painting the Hortus Deliciarum: Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time, by Danielle B. Joyner

Read the very favorable review just published by Anne-Marie Bouché, Associate Professor of Art at Bower School of Music and the Arts (Florida Gulf Coast University), of Painting the Hortus Deliciarum: Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time, by Medieval Institute research visitor and past Assistant Professor of Art History, Danielle B. Joyner (Penn State University Press, 2016). Bouché writes, "In Painting the Hortus Deliciarum: Medieval Women, Wisdom, and Time, Danielle B. Joyner has tackled one of the most challenging topics in Romanesque studies, the illuminated manuscript compilation known as the “Garden of Delights.” Created ca. 1175–85 by Abbess Herrad for the Augustinian convent of Saint Odile at Hohenberg in Alsace, and destroyed in the bombardment of Strasbourg in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, this highly important Romanesque work survives only in copies and descriptions. Students of Romanesque art and culture will welcome this volume not only for its thoughtful insights but also for its beautifully reproduced illustrations and extensive documentation. Read the full review here or view as a PDF.