Online Talk · Masterpieces of Skin: Medieval Manuscripts on Parchment and Vellum with Art Historian Brenda Edgar
7pm ET (NYC time)
Monday, April 6, 2026
PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanayomy.org. A temporary streaming link will be emailed after the event concludes.
Before the invention of the printing press in 1450, all books were copied and illustrated by hand. They were mostly created using parchment, made from animal skins, rather than paper made from trees.
Aside from being priceless treasures, medieval illuminated manuscripts are full of visual evidence of having been made from the remains of animals’ bodies. Did you know each folio of parchment has a ‘hair side’ and a ‘flesh side,’ and that animals’ belly buttons are often clearly distinguishable? Likewise, quirks in pigmentation and anatomy sometimes manifest visually in these sparkling volumes. For medieval monastic scribes, copying Gospel Books onto the bodies of animals was a way of ‘making the Word flesh,’ just as the incarnation of Christ had done.
In this richly illustrated talk, we’ll consider diverse examples of Medieval European manuscripts as objects, learning about how they were made and used—but we’ll also take time to enjoy and explore the otherworldly style of their luminous decorations.
Brenda Edgar is an art historian and yoga instructor in Louisville, KY. Her art history research interests include relics, reliquaries, and all things Roman Catholic; medieval medical manuscripts and depictions of disease in medieval art; and the historical role of altered states of consciousness in the creation of art. Her free monthly public talk series, “Art History Illustrated,” is presented at the Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana; she also offers regular virtual classes through Morbid Anatomy, and teaches for Indiana University. In addition, Brenda is a certified yoga instructor with a robust teaching schedule. She lives in Louisville, KY with her two senior rescue dogs.
Image: Historiated 'D' with a woman in the form of a skeleton, Watercolour on parchment, from the Book of Hours, Use of Rome (f.174), c. 1480, attrib. to Matteo da Milano, The British Library, London
7pm ET (NYC time)
Monday, April 6, 2026
PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanayomy.org. A temporary streaming link will be emailed after the event concludes.
Before the invention of the printing press in 1450, all books were copied and illustrated by hand. They were mostly created using parchment, made from animal skins, rather than paper made from trees.
Aside from being priceless treasures, medieval illuminated manuscripts are full of visual evidence of having been made from the remains of animals’ bodies. Did you know each folio of parchment has a ‘hair side’ and a ‘flesh side,’ and that animals’ belly buttons are often clearly distinguishable? Likewise, quirks in pigmentation and anatomy sometimes manifest visually in these sparkling volumes. For medieval monastic scribes, copying Gospel Books onto the bodies of animals was a way of ‘making the Word flesh,’ just as the incarnation of Christ had done.
In this richly illustrated talk, we’ll consider diverse examples of Medieval European manuscripts as objects, learning about how they were made and used—but we’ll also take time to enjoy and explore the otherworldly style of their luminous decorations.
Brenda Edgar is an art historian and yoga instructor in Louisville, KY. Her art history research interests include relics, reliquaries, and all things Roman Catholic; medieval medical manuscripts and depictions of disease in medieval art; and the historical role of altered states of consciousness in the creation of art. Her free monthly public talk series, “Art History Illustrated,” is presented at the Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana; she also offers regular virtual classes through Morbid Anatomy, and teaches for Indiana University. In addition, Brenda is a certified yoga instructor with a robust teaching schedule. She lives in Louisville, KY with her two senior rescue dogs.
Image: Historiated 'D' with a woman in the form of a skeleton, Watercolour on parchment, from the Book of Hours, Use of Rome (f.174), c. 1480, attrib. to Matteo da Milano, The British Library, London
7pm ET (NYC time)
Monday, April 6, 2026
PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE.
Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before the event to the email used at checkout. Please check your spam folder and if not received, email hello@morbidanayomy.org. A temporary streaming link will be emailed after the event concludes.
Before the invention of the printing press in 1450, all books were copied and illustrated by hand. They were mostly created using parchment, made from animal skins, rather than paper made from trees.
Aside from being priceless treasures, medieval illuminated manuscripts are full of visual evidence of having been made from the remains of animals’ bodies. Did you know each folio of parchment has a ‘hair side’ and a ‘flesh side,’ and that animals’ belly buttons are often clearly distinguishable? Likewise, quirks in pigmentation and anatomy sometimes manifest visually in these sparkling volumes. For medieval monastic scribes, copying Gospel Books onto the bodies of animals was a way of ‘making the Word flesh,’ just as the incarnation of Christ had done.
In this richly illustrated talk, we’ll consider diverse examples of Medieval European manuscripts as objects, learning about how they were made and used—but we’ll also take time to enjoy and explore the otherworldly style of their luminous decorations.
Brenda Edgar is an art historian and yoga instructor in Louisville, KY. Her art history research interests include relics, reliquaries, and all things Roman Catholic; medieval medical manuscripts and depictions of disease in medieval art; and the historical role of altered states of consciousness in the creation of art. Her free monthly public talk series, “Art History Illustrated,” is presented at the Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana; she also offers regular virtual classes through Morbid Anatomy, and teaches for Indiana University. In addition, Brenda is a certified yoga instructor with a robust teaching schedule. She lives in Louisville, KY with her two senior rescue dogs.
Image: Historiated 'D' with a woman in the form of a skeleton, Watercolour on parchment, from the Book of Hours, Use of Rome (f.174), c. 1480, attrib. to Matteo da Milano, The British Library, London