PUBLICATIONS

For a full list of articles, essays, catalogue entries, and more, see CV.

An Art History of Gender Identity and Sexuality

Introductory chapter in Smarthistory's Reframing Art History online textbook.

Throughout time and across the planet, works of art have revealed the complexities of a wide range of gender identities and human couplings—expressions that can connect LGBTQIA2+ people and allies today with a vibrant past and inclusive future.

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear / Silence = Death, 1989 (Whitney Museum of American Art)

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear / Silence = Death, 1989 (Whitney Museum of American Art)

Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art

Edited by Bryan C. Keene and K. Collins
With an introduction by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

This abundantly illustrated book examines the figure of Balthazar, one of the biblical magi, and explains how and why he came to be depicted as a Black African king.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, magi from the East, following a star, traveled to Jerusalem bearing precious gifts for the infant Jesus. The magi were revered as wise men and later as kings. Over time, one of the three came to be known as Balthazar and to be depicted as a Black man.

Balthazar was familiar to medieval Europeans, appearing in paintings, manuscript illuminations, mosaics, carved ivories, and jewelry. But the origin story of this fascinating character uncovers intricate ties between Europe and Africa, including trade and diplomacy as well as colonization and enslavement.

In this book, experts in the fields of Ethiopian, West African, Nubian, and Western European art explore the representation of Balthazar as a Black African king. They examine exceptional art that portrays the European fantasy of the Black magus while offering clues about the very real Africans who may have inspired these images. Along the way, the authors chronicle the Black presence in premodern Europe, where free and enslaved Black people moved through public spaces and courtly circles. The volume’s lavish illustrations include selected works by contemporary artists who creatively challenge traditional depictions of Black history. 

“An inherently fascinating and informative art history presentation that is unreservedly recommended as a prized addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university Medieval/ Renaissance Art History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.”
Midwest Book Review

“This gorgeously illustrated volume gathers together cutting-edge articles to probe the image of the Black magus in European art. As a marker of real historical contacts, imaginary kingdoms, and known Christian princes, the presence of the Black king at the scene of Christ’s Nativity is here read within a diverse range of possible interpretations. The book’s strength is its polyvocality: no one story is put forward to explain the Black Balthazar. Rather, it tells the complicated history of the early modern period, in which connections among a whole variety of sub-Saharan African communities and western Europe were on the rise. Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art is required reading for those curious about how the past informs current debates about race in the West.”
—Sarah Guérin, Assistant Professor, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

“This beautifully illustrated book on Balthazar, the African king believed to be one of the “wise men” who traveled from afar to acknowledge the divinity of the infant Christ, is a real gift. The range of related topics covered spreads out into the early modern world—the rise of African kingdoms as well as pertinent aspects of the slave trade—something readers today are looking for. The authors, experts all, know how to write concisely and to be enjoyed as well as impart insight.”
—Joaneath Spicer, The James A. Murnaghan Curator of Renaissance and Baroque Art, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore  

152 pages
8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches
121 color illustrations
ISBN 978-1-60606-785-7
paperback

Getty Publications

2023

The Fantasy of the Middle Ages: An Epic Journey through Imaginary Medieval Worlds

Larisa Grollemond and Bryan C. Keene

This abundantly illustrated book is an illuminating exploration of the impact of medieval imagery on three hundred years of visual culture.

From the soaring castles of Sleeping Beauty to the bloody battles of Game of Thrones, from Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings to mythical beasts in Dungeons & Dragons, and from Medieval Times to the Renaissance Faire, the Middle Ages have inspired artists, playwrights, filmmakers, gamers, and writers for centuries. Indeed, no other historical era has captured the imaginations of so many creators.

This volume aims to uncover the many reasons why the Middle Ages have proven so applicable to a variety of modern moments from the eighteenth through the twenty-first century. These “medieval” worlds are often the perfect ground for exploring contemporary cultural concerns and anxieties, saying much more about the time and place in which they were created than they do about the actual conditions of the medieval period. With over 140 color illustrations, from sources ranging from thirteenth-century illuminated manuscripts to contemporary films and video games, and a preface by Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton, The Fantasy of the Middle Ages will surprise and delight both enthusiasts and scholars.

This title is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from June 21 to September 11, 2022.

“The upbeat and insightful treatment of medievalism differs from conventional approaches.”
—D. H. Cibelli, Choice

“A vibrant guide to ‘medievalism’. . . . Packed with illustrations, attesting beautifully to the multicoloured – as well as multicultural – splendour of medievalist art. . . . This is a work that opens medieval fantasy up to everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, race or class. . . . The Middle Ages do indeed emerge from this book as a fantasy, an endlessly imaginative tapestry woven by a million dreamers.”
—James Paz, The Times Literary Supplement

“Excellent.”
Hyperallergic

“By turns informative and captivating, this will enchant historians as much as it will reenactors of the Renaissance Faire stripe.”
Publishers Weekly

“A comprehensive, inclusive analysis of the many ways in which the Middle Ages inform popular culture. . . . Provocative and thorough.”
—Jeana Jorgensen, Foreword Reviews

"This lively and engaging book highlights the key role that visual culture has played in constructing modern (mis)understandings of the so-called Middle Ages. Delightful images of everything from precious antiquities to contemporary film stills support the authors’ insightful analyses. Direct and nuanced engagement with issues around race, gender, sexuality, and other questions of diversity make The Fantasy of the Middle Ages essential reading for anyone curious about how we come to know the material cultures of the past as well as the present.”
—Maggie M. Williams, Executive Director, The Material Collective

“A fascination on every page. This bright and bold exploration of medievalism is not just a collection of stories told and reimagined in every new age, but a rich tapestry in its own right. Inclusive, illuminating, and filled with insight.”
—A. R. Capetta & Cory McCarthy, authors of the bestselling Once & Future series

 "Whether you're a storyteller looking for inspiration, an art historian, or simply a lover of beautiful things paying homage to other beautiful things, Fantasy of the Middle Ages is a lush and thoughtful exploration of why this period continues to affect our art today in both obvious and surprising ways.”
—Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of the Camelot Rising Trilogy

“With wit and verve, The Fantasy of the Middle Ages explores the perennial popularity of the medieval world in the modern imagination from Tolkien to Game of Thrones. Grollemond and Keene convincingly demonstrate how storytellers of all kinds utilize the rich imagery of the Middle Ages to create an alternative fantasy space, almost a playground, where their own contemporary fears and anxieties can be more safely probed, and paradigms subverted. From the Pre-Raphaelites to Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda, we remain enamored with our own fantasy medieval worlds and the consequences of this infatuation continue to remake and reshape the material culture of the twenty-first century.”
—Kristina Pérez, author of The Sweet Black Waves Trilogy

“The fascination with magic and the Middle Ages has captured imaginations for generations, and ours is no different. Grollemond and Keene take us through the tropes and imagery that first built the fantasy of medieval times and follow it through to our own modern day retellings with vivid illustrations, thought-provoking commentary on the past and current social context, and careful deconstruction of what was truly historical and what has become legend. An intriguing read for anyone who has wondered at the origins of legends like Robin Hood, King Arthur and the Round Table, and the magic and myth of fairies, princesses, wizards, and kings.”

—Jenny Elder Moke, author of Hood 

“A lavishly illustrated book full of delights and surprises: King Arthur’s knights, talking animals, music, movies, maps, and Renaissance fairs all make an appearance, alongside insights into race, gender, and sexuality, both in the medieval past and today.  The authors even offer glimpses of vast, premodern worlds beyond Europe and Christendom—in this book, your grandad's European Middle Ages is wholly remade by new ideas and new pleasures in how the past is recovered today.”
—Geraldine Heng, author of The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages and The Global Middle Ages: An Introduction 


144 pages

9 x 10 1/4 inches

142 color illustrations

ISBN 978-1-60606-758-1

hardcover

Getty Publications

2022 

Global Medieval Contexts 500-1500: Connections and Comparisons

Kimberly Klimek and Pamela Troyer with Sarah Davis Secord and Bryan C. Keene

Global Medieval Contexts 500–1500: Connections and Comparisons (1st Edition) provides a unique wide-lens introduction to world history during this period. Designed for students new to the subject, this textbook explores vital networks and relationships among geographies and cultures that shaped medieval societies. The expert author team aims to advance a global view of the period and introduce the reader to histories and narratives beyond an exclusively European context. 

Key Features:

As a result, this text is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about the histories and cultures of the period, as well as their relevance to our own contemporary experiences and perspectives.

Please visit our Instructor and Student Resource website, providing integrated digital and print teaching and learning resources that have been developed to improve learning outcomes, through the provision of diverse and engaging content mapped to the textbook. These resources are free to users of the book, and have been developed by authors and subject specialists to provide accessible, high quality content that can be used by instructors to supplement the course in lectures and teaching sessions, and by students for self-testing, revision or independent study.

'The book that many of us have long been waiting for: a collection of materials, generously framed for both instructors and students, for teaching history and culture c. 500 – 1500 from a global perspective. Rich in comparisons, contrasts, and entanglements, the texts collected here bring the diversity of the past to life for students. Interdisciplinary, engaging, and thoroughly accessible, Global Medieval Contexts connects past to present in illuminating and exciting ways.' Dr Jeffrey J Cohen, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, USA

'Global Medieval Contexts takes us on a breathtaking tour across time and space as it redraws the contours of the medieval world map in a novel way that ties cultures, peoples, and places. It is a stimulating and timely read that points back to the medieval world, only to point forward to current issues and debates. Thanks to the global and interdisciplinary aspect of the book, students anywhere in the world can find something to relate to. The book arouses curiosity, raises questions, and changes perspectives. While emphasizing diversity, Global Medieval Contexts emphasizes our basic human sameness.' Dr Sally Abed, Alexandria University, Egypt

'Global Medieval Contexts offers instructors and students a rich mosaic of the premodern world, building on thematic strands connecting disparate cultures. Equally comfortable discussing themes and objects, ranging from sails to sculptures, the authors present a range of entry-points for student discussion and analysis. Although the topics have considerable cultural breadth, the underlying global perspective is clear while the writing and framing make them accessible to a range of students, from those enrolled in first-year surveys to more advanced courses specifically on the medieval period.' Dr Edward Schoolman, University of Nevada, USA

548 pages

6.6  x 9.8 inches

179 color illustrations

ISBN 9781138103399

Routledge

2021

New Horizons in Trecento Italian Art

edited by Bryan C. Keene and Karl Whittington

The fourteenth century in Italy, the age of Giotto, Dante, and Boccaccio, widely known as the trecento, was a pivotal moment in art history and in European culture. The studies in this volume present new approaches to art in this important but often neglected period of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Scholars at various stages in their careers discuss a wide range of topics including architecture, cultural exchange, materiality, politics, patronage, and devotion, contributing to a new understanding of how art was made and experienced in this nodal century. These papers were originally presented at the Andrew Ladis Trecento Conference held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston in November of 2018.


Altogether the volume offers a rich collection of fresh research that can be mined for content and methodology by the next generation of students and scholars.” (Kathleen Giles Arthur, in caa.reviews, 2021.103)


320 pages

21.6 x 28 cm

200 color illustrations

ISBN 978-2-503-58618-2

hardcover

Brepols

2021

Toward a Global Middle Ages: Encountering the World through Illuminated Manuscripts

Edited by Bryan C. Keene

Illuminated manuscripts and illustrated or decorated books—like today’s museums— preserve a rich array of information about how premodern peoples conceived of and perceived the world, its many cultures, and everyone’s place in it. Often a Eurocentric field of study, manuscripts are prisms through which we can glimpse the interconnected global history of humanity.  

Toward a Global Middle Ages is the first publication to examine decorated books produced across the globe during the period traditionally known as medieval. Through essays and case studies, the volume’s multidisciplinary contributors expand the historiography, chronology, and geography of manuscript studies to embrace a diversity of objects, individuals, narratives, and materials from Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas—an approach that both engages with and contributes to the emerging field of scholarly inquiry known as the Global Middle Ages.

Featuring over 150 color illustrations, this wide-ranging and provocative collection is intended for all who are interested in engaging in a dialogue about how books and other textual objects contributed to world-making strategies from about 400 to 1600.

“Compelling. . . . Embraces a diversity of individuals, objects, stories, cultures, and traditions, and engages the reader in an inspiring conversation about illustrated books and globality.”
—Sabina Zonno, Renaissance Quarterly

“Offers a timely response to a swiftly changing field. . . . Keene presents an open-ended book that speaks to the vibrancy, energy, and aspirations of medieval studies today.”
—Sarah M. Guérin, Speculum

"Toward a Global Middle Ages: Encountering the World through Illuminated Manuscripts showcases a kaleidoscopic and multifaceted premodern world though decorated books of many kinds. That variegated world, stretching from the Americas to Afro-Eurasia to Austronesia, is offered to the reader through extraordinary images and thoughtful essays that delight, instruct, and surprise us. With imagination and verve, Bryan C. Keene curates a selection of essays and images that attest how book arts, in conceptualizing and depicting the lived and imagined worlds of their time, played a complex role in forging early globalisms. Those of us who research, teach, and study a Global Middle Ages (gratifyingly, this volume’s editor, unlike many scholars, is alive to the problematic character of this now-popular term for naming the past) are richly rewarded by the perspicacity and diversity exhibited in this sumptuous, magnificent volume.  This book should be on everyone’s shelves."
—Geraldine Heng, founder and director of the Global Middle Ages Project and Perceval Professor at the University of Texas at Austin

“This exciting and handsomely produced volume offers 22 studies, by an international team of authors, addressing what a “global Middle Ages” might mean for the study of illustrated manuscripts. . . . All essays are annotated, and the cumulative bibliography, which includes studies from many disciplines, is a goldmine. Seldom has this reviewer learned so much, and with such pleasure. This is a challenging first attempt at an overview and a great achievement. . . . Highly recommended.”
Choice

“A nuanced and balanced study of the interconnectedness of reading, writing and illustrating in the world before printing.”
The Art Newspaper

“A book with real intellectual (and literal) heft. . . . Toward a Global Middle Ages does an admirable job at showing some of the ways the medieval world was much bigger than we tend to think.”
Times Higher Education

Toward a Global Middle Ages covers unique aspects of visual culture during this time period with overall thoughtfulness, while acknowledging how complicated it is to record some of these histories in a traditionally published text. Color figures and captioned images illustrating the text, together with endnotes, improve the readability of the book and make it easy for the reader to build context and access additional information. . . . It is recommended for undergraduate art history collections, particularly those emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to visual culture, art, architecture, religious studies, colonialism, travel, trade, and area studies.”
—Virginia L. Moran, ARLIS/NA

“The book . . . serves as a compact, essentially non-European, medieval encyclopedia. . . . Abundantly illustrated with excellent color illustrations, this volume is as handsome as it is intellectually stimulating.”
Art de l’enluminure

“The volume is particularly strong on reconceptualizing “book(s).” Far more manuscripts survive from Europe than from any other part of the world. . . . One can compensate for the lack of material outside Europe by expanding the definition of books: Byron Ellsworth Hamann uses M. T. Clanchy’s definition of “memory-retaining objects,” which extend beyond books to include “bones of the saints encased in gold, Gospel books studded with gems, charters and seals wrapped in Asiatic silks, finger rings, knives symbolizing conveyances, and so on” (73).”
—Valerie Hansen, Journal for Manuscript Studies

296 pages 

8 x 10 inches

176 color illustrations

ISBN 978-1-60606-598-3

paperback 

Getty Publications

2019

Sacred Landscapes: Nature in Renaissance Manuscripts

Bryan C. Keene and Alexandra Kaczenski


Distant blue hills, soaring trees, vast cloudless skies—the majesty of nature has always had the power to lift the human spirit. For some it evokes a sense of timelessness and wonder. For others it reinforces religious convictions. And for many people today it raises concerns for the welfare of the planet.

During the Renaissance, artists from Italy to Flanders and England to Germany depicted nature in their religious art to intensify the spiritual experience of the viewer. Devotional manuscripts for personal or communal use—from small-scale prayer books to massive choir books—were filled with some of the most illusionistic nature studies of this period. Sacred Landscapes, which accompanies an exhibition at the  J. Paul Getty Museum, presents some of the most impressive examples of this art, gathering a wide range of illuminated manuscripts made between 1400 and 1600, as well as panel paintings, drawings, and decorative arts. Readers will see the influence of such masters as Albrecht Dürer, Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, and Piero della Francesca and will gain new appreciation for manuscript illuminators like Simon Bening, Joris Hoefnagel, Vincent Raymond, and the Spitz Master. These artists were innovative in the early development of landscape painting and were revered through-out the early modern period. The authors provide thoughtful examination of works from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.

This volume was published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center October 10, 2017 through January 14, 2018.

112 pages 

8 x 9 inches

90 color illustrations

ISBN 978-1-60606-546-4

hardcover

Getty Publications

2017

Gardens of the Renaissance

Whether part of a grand villa or an extension of a common kitchen, gardens in the Renaissance were planted and treasured in all reaches of society. Illuminated manuscripts of the period offer a glimpse into how people at the time pictured, used, and enjoyed these idyllic green spaces. Drawn from a wide range of works in the Getty Museum’s permanent collection, this gorgeously illustrated volume explores gardens on many levels, from the literary Garden of Love and the biblical Garden of Eden to courtly gardens of the nobility, and reports on the many activities—both reputable and scandalous—that took place there. 

This handsomely designed book was published on the occasion of an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum May 28 to August 11, 2013.

“A fine blend of text and image […]. A look back in time, yet also an inspiration for the future.”
—Foreword Reviews

“Vines wind through the page borders and the Virgin Mary seeks tranquility amid flowers. Members of the nobility wander through plantings admiring their possessions. These images enable the reader to explore varied gardens in the Renaissance, catching details and scenes long vanished.”
—Chicago Botanic Garden

“Stupendously illustrated with paintings, pages from prayer-books, photos, drawings and schematics.”
—Book News


88 pages

7 x 8 inches

64 color illustrations

ISBN 978-1-60606-143-5

hardcover 

Getty Publications 

2013

Florence at the Dawn of the Renaissance: Painting and Illumination, 1300-1350

edited by Christine Sciacca with Bryan C. Keene

In the early 1300s, creativity was flourishing in Florence at a time of unprecedented prosperity, urban expansion, and intellectual innovation. The Renaissance was awakening. In this dynamic climate, master painter Giotto di Bondone revolutionized painting with a new, more naturalistic approach to the human form. He—along with the iconic literary figure Dante Alighieri and accomplished panel painters and illuminators—formed a thriving artistic community that responded to the great demand for art and literature in the growing city, both for the decoration of sacred and secular buildings and for the illumination of luxurious manuscripts. 

This major international loan exhibition presents seven breathtaking paintings by Giotto, the largest number ever assembled in North America, as well as extraordinary works by his Florentine contemporaries, including painters Bernardo Daddi and Taddeo Gaddi and painter-illuminators Pacino di Bonaguida, the Master of the Dominican Effigies, and the Master of the Codex of Saint George. Among the highlights are the earliest illuminated copies of Dante's masterpiece the Divine Comedy, and nearly all the surviving leaves from the most important illuminated manuscript commission of the early 1300s, the Laudario of Sant'Agnese.

In a fresh approach to this material, paintings, manuscript illumination, and stained glass are examined side by side, in concert with new scientific analysis and findings about artists' techniques and workshops, to reveal a complex and nuanced picture of the beauty of Florentine art during this pivotal moment in history. 

A major exhibition on this subject will be on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum November 13, 2012, through February 10, 2013, and at the Art Gallery of Ontario March 16, 2013, through June 16, 2013. Contributors to this volume include Roy S. Berns, Eve Borsook, Bryan Keene, Francesca Pasut, Catherine Schmidt Patterson, Alan Phenix, Laura Rivers, Victor M. Schmidt, Alexandra Suda, Yvonne Szafran, Karen Trentelman, and Nancy Turner.

“The show, together with its first-rate catalogue, is among the most important in an American museum this year.”―Los Angeles Times

“Terrific, richly illustrated, and readable.”―ARTINFO

“Beautiful and scholarly.”―Star Tribune

“A large and very well-illustrated volume that provides a comprehensive view of Pacino di Bonaguida, one of the leading painters and illuminators in fourteenth-century Florence, and of some of his contemporaries active at the time of Giotto.”―Renaissance Quarterly

“[This volume] will become an essential resource, not only for beautiful plates but for scholarly commentary.”―CAA Reviews

“Gorgeous color reproductions. . . . Valuable to scholars and inviting to a broad readership.”―Choice

“Art history scholars will appreciate this luscious tome due to the relative dearth of coverage of this particular subject, which was prevalent in the first fifty years of the fourteenth century. Beautiful illustrations will also appeal to students in the arts and humanities, or your average armchair painting and illumination enthusiast.”―Art Libraries Society of North America

“This catalogue is not only an outstanding companion to a striking exhibition, but also a valuable source for scholars of late-Medieval and early-Renaissance art. The essays and catalogue entries shed light on a period that is too often overwhelmed by the presence of Giotto or overshadowed by the achievements of fifteenth-century giants such as Brunelleschi and Donatello. Furthermore, it serves as an entrée into the study of illuminated manuscripts and lesser-known artists from a pivotal moment in Florentine art.”―Comitatus


448 pages

9 x 12 inches

Over 200 illustrations

ISBN 978-1606061268

hardcover

Getty Publications

2012

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