IMAGE SIN THE MARGINS

An astonishing mix of mundane, playful, absurd, and monstrous beings are found in the borders of English, French, and Italian manuscripts from the Gothic era. Unpredictable, topical, often irreverent, like the New Yorker cartoons of today, marginalia-images drawn in the margins of manuscripts-were a source of satire, serious social observation, and amusement for medieval readers.