The Age of Illumination

This art history examines the visual culture of early medieval Europe, with particular attention to illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, sculpture, and church building from the end of antiquity through the age of the great Gospel books and related courts. Henderson reads ornament, iconography, and materials as evidence of how those societies understood scripture, kingship, and the sacred. The account links insular, Carolingian, and neighbouring traditions rather than treating each masterpiece in isolation. It is a study of style and civilisation: how painting in books and work in gold, stone, and ivory belonged to the same religious and political world.

Bound in gold cloth blocked with a black design. Stained-glass window illustrated slipcase. Colour and b&w illustrations throughout.