Anastasia (artist)

Anastasia (flourished c 1400, Paris) was a French illuminator of manuscripts.

Little is known about her except for the praise heaped upon her by the medieval writer Christine de Pisan in her work, "The Book of the City of Ladies" (1405). Pisan describes her as the finest illustrator of her day.:"”I know a woman today, named Anastasia, who is so learned and skilled in painting manuscript borders and miniature backgrounds that one cannot find an artisan in all the city of Paris-where the best in the world are found-who can surpass her, nor who can paint flowers and details as delicately as she does, nor whose work is more highly esteemed, no matter how rich or precious the book is. People cannot stop talking about her. And I know this from experience, for she has executed several things for me, which stand out among the ornamental borders of the great masters." (City of Ladies 85)

References

* [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/anastasia_christine_de_pisan_group.php Anastasia] at the Dinner Party database, Brooklyn Museum. Accessed October 2007
* [http://www.ripleyonline.com/Under%20Discussion/Christine/Christine.htm Christine de Pizan: An illuminated Voice ] By Doré Ripley, 2004 Accessed October 2007
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=zR5gmj2kxMwC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=anastasia+manuscript+illumination+pisan&source=web&ots=w6RHgO_7YB&sig=C8Fl6_RTHkw2ABIUpxh02iuYKRw The Influence of Christine de Pisan, Pre-Raphaelitism and Medievalism in the Arts] By Liana Cheney, at Google books Published 1992Edwin Mellen Press. Accessed October 2007