Congratulations to John Decker for his contribution to the book Renaissance Quarterly(Vol. 71.1) with the article titled “Aid, Protection, and Social Alliance: The Role of Jewelry in the Margins of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves”
We would like to congratulate and express admiration to John Decker, Chair of the History of Art and Design Department at Pratt Institute, for his contribution to the book Renaissance Quarterly(Vol. 71.1). This book provides excellent resources for understanding theological aspects of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, its interpretation through the centuries.
Decker’s article “Aid, Protection, and Social Alliance: The Role of Jewelry in the Margins of the Hours of Catherine of Cleves” examines five miniatures in the Hours of Catherine of Cleves (completed 1442).
Each folio contains representations of jewelry in the margins, which operate on two different levels. First, they demonstrate Catherine of Cleves’ adoration of five female saints. Decker argues that the fictive jewelry may be understood as simulated ex-votosdesigned to secure the aid and protection of these saints. Second, the images can be seen as a strategy for establishing strategic alliances with each saint. As a final dimension, Decker explores how the vitaeof these saints may have had resonances for the duchess that help explain the focus placed on them in the manuscript.
Image from: http://www.themorgan.org/collection/Hours-of-Catherine-of-Cleves