What heaven looks like Comments on a strange wordless book

A cryptic artifact-a small, plainly bound book with a simple inscription and 52 untitled watercolor paintings by an unknown artist-is the source of endless fascination in this alluring annotated reproduction with commentary by art historian Elkins (On Pictures and the Words That Fail Them). Little is known about the original manuscript (which is held at the University of Glasgow's Special Collections Library): "No one knows who painted it, or when," Elkins explains, noting that the paper was made in Holland toward the end of the 17th century. But he examines the paintings one by one in an attempt to piece together their origin story. The delicate watercolors were apparently inspired by the images the artist saw in the cut ends of wood logs. Miniature worlds and dragons reveal themselves in the painted ripples, and Elkins muses over the images and reoccurring motifs, drawing on his understanding of religious unrest in 17th-century Europe to color his interpretations. In addition to being a study of the watercolors, the book gives readers insights into how art historians approach artworks about which not much is known. Brief discussions of the paper and the Latin wording in the manuscript add layers of intrigue to the mystery of the artifact's provenance. 56 color illus. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A mystery manuscript comes out for airing; wordless save for the title page, what does it mean?It might be a delicious intrigue cooked up by Borges: a manuscript of fuzzy provenance, consisting of 52 paintings, rests unvisited on the shelves of a library for generations. Rediscovered, it proves fascinatingnot least because it has no words but tells a story all the same of a world emerging out of primordial chaos. Elkins (Chair, Art History, Theory, and Criticism/Art Institute of Chicago; What Photography Is, 2011, etc.) hazards that the work is alchemical; in his smart commentary, he builds a case that it might have originated in Holland at the end of the 17th century or the beginning of the next one at the hands of a female artist. As he writes, though, "usually some telltale sign helps identify an anonymous artist: some stylistic quirk, or some figure or composition borrowed from another painting. At least so far, no such clues have broken the manuscript's silence." The figures depicted resemble the work of William Blake, with seemingly allegorical elements, as with one image featuring Greek gods and demigods gazing with interest at three nymphs, the viewer seeing this all as if from the opening of a cave. Elkins writes of the red and gold flecks and rather psychedelic palette, "colors have never had any meaning, much as people have tried to foist meaning on them. They say nothing in themselves, and they steal meaning from everything they cover." Well, then. The storyline that emerges from the sequence, vignettes painted on what seem to be sections of cut log, may be anyone's guess, but Elkins, reading visual clues, posits that the artist may have gotten tired of it all by the time the work was done. That won't be true of readers of this book, who will likely remain fascinated from start to finish. Some of his points invite argument, but Elkins' knowing commentary helps the reader interpret the art. A fine addition to the odd-book shelf. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.