HANS BELTING LIBRARY

One of the most important contemporary art historians, Hans Belting, together with Christa Belting-Ihm, donated their collection of literature on medieval art to the Center for Early Medieval Studies at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, allowing for the establishment of a library named in the honor of the donor. With the quality of the collection acquired, the Center rises to the level of major European institutions.

The donated collection contains a number of works which form the essential pillars for the study of medieval art, but which were generally lacking in Central European library collections. This mainly concerns literature dedicated to manuscripts (mainly from the Eastern world and the Apennine peninsula), Constantinople, Venice, southern Italy, Rome, Ravenna, Russia and the Caucasus. Now, the Hans Belting Library includes not only extensive literature dedicated to the study of medieval art, but also rare facsimiles (e.g. Vienna Genesis, Chludov Psalter, Utrecht Psalter, Rotulus Exultet, etc.). A large part of the collection focuses on the study of the monumental art of the Christian East, from Constantinople to the Caucasus to Egypt and Syria. An important section is also devoted to iconic paintings, called "icons".