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diff --git a/19870-0.txt b/19870-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd14d7b --- /dev/null +++ b/19870-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8321 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Illuminated Manuscripts, by John W. Bradley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Illuminated Manuscripts + +Author: John W. Bradley + +Release Date: November 19, 2006 [EBook #19870] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS *** + + + + +Produced by Project Rastko, Zoran Stefanovic, H.J. Bent +and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at +http://dp.rastko.net. + + + + + + Illuminated + Manuscripts + + John Bradley + + + BRACKEN BOOKS + LONDON + + + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + +What is meant by art?--The art faculty--How artists may be compared--The +aim of illumination--Distinction between illumination and +miniature--Definition of illumination--The first miniature +painter--Origin of the term "miniature"--Ovid's allusion to his little +book. + +CHAPTER II + +VELLUM AND OTHER MATERIALS + +Difference between vellum and parchment--Names of different +preparations--The kinds of vellum most prized for illuminated books--The +"parcheminerie" of the Abbey of Cluny--Origin of the term +"parchment"--Papyrus. + +CHAPTER III + +WRITING + +Its different styles--Origin of Western alphabets--Various forms of +letters--Capitals, uncials, etc.--Texts used in Western Europe--Forms of +ancient writings--The roll, or volume--The codex--Tablets--Diptychs, +etc.--The square book--How different sizes of books were produced. + +CHAPTER IV + +GREEK AND ROMAN ILLUMINATION + +The first miniature painter--The Vatican Vergils--Methods of +painting--Origin of Christian art--The Vienna Genesis--The +Dioscorides--The Byzantine Revival. + +CHAPTER V + +BYZANTINE ILLUMINATION + +The rebuilding of the city of Byzantium the beginning of Byzantine +art--Justinian's fondness for building and splendour--Description of +Paul the Silentiary--Sumptuous garments--The Gospel-book of +Hormisdas--Characteristics of Byzantine work--Comparative scarcity of +examples--Rigidity of Byzantine rules of art--Periods of Byzantine +art--Examples--Monotony and lifelessness of the style. + +CHAPTER VI + +CELTIC ILLUMINATION + +Early liturgical books reflect the ecclesiastical art of their +time--This feature a continuous characteristic of illumination down to +the latest times--Elements of Celtic ornament--Gospels of St. +Chad--Durham Gospels--Contrast of Celtic and Byzantine--St. +Columba--Book of Kells--Details of its decoration. + +CHAPTER VII + +CELTIC ILLUMINATION--_continued_ + +The Iona Gospels--Contrast with Roman and Byzantine--Details--Treatment +of animal forms--Colour schemes--The Gospel-book of St. Columbanus--That +of Mael Brith Mac Durnan--The Lindisfarne Gospels--Cumdachs--Other +book-shrines. + +CHAPTER VIII + +SEMI-BARBARIC ILLUMINATION + +Visigothic--Merovingian--Lombardic--Extinction of classic art--Splendid +reign of Dagobert--St. Eloy of Noyon--The Library of Laon--Natural +History of Isidore of Seville--Elements of contemporary art--Details of +ornament--Symbolism--Luxeuil and Monte Cassino--Sacramentary of +Gellone--"Prudentius"--"Orosius"--Value of the Sacramentary of Gellone. + +CHAPTER IX + +DEVELOPMENT OF THE INITIAL + +The initial and initial paragraph the main object of decoration in +Celtic illumination--Study of the letter L as an example--The I of "In +principio" and the B of "Beatus Vir". + +CHAPTER X + +FIRST ENGLISH STYLES + +Transition from Iona to Lindisfarne--Influence of Frankish art--The +"Opus Anglicum"--The Winchester school and its characteristics--Whence +obtained--Method of painting--Examples--Where found and described. + +CHAPTER XI + +CAROLINGIAN ILLUMINATION + +Why so-called--Works to be consulted--The Library of St. Gall--Rise and +progress of Carolingian art--Account of various MSS.--Feature of the +style--Gospels of St. Sernin--The Ada-Codex--Centres of +production--Other splendid examples--The Alcuin Bible--The Gospel of St. +Médard of Soissons. + +CHAPTER XII + +MONASTIC ILLUMINATION + +Introductory--Monasteries and their work from the sixth to the ninth +century--The claustral schools--Alcuin--Warnefrid and Theodulf--Clerics +and monastics--The Golden Age of monasticism--The Order of St. +Benedict--Cistercian houses--Other Orders--Progress of writing in +Carolingian times--Division of labour. + +CHAPTER XIII + +MONASTIC ILLUMINATION--_continued_ + +The copyist--Gratuitous labour--Last words of copyists--Disputes between +Cluny and Citeaux--The Abbey of Cluny: its grandeur and influences--Use +of gold and purple vellum--The more influential abbeys and their work in +France, Germany, and the Netherlands. + +CHAPTER XIV + +OTHONIAN ILLUMINATION + +Departure from Carolingian--Bird and serpent--Common use of dracontine +forms in letter-ornament--Influence of metal-work on the forms of +scroll-ornament--The vine-stem and its developments--Introduction of +Greek taste and fashion into Germany--Cistercian illumination--The +Othonian period--Influence of women as patronesses and +practitioners--German princesses--The Empress Adelheid of Burgundy--The +Empress Theophano--Henry II. and the Empress +Cunegunda--Bamberg--Examples of Othonian art. + +CHAPTER XV + +FRANCONIAN ILLUMINATION + +The later Saxon schools--Bernward of Hildesheim--Tuotilo and Hartmut of +St. Gallen--Portrait of Henry II. in MS. 40 at Munich--Netherlandish and +other work compared--Alleged deterioration of work under the Franconian +Emperors not true--Bad character of the eleventh century as to +art--Example to the contrary. + +CHAPTER XVI + +ARTISTIC EDUCATION IN THE CLOISTER + +The "Manual"--Its discovery--Its origin and contents--Didron's +translation--The "Compendium" of Theophilus--Its contents--English +version by Hendrie--Benedictine and Cistercian illumination--How they +differ--Character of monastic architects and artists. + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE RISE OF GOTHIC ILLUMINATION + +Germany the chief power in Europe in the twelfth century--Rise of +Italian influence--The Emmeram MSS.--Coronation of Henry II.--The +Apocalypse--The "Hortus Deliciarum"--Romanesque--MS. of Henry the +Lion--The Niedermünster Gospels--Description of the MS.--Rise of +Gothic--Uncertainty of its origin--The spirit of the age. + + +BOOK II + +CHAPTER I + +THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUMINATION + +The Gothic spirit--A "zeitgeist" not the invention of a single artist +nor of a single country--The thirteenth century the beginning of the new +style--Contrast between North and South, between East and West, marked +in the character of artistic leaf-work--Gradual development of Gothic +foliage--The bud of the thirteenth century, the leaf of the fourteenth, +and the flower of the fifteenth--The Freemasons--Illumination +transferred from the monastery to the lay workshop--The Psalter of St. +Louis--Characteristics of French Gothic illumination--Rise of the +miniature as a distinct feature--Guilds--Lay artists. + +CHAPTER II + +RISE OF NATIONAL STYLES + +The fourteenth century the true Golden Age of Gothic +illumination--France the cradle of other national styles--Netherlandish, +Italian, German, etc.--Distinction of schools--Difficulty of assigning +the _provenance_ of MSS.--The reason for it--MS. in Fitzwilliam Museum, +Cambridge--The Padua Missal--Artists' names--Whence obtained. + +CHAPTER III + +FRENCH ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE RENAISSANCE + +Ivy-leaf and chequered backgrounds--Occasional introduction of plain +burnished gold--Reign of Charles VI. of France--The Dukes of Orleans, +Berry, and Burgundy; their prodigality and fine taste for +MSS.--Christine de Pisan and her works--Description of her "Mutation of +Fortune" in the Paris Library--The "Roman de la Rose" and "Cité des +Dames"--Details of the French style of illumination--Burgundian MSS., +Harl. 4431--Roy. 15 E. 6--The Talbot Romances--Gradual approach to +Flemish on the one hand and Italian on the other. + +CHAPTER IV + +ENGLISH ILLUMINATION FROM THE TENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY + +Organisation of the monastic _scriptoria_--Professional outsiders: lay +artists--The whole sometimes the work of the same practitioner--The +Winchester Abbeys of St. Swithun's and Hyde--Their vicissitudes--St. +Alban's--Westminster--Royal MS. 2 A 22--Description of style--The +Tenison Psalter--Features of this period--The Arundel Psalter--Hunting +and shooting scenes, and games--Characteristic pictures, grotesques, and +caricatures--Queen Mary's Psalter--Rapid changes under Richard +II.--Royal MS. 2 E. 9--Their cause. + +CHAPTER V + +THE SOURCES OF ENGLISH FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ILLUMINATION + +Attributed to the Netherlands--Not altogether French--The home of Anne +of Bohemia, Richard II.'s Queen--Court of Charles IV. at Prag--Bohemian +Art--John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia--The Golden Bull of Charles +IV.--Marriage of Richard II.--The transformation of English work owing +to this marriage and the arrival of Bohemian artists in +England--Influence of Queen Anne on English Art and +Literature--Depression caused by her death--Examination of Roy. MS. 1 E. +9 and 2 A. 18--The Grandison Hours--Other MSS.--Introduction of Flemish +work by Edward IV. + +CHAPTER VI + +ITALIAN ILLUMINATION + +Barbaric character of Italian illumination in the twelfth +century--Ravenna and Pavia the earliest centres of revival--The +"Exultet"--La Cava and Monte Cassino--The writers of early Italian MSS. +not Italians--In the early fourteenth century the art is +French--Peculiarities of Italian foliages--The Law Books--Poems of +Convenevole da Prato, the tutor of Petrarch--Celebrated patrons--The +Laon Boethius--The Decretals, Institutes, etc.--"Decretum Gratiani," +other collections and MSS.--Statuts du Saint Esprit--Method of +painting--Don Silvestro--The Rationale of Durandus--Nicolas of Bologna, +etc.--Triumphs of Petrarch--Books at San Marco, Florence--The Brera +Graduals at Milan--Other Italian collections--Examples of different +localities in the British Museum--Places where the best work was +done--Fine Neapolitan MS. in the British Museum--The white-vine style +superseded by the classical renaissance. + +CHAPTER VII + +GERMAN ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY + +Frederick II., _Stupor Mundi_, and his MS. on hunting--The Sicilian +school mainly Saracenic, but a mixture of Greek, Arabic, and Latin +tastes--The Franconian Emperors at Bamberg--Charles of Anjou--The House +of Luxembourg at Prag--MSS. in the University Library--The Collegium +Carolinum of the Emperor Charles IV.--MSS. at Vienna--The Wenzel +Bible--The Weltchronik of Rudolf v. Ems at Stuttgard--Wilhelm v. Oranse +at Vienna--The Golden Bull--Various schools--Hildesheimer Prayer-book at +Berlin--The Nuremberg school--The Glockendons--The Brethren of the Pen. + +CHAPTER VIII + +NETHERLANDISH ILLUMINATION + +What is meant by the Netherlands--Early realism and study of +nature--Combination of symbolism with imitation--Anachronism in +design--The value of the pictorial methods of the old illuminators--The +oldest Netherlandish MS.--Harlinda and Renilda--The nunnery at +Maas-Eyck--Description of the MS.--Thomas à Kempis--The school of +Zwolle--Character of the work--The use of green landscape +backgrounds--The Dukes of Burgundy--Netherlandish artists--No miniatures +of the Van Eycks or Memling known to exist--Schools of Bruges, Ghent, +Liége, etc.--Brussels Library--Splendid Netherlandish MSS. at +Vienna--Gerard David and the Grimani Breviary--British Museum--"Romance +of the Rose"--"Isabella" Breviary--Grisailles. + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE + +Communication with Italy--Renaissance not sudden--Origin of the schools +of France and Burgundy--Touraine and its art--Fouquet--Brentano +MSS.--"Versailles Livy"--Munich "Boccaccio," etc.--Perréal and +Bourdichon--"Hours of Anne of Brittany"--Poyet--The school of +Fontainebleau--Stained glass--Jean Cousin--Gouffier "Heures"--British +Museum Offices of Francis I.--Dinteville Offices--Paris "Heures de +Montmorency", "Heures de Dinteville," etc. + +CHAPTER X + +SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE ILLUMINATION + +Late period of Spanish illumination--Isidore of Seville--Archives at +Madrid--Barcelona--Toledo--Madrid--Choir-books of the Escorial--Philip +II.--Illuminators of the choir-books--The size and beauty of the +volumes--Fray Andrés de Leon and other artists--Italian +influence--Giovanni Battista Scorza of Genoa--Antonio de Holanda, +well-known Portuguese miniaturist in sixteenth century--His son +Francesco--The choir-books at Belem--French invasion--Missal of +Gonçalvez--Sandoval Genealogies--Portuguese Genealogies in British +Museum--The Stowe Missal of John III. + +CHAPTER XI + +ILLUMINATION SINCE THE INVENTION OF PRINTING + +The invention of printing--Its very slight affect on +illuminating--Preference by rich patrons for written books--Work +produced in various cities in the sixteenth century--Examples in German, +Italian, and other cities, and in various public libraries up to the +present time. + +MANUSCRIPTS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + + + + ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS + + BOOK I + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + +What is meant by art?--The art faculty--How artists may be compared--The +aim of illumination--Distinction between illumination and +miniature--Definition of illumination--The first miniature +painter--Origin of the term "miniature"--Ovid's allusion to his little +book. + + +The desire for decoration is probably as old as the human race. Nature, +of course, is the source of beauty, and this natural beauty affects +something within us which has or is the faculty of reproducing the cause +of its emotion in a material form. Whether the reproduction be such as +to appeal to the eye or the ear depends on the cast of the faculty. In a +mild or elementary form, probably both casts of faculty exist in every +animated creature, and especially in the human being. + +Art being the intelligent representation of that quality of beauty which +appeals to any particular observer, whoever exercises the faculty of +such representation is an artist. + +Greatness or otherwise is simply the measure of the faculty, for in +Nature herself there is no restriction. There is always enough of beauty +in Nature to fill the mightiest capacity of human genius. Artists, +therefore, are measured by comparison with each other in reference to +the fraction of art which they attempt to reproduce. + +The art of illumination does not aim at more than the gratification of +those who take pleasure in books. Its highest ambition is to make books +beautiful. + +To some persons, perhaps, all ordinary books are ugly and distasteful. +Probably they are so to the average schoolboy. Hence the laudable +endeavour among publishers of school-books to make them attractive. The +desire that books should be made attractive is of great antiquity. How +far back in the world's history we should have to go to get in front of +it we cannot venture to reckon. The methods of making books attractive +are numerous and varied. That to which we shall confine our attention is +a rather special one. Both its processes and its results are peculiar. +Mere pictures or pretty ornamental letters in sweet colours and elegant +drawing do not constitute illumination, though they do form essential +contributions towards it; and, indeed, in the sixteenth century the +clever practitioners who wished, in bright colours, to awaken up the old +woodcuts used to call themselves illuminists, and the old German books +which taught how the work should be done were called _Illuminir bücher_. +Illuminists were not illuminators. + +In the twelfth century when, as far as we know, the word illuminator was +first applied to one who practised the art of book decoration, it meant +one who "lighted up" the page of the book with bright colours and +burnished gold. + +These processes suggest the definition of the art. _Perfect illumination +must contain both colours and metals_. To this extent it is in perfect +unison with the other mediæval art of heraldry; it might almost be +called a twin-sister. + +As an art it is much older than its name. We find something very like it +even among the ancient Egyptians, for in the Louvre at Paris is a +papyrus containing paintings of funeral ceremonies, executed in bright +colours and touched in its high lights with pencilled gold. But after +this for many centuries there remains no record of the existence of any +such art until just before the Christian era. Then, indeed, we have +mention of a lady artist who painted a number of miniature portraits for +the great biographical work of the learned Varro. We must carefully +observe, however, that there is a distinction between illumination and +mere miniature painting. Sometimes it is true that miniatures--as _e.g._ +those of the early Byzantine artists, and afterwards those of Western +Europe--were finished with touches of gold to represent the lights. This +brought them into the category of illuminations, for while miniatures +may be executed without the use of gold or silver, illuminations may +not. There are thousands of miniatures that are not illuminations. + +At the period when illuminating was at its best the miniature, in its +modern sense of a little picture, was only just beginning to appear as a +noticeable feature, and the gold was as freely applied to it as to the +penmanship or the ornament. But such is not the case with miniature +painting generally. + +Lala of Cyzicus, the lady artist just referred to, lived in the time of +Augustus Cæsar. She has the honour of being the first miniaturist on +record, and is said to have produced excellent portraits "in little," +especially those of ladies, on both vellum and ivory. Her own portrait, +representing her engaged in painting a statuette, is still to be seen +among the precious frescoes preserved in the museum at Naples. + +The term "miniature," now applied to this class of work, has been +frequently explained. It is derived from the Latin word _minium_, or red +paint, two pigments being anciently known by this name--one the sulphide +of mercury, now known also as "vermilion," the other a lead oxide, now +called "red lead." It is the latter which is generally understood as the +_minium_ of the illuminators, though both were used in manuscript work. +The red paint was employed to mark the initial letters or sections of +the MS. Its connection with portraiture and other pictorial subjects on +a small scale is entirely owing to its accidental confusion by French +writers with their own word _mignon_, and so with the Latin _minus_. In +classical times, among the Romans, the "miniator" was simply a person +who applied the _minium_, and had nothing to do with pictures or +portraits at all, but with the writing. That the rubrication of titles, +however, was somewhat of a luxury may be gathered from the complaint of +Ovid when issuing the humble edition of his verses from his lonely exile +of Tomi:-- + + "Parve (nec invideo) sine me liber ibis in urbem: + Hei mihi quo domino non licet ire tuo. + ........................... + Nec te purpureo velent vaccinia succo + Non est conveniens luctibus ille color. + _Nec titulus minio_, nec cedro carta notetur + Candida nec nigra cornua fronte geras."[1] + + _Tristia_, Cl. 1, Eleg. 1. + +[1] "Go, little book, nor do I forbid,--go without me into that city +where, alas! I may enter never more.... Nor shall whortleberries adorn +thee with their crimson juice; that colour is not suitable for +lamentations. Nor shall thy title be marked with minium, nor thy leaf +scented with cedar-oil. Nor shalt thou bear horns of ivory or ebony upon +thy front." + +There are many allusions in these pathetic lines which would bear +annotation, but space forbids. The one point is the use of minium. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +VELLUM AND OTHER MATERIALS + +Difference between vellum and parchment--Names of different +preparations--The kinds of vellum most prized for illuminated books--The +"parcheminerie" of the Abbey of Cluny--Origin of the term +"parchment"--Papyrus. + + +As vellum is constantly spoken of in connection with illumination and +illuminated books, it becomes necessary to explain what it is, and why +it was used instead of paper. + +We often find writers, when referring to ancient documents, making use +of the words parchment and vellum as if the terms were synonymous; but +this is not strictly correct. It is true that both are prepared from +skins, but the skins are different. They are similar, but not the same, +nor, indeed, are they interchangeable. In point of fact, the skins of +almost all the well-known domestic animals, and even of fishes, have +been used for the purpose of making a material for writing upon. +Specifically among the skins so prepared were the following: the +ordinary lambskin, called "aignellinus"[2]; that prepared from stillborn +lambs, called "virgin parchment." + +[2] Strictly _agnellinus_. + +From sheepskins was produced ordinary "parchment," and also a sort of +leather called "basane" or "cordovan." Vellum was produced from +calfskin; that of the stillborn calf being called "uterine vellum," and +considered the finest and thinnest. It is often spoken of in connection +with the exquisitely written Bibles of the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries as of the highest value. + +Besides these were the prepared skins of oxen, pigs, and asses; but +these were chiefly used for bindings, though occasionally for leaves of +account and other books liable to rough usage. + +Before the tenth century the vellum used for MSS. is highly polished, +and very white and fine. Afterwards it becomes thick and rough, +especially on the hair side. In the examination of certain MSS. the +distinction of hair side and smooth side is of importance in counting +the gatherings so as to determine the completeness, or otherwise, of a +given volume. Towards the period of the Renaissance, however, the vellum +gradually regains its better qualities. + +Thus it may be seen that the difference between vellum and parchment is +not a mere difference of thickness; for while, in general, vellum is +stouter than parchment, there is some vellum which is thinner than some +parchment. Not only are they made from different kinds of skin, but the +vellum used for illuminated books was, and still is, prepared with +greater care than the parchment used for ordinary school or college +treatises, or legal documents. + +The fabrication of both parchment and vellum in the Middle Ages was +quite as important a matter as that of paper at the present time, and +certain monastic establishments had a special reputation for the +excellence of their manufacture. Thus the "parcheminerie," as it was +called, of the Abbey of Cluny, in France, was quite celebrated in the +twelfth century. One reason probably for this celebrity was the fact +that Cluny had more than three hundred churches, colleges, and +monasteries amongst its dependencies, and therefore had ample +opportunities for obtaining the best materials and learning the best +methods in use throughout literary Christendom. As to the name "vellum," +it is directly referable to the familiar Latin term for the hide or pelt +of the sheep or other animal, but specially applied, as we have said, to +that of the calf, the writing material thus prepared being termed +_charta vitulina_--in French _vélin_, and in monastic Latin and English +_vellum_. + +The name "parchment" had quite a different kind of origin. It is an old +story, found in Pliny's _Natural History_ (bk. xiii. ch. 70), that the +ancient use or revival of the use of parchment was due to the +determination of King Eumenes II. of Mysia or Pergamos to form a library +which should rival those of Alexandria, but that when he applied to +Egypt for papyrus, the writing materials then in use, Ptolemy Epiphanes +jealously refused to permit its exportation. In this difficulty Eumenes, +we are told, had recourse to the preparation of sheepskins, and that +from the place of its invention it was called _charta pergamena_. + +Pliny and his authority, however, were both wrong in point of history. +Eumenes, who reigned from about 197 to 158 B.C., was not the inventor, +but the restorer of its use (see Herodotus, v. 58). It was called in +Greek μεμβράνα (2 Tim. iv. 13). + +We may mention, by the way, that neither vellum nor parchment are by any +means the oldest materials known. Far older, and more generally used in +Italy, Greece, and Egypt, was the material which has given us the name +of our commonest writing material of to-day, viz. paper. The name of +this older material was _papyrus_ (Gr. πάπυρος and χάρτης). As a writing +material it was known in Egypt from remote antiquity. It was plentiful +in Rome in the time of the Cæsars, and it continued, both in Grecian and +Roman Egypt, to be the ordinary material employed down to the middle of +the tenth century of our era. In Europe, too, it continued in common use +long after vellum had been adopted for books, though more especially for +letters and accounts. St. Jerome mentions vellum as an alternative +material in case papyrus should fail (Ep. vii.), and St. Augustine (Ep. +xv.) apologises for using vellum instead of papyrus.[3] Papyrus was also +used in the early Middle Ages. Examples, _made up into +book-form_--_i.e._ in leaves, with sometimes a few vellum leaves among +them for stability--are still extant. Among such are some seven or eight +books in various European libraries, the best known being the Homilies +of St. Avitus at Paris, the Antiquities of Josephus at Milan, and the +Isidore at St. Gall. + +[3] Thompson, _Greek and Latin Palæography_, p. 33. + +And in the Papal Chancery papyrus appears to have been used down to a +late date in preference to vellum.[4] + +[4] Thompson, _op. cit._, p. 34; Aug. Molinier, _Les Manuscrits_, +Prélim.; Lecoy de la Marche, _Les MSS. et la Miniature_, p. 24. + +In France papyrus was in common use in the sixth and seventh centuries. +Merovingian documents dating from 625 to 692 are still preserved in +Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WRITING + +Its different styles--Origin of Western alphabets--Various forms of +letters--Capitals, uncials, etc.--Texts used in Western Europe--Forms of +ancient writings--The roll, or volume--The codex--Tablets--Diptychs, +etc.--The square book--How different sizes of books were produced. + + +Seeing that illumination grew originally out of the decoration of the +initial letters, our next point to notice is the penmanship. The +alphabet which we now use is that formerly used by the Romans, who +borrowed it from the Greeks, who in turn obtained it (or their +modification of it) from the Phœnicians, who, lastly it is said, +constructed it from that of the Egyptians. Of course, in these repeated +transfers the letters themselves, as well as the order of them, +underwent considerable alterations. With these we have here no concern. +Our alphabet, _i.e._ the Roman and its variations, is quite sufficient +for our story. In order to show as clearly as may be the varieties of +lettering and the progress of penmanship from classical times to the +revival of the old Roman, letters in the fifteenth century, we offer the +following synopsis, which classifies and indicates the development of +the different hands used by writers and illuminators of MSS. It is +constructed on the information given in Wailly's large work on +Palæography, and in Dr. de Grey Birch's book on the Utrecht Psalter. The +former work affords excellent facsimiles, which, together with those +given in the plates published by the Palæographical Society, will give +the student the clearest possible ideas respecting these ancient +handwritings. + +Omitting the cursive or correspondence hand, the letters used by the +Romans were of four kinds--capitals (usually made angular to be cut in +stone), rustic, uncials, and minuscules. + +The rounded capitals were intended to be used in penwork. Uncials differ +from capitals only in the letters A, D, E, G, M, Q, T, V, for the sake +of ease in writing. It is said that this class of letters was first +called uncials from being made an inch (_uncia_) high, but this is mere +tradition; the word is first used on Jerome's preface to the Book of +Job. No uncials have ever been found measuring more than five-eighths of +an inch in height. + +For the assistance of such students as may wish for examples we must +refer to certain MSS. and reproductions in which the foregoing hands are +exemplified. + +_CIRCA_ FOURTH CENTURY. + +_Capitals_, yet not pure. + The Vatican Vergil, No. 3225, throughout (Birch, p. 14; Silvestre's + _Paléographie universelle_, pl. 74). + +With regard to the relative antiquity of capitals and uncials, M. de +Wailly observes: "The titles in pure uncials, but less than the text +itself, give an excellent index to the highest antiquity. This is +verified in MSS. 152, 2630, 107 of the Bibl. du Roi, etc. MSS. of the +seventh or eighth century, whether on uncial or demi-uncial, or any +other letter, are never constant in noting the title at the top of the +page, or the kind of writing will vary, or if uncials be constantly +used, the titles will not be smaller than the text. These variations +become still greater in the following centuries. The ornaments which +relieve the titles of each page commence about the eighth century" (i. +p. 49 C). + +_Capitals_ and _Uncials_. + The Homilies of St. Augustine (Silvestre, pl. 74). + Augustine Opera, Paris Lib., 11641 (Palæograph. Soc., pl. 42, 43). + +_Rustic_. + The Second Vatican Vergil, No. 3867 (Wailly, pl. 2), called the + "Codex Romanus." + +SIXTH CENTURY. + +_Rustic_ and _Uncial_. + The Montamiata Bible (Birch, 35; Wailly, pl. 2, 4). + +_Rustic_ and _Minuscule_. + The Cambridge Gospels (Westwood, _Palæograph. Sacra Pictoria_, pl. 45). + +_Uncials_. + Gospels in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 5463. + Paris Lib., Gregory of Tours (Silvestre, pl. 86). + Vienna Imp. Lib., Livy (Silvestre, pl. 75). + Brit. Mus., Harl. 1775 (Palæograph. Soc., pl. 16). + +SEVENTH CENTURY. + +_Uncials_ and _Minuscule_. + The St. Chad's Gospels in library of Lichfield Cathedral (Palæograph. + Soc., pl. 20, 21, 35). + +NINTH CENTURY. + +_Capitals_ and _Minuscules_. + Paris Lib., Bible of Charles the Bald. + +There is scarcely anything more difficult to judge than the true age of +square capital MSS. or of pure uncials. Even the rustic capitals, like +the first Vatican Vergil, No. 3225, are extremely rare. The letters in +this MS. are about three-sixteenths of an inch high. + + +TEXTS IN USE IN WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE. + +_Lombardic._ The national hand of Italy. Founded on the old Roman +cursive, it does not attain to any great beauty until the tenth or +eleventh century. Examples may be seen in Palæographical Society, pl. +95, and in the excellent lithographs published by the monks of Monte +Cassino (_Paleografia artistica di Monte Cassino_, Longobardo-Cassinese, +tav. xxxiv., etc.). A very fine example occurs in pl. xv., dated +1087-88. Its characteristic letters are _a_, _e_, _g_, _t_. + +_Visigothic._ The national hand of Spain. Also founded on the old Roman +cursive. It becomes an established hand in the eighth century, and lasts +until the twelfth. Examples occur in Ewald and Lœwe, _Exempla Scripturæ +Visigoticæ_, Heidelberg, 1883. It was at first very rude and illegible, +but afterwards became even handsome. A fine example exists in the +British Museum (Palæograph. Soc., pl. 48). Its characteristic letters +are _g_, _s_, _t_. + +_Merovingian._ The national hand of France. A hand made up chiefly of +loops and angles in a cramped, irregular way. Its derivation the same as +the preceding. In the seventh century it is all but illegible. In the +eighth it is much better, and almost easy to read. + +_Celtic_. The national hand of Ireland. It is founded on the demi-uncial +Roman, borrowed as to type from MSS. taken to Ireland by missionaries. +It is bold, clear, and often beautiful, lending itself to some of the +most astonishing feats of penmanship ever produced. + +Such are the chief varieties of writing found in the MSS. produced +before the great revival of the arts and learning which took place +during the reign of Charles the Great (Karl der Grosse), known +familiarly as Charlemagne. + +Wattenbach (_Schriftwesen_, _etc._) says that uncials date from the +second century A.D. From examples still extant of the fifth and +following centuries, it seems that while the Roman capitals were not +uncommon, in Celtic MSS. the form generally adopted was the uncial. It +was the form also usually chosen for ornamentation or imitation in those +Visigothic, Merovingian, or Lombardic MSS., which made such remarkable +use of fishes, birds, beasts, and plants for the construction of initial +letters and principal words, of which we see so many examples in the +elaborately illustrated Catalogue of the library at Laon by Ed. Fleury, +and in that of Cambray, by M. Durieux. Most of these pre-Carolingian +designs are barbarous in the extreme, dreadfully clumsy in execution, +but they evince considerable ingenuity and a strong predilection for +symbolism. + +Before concluding this chapter perhaps something should be said +concerning the shape of books, though this is a matter somewhat outside +the scope of our proper subject. Yet, as the brief digression will +afford an opportunity for the explanation of certain terms used in MSS., +we will avail ourselves of it. + +The ancient form of writing upon skins and papyrus was that of the roll. +The Hebrew, Arabic, or Greek terms for this do not concern us, but its +Latin name was _volumen_, "something rolled," and from this we obtain +our word volume. Such words as "explicit liber primus" etc., which we +often find in early MSS., refer to this roll-form; _explicare_ in Latin +meaning to unroll; hence, apropos of a chapter or book, to finish. When +transferred to the square form, or codex, it simply means, "here ends +book first," etc. + +The modern book shape first came into use with the beginning of the +Christian era under the name of codex. Here it will be necessary to +explain that _caudex_, _codex_, in Latin, meant a block of wood, and had +its humorous by-senses among the Roman dramatists, as the word block has +among ourselves, such as blockhead.[5] So _caudicalis provincia_ was a +jocular expression for the occupation of wood-splitting. + +[5] Terence, _Heautont._, 5. 1, 4. + +Whether the word had originally any connection with _cauda_, "a tail," +is not here worth considering, as if so, it had long lost the +connection; and when used to mean a book, had only the sense of a board, +or a number of boards from two upwards, fastened together by means of +rings passed through holes made in their edges. + +Probably the first use was as plain smooth boards only; examples of such +are still in existence. Then of boards thinly covered with, usually, +black wax. A pair of such tablets, wax-covered, was a common form of a +Roman pocket-or memorandum-book. It was also used as a means of +conveying messages, the reply being returned on the same tablets. The +method was to write on the wax with a fine-pointed instrument called a +style, the reverse end of which was flattened. When the person to whom +the message was sent had read it, he (or she) simply flattened out the +writing, smoothed it level, and then wrote the reply on the same wax. +School-children did their exercises on these tablets, housewives and +stewards kept their accounts on them, and on them literary people jotted +down their ideas as they do now in their pocket-books. Extant examples +of these early books, or tablets, are fairly numerous, and may be seen +in most public museums. A codex of two leaves was called a diptych; of +three, a triptych, etc. The codex form was used for legal documents, +wills, conveyances, and general correspondence. Hence the Roman postman +was called a _tabellarius_, the tablets containing correspondence being +tied with a thread or ribbon and sealed. This custom of sending letters +on tablets survived for some centuries after Augustan times. Wattenbach +gives several interesting instances of their mediæval use.[6] + +[6] _Schriftwesen_, 48. + +Of course when the tablet gave place to the codex of skin or paper, the +papyrus was too brittle and fragile for practical utility, and examples, +as we have seen, were very rare; but vellum soon became popular. We may +mention, in passing, that the papyrus roll gave us a word still in use +in diplomatics, the word _protocol_. The first sheet of a papyrus roll +was called the πρωτόκολλον. It usually contained the name of place and +date of manufacture of the papyrus, and was stamped or marked with the +name of the government officer who had charge of the department. + +In the vellum codex, though each leaf might have only one fold, and thus +technically be considered as a folio, the actual shape of it was nearly +square, hence its name of _codex quadratus_. When other forms of books, +such as octavo, duo-decimo, etc., came into use, it was in consequence +of the increased number of foldings. The gatherings, originally +quaternions or quires, became different, and those who undertake to +examine MSS. with respect to their completeness have to be familiar with +the various methods.[7] This kind of knowledge, however, though useful, +is by no means essential to the story of illumination. + +[7] Wattenbach, _Schriftwesen_; Madan, _Books in Manuscript_, _etc_. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GREEK AND ROMAN ILLUMINATION + +The first miniature painter--The Vatican Vergils--Methods of +painting--Origin of Christian art--The Vienna Genesis--The +Dioscorides--The Byzantine Revival. + + +It has been already stated that the earliest recorded miniature painter +was a lady named Lala of Cyzicus in the days of Augustus Cæsar, days +when Cyzicus was to Rome what Brussels is to Paris, or Brighton to +London. All her work, as far as we know, has perished. It was +portraiture on ivory, probably much the same as we see in the miniature +portraiture of the present day. + +But this was not illumination. The kind of painting employed in the two +Vatican Vergils was, however, something approaching it. These two +precious volumes contain relics of Pagan art, but it is the very art +which was the basis and prototype of so-called Christian art of those +earliest examples found in the catacombs and in the first liturgical +books of Christian times. + +The more ancient of the two Vergils referred to, No. 3225, which Labarte +(2nd ed., ii. 158) thinks to be a century older than the other, Sir M.D. +Wyatt considered as containing "some of the best and most interesting +specimens of ancient painting which have come down to us. The design is +free and the colours applied with good effect, the whole presenting +classical art in the period of decline, but before its final +debasement." Whereas in the second MS., No. 3867, the style, though +still classical, is greatly debased, and probably, in addition to this, +by no means among the best work of its time. It is described as rough, +inaccurate, and harsh. The method is of the kind called _gouache_, +_i.e._ the colours are applied thickly in successive couches or layers, +probably by means of white of egg diluted with fig-tree sap, and +finished in the high lights with touches of gold (Palæograph. Soc., pl. +114, 117). This finishing with touches of gold brings the work within +the range of illumination. There is, indeed, wanting the additional +ornamentation of the initial letter which would bring it fully into the +class of mediæval work; but, such as it is, it may fairly claim to be +suggestive of the future art. Indeed, certain points in the MS. +3225--viz. that Zeus is always red and Venus fair, that certain costumes +and colours of drapery are specially appropriated--would lead to the +supposition that even then there existed a code of rules like those of +the Byzantine Guide, and that therefore the art owed its origin to the +Greeks. + +Between this MS. and the first known Christian book work there may have +been many that have now perished, and which, had they remained, would +have marked the transition more gradually. But even as they stand there +is no appreciable difference between the earliest monuments of Christian +art and those of the period which preceded them. Nor shall we find any +break, any distinct start on new principles. It is one continuous series +of processes--the gradual change of methods growing out of experience +alone--not owing to any change of religion or the adoption of a new set +of theological opinions. Of course we shall find that for a very long +time the preponderance of illuminated MSS. will be towards liturgical +works; and we shall also find that where the contents of the MS. are the +same the subjects taken for illustration are also selected according to +some fixed and well-known set of rules. We shall see the explanation of +this by-and-by. + +The first example of a Christian illuminated MS. is one containing +portions of the Book of Genesis in Greek preserved in the Imperial +Library at Vienna. It is a mere fragment, only twenty-six leaves of +purple vellum--that is, bearing the imperial stain--yet it contains +eighty-eight pictures. We call them miniatures, but we must remember +that by "miniator" a Roman bookseller would not understand what we call +a miniaturist; and, as we have said, the word "illuminator" was not then +known. + +This Vienna Genesis is not introduced among illuminated books, +therefore, because of its miniatures--pictures we prefer to call +them--but because the text is nearly all written in _gold_ and _silver_ +letters. The pictures, according to the Greek manner, are placed in +little square frames. They were executed, no doubt, by a professional +painter, not without technical skill and not hampered by monastic +restrictions. The symbolism which underlies all early art is here shown +in the allegorical figures (such as we shall meet with again in later +Byzantine work), which are introduced to interpret the scene. We see the +same thing in the catacombs. Being a relic of great importance, this +Genesis codex has been often described and examples given of its +pictures. Of course, in a little manual like the present we cannot +pretend to exhibit the literature of our subject. We can scarcely do +more than refer the reader to a single source. In this case perhaps we +cannot do better than send the inquirer to the Victoria and Albert +Museum at South Kensington. + +If we select another MS. of this early period it is the one which may be +said to be the oldest existing MS. in which the ornamentation is worthy +of as much notice as the pictures. We refer to the Collection of +Treatises by Greek physicians on plants, fishing, the chase, and kindred +matters in the same library as the Genesis fragment. It goes under the +name of "Dioscorides," who was one of the authors, and dates from the +beginning of the sixth century. The Genesis is a century older. +Engravings from the Dioscorides are given in Labarte's _Arts +industriels, etc._, pl. 78, and in Louandre's _Arts somptuaires, etc._, +i., pl. 2, 3. + +Enough has been said on these earlier centuries to show quite clearly +the character of the art known as Early Christian. It is simply a +continuation of such art as had existed from classical times, and had, +in fact, passed from the Greeks, who were artists, to the Romans, who +were rarely better than imitators. It is carried on to the period when +it again is nourished by Greek ideas in the Later Empire, and once more +attains distinction in the splendid revival of art under the Emperor +Justinian. + +NOTE.--Julius Capitolinus, in his Life of the exquisite Emperor Maximin, +junior, mentions that the emperor's mother[8] made him a present of a +copy of the poems of Homer, written in golden letters on purple[9] +vellum. This is the earliest recorded instance of such a book in +Christian times. Its date would be about 235 A.D. + +[8] Quædam parens sua. + +[9] Purpureos libros. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BYZANTINE ILLUMINATION + +The rebuilding of the city of Byzantium the beginning of Byzantine +art--Justinian's fondness for building and splendour--Description of +Paul the Silentiary--Sumptuous garments--The Gospel-book of +Hormisdas--Characteristics of Byzantine work--Comparative scarcity of +examples--Rigidity of Byzantine rules of art--Periods of Byzantine +art--Examples--Monotony and lifelessness of the style. + + +The signal event which gave birth to mediæval illumination, or rather to +the ideas which were thereby concentrated upon the production of +magnificent books, was the rebuilding of the Imperial Palace and the +Basilica of Constantine, henceforward to be known as the Church of +Sancta Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom, at Byzantium. The Emperor Justinian +had been reigning six years when a terrific fire, caused by the +conflicts between the various seditions, called Circus factions, of the +time, almost entirely destroyed not only his own palace and the great +Christian church adjoining it, but the city of Constantinople itself. So +important a scheme of reconstruction had probably never been forced upon +a government since the great fire in Rome under Nero. Justinian, whose +early training had been of the most economical kind, and whose +disposition seemed to be rather inclined to parsimony than extravagance, +now came out in his true character. For various reasons he had hitherto +studiously concealed his master-passion; but this catastrophe of the +fire, which seemed at first so disastrous, was really a stroke of +fortune. It afforded the hitherto frugal sovereign the chance he had +long waited for of spending without stint the hoarded savings of his two +miserly predecessors, and gratifying his own tastes for magnificent +architecture and splendour of apparel. + +Not only Asia, with its wealth of gold and gems, but all the known world +capable of supplying material for the reconstructions, were called upon, +and ivory, marbles, mosaics, lamps, censers, candelabra, chalices, +ciboria, crosses, furniture, fittings, pictures--in short, everything +that his own taste and the experience of four or five of the ablest +architects of the time could suggest--administered to the gorgeous, the +unspeakable splendour of the new edifices and their furniture. + +Paul the Silentiary, an eye-witness of the whole proceeding, has left a +description in verse, and the accurate Du Fresne in prose, which enable +us easily to trace how the Roman city of Constantine became transformed +into the semi-oriental Byzantium of Justinian. During the two centuries +which had elapsed since the days of the first Christian emperor many +foreign luxuries had found their way into the Eastern capital. Byzantine +jewellery and Byzantine silks were already famous. The patterns on the +latter were not merely floral or geometrical, but four-footed animals, +birds, and scenes from outdoor sports formed part of the embellishment, +which, therefore, must have taken the place occupied in later times by +the tapestries of Arras and Fontainebleau. + +Hitherto the Byzantines had imported their silks from Persia. After the +rebuilding of the Basilica, Justinian introduced silk-culture into +Greece. The garments ridiculed by Asterius, Bishop of Amasia, in the +fourth century, were repeated in the sixth century. "When men," says he, +"appear in the streets thus dressed, the passers-by look at them as at +painted walls. Their clothes are pictures which little children point +out to one another. The saintlier sort wear likenesses of Christ, the +Marriage of Galilee...and Lazarus raised from the dead." + +On the robe of the Empress Theodora--the wife of Justinian, who is shown +in one of the mosaics of St. Vitale at Ravenna as presenting rich gifts +to that church--there is embroidered work along the border, showing the +Adoration of the Magi. _Theodora pia_ was one among the many rôles +played by that all-accomplished actress; but this seems to have been +after her death. Like Lucrezia Borgia, perhaps, she was better than her +reputation. With such surroundings liturgical books could not have +existed without sharing in the universal luxury of enrichment. And, in +point of fact, we still have records of such books. While Justinian +reigned in Byzantium it happened that Hormisdas, a native of Frosinone, +was Pope of Rome. He was a zealous eradicator of heresy (especially of +the Eutychian and Manichæan), and in recognition of his services in this +direction the Greek Emperor, with his thanks, sent him a great +Gospel-book richly decorated, no doubt, with those splendid Eusebian +canons and portraits of the Evangelists, the like of which we see in the +Byzantine examples still preserved at Paris, in London, and elsewhere. +Plates of beaten gold, studded with gems, formed the covers of the +Gospel-book of Hormisdas. + +Nor was this sumptuous volume the only, or even a rare, example of its +kind. We read that the art of book decoration had become a fashionable +craze. No expense was spared in the search for costly materials. Colours +were imported from India, Persia, and Spain, including vermilion and +ultramarine, while the renowned Byzantine gold ink was manufactured from +imported Indian gold. Persian calligraphers had taught its use afresh to +the Byzantine scribes. + +If, as we may believe, the first object of the Roman miniatores was +distinctness combined with beauty, we may now believe that the object of +the Byzantine scribes was splendour. The progress had been from mere +"cheirography" to calligraphy; now it was from calligraphy to +chrysography and arguriography. + +This employment of gold and silver inks may be looked upon as the first +step in the art of illumination as practised in the Middle Ages. And the +preliminary to the use of metallic inks was attention to the tint of the +vellum. The pioneers in this career of luxury no doubt had observed that +very white vellum fatigued the eye. Hence, at first, they tinted or +stained it with saffron, on one side at least, sometimes on both. Once +begun, the tinting of the vellum extended to other colours. For works of +the highest rank the favourite was a fine purple, the imperial colour of +the Roman and Greek emperors. For chrysography, or gold-writing, the +tint was nearly what we call crimson. For arguriography, or +silver-writing, it became the bluish hue we call grape-purple. On the +cooled purples vermilion ink was used instead of, or together with, the +gold or silver. As the usage began with the Greeks, we may be sure that +it came originally from Asia. + +The Emperor Nero, once having heard that an Olympic Ode of Pindar in +letters of gold was laid up in one of the temples at Athens, desired +that certain verses of his own should be similarly written and dedicated +on the Altar of Jupiter Capitolinus at Rome. This was an imperial luxury +several times repeated by other princes. + +After the official establishment of Christianity it became a common +practice to have the greater liturgical books executed in the same +costly fashion. And between the time of Constantine and that of Basil +the Macedonian many a burning homily was directed against the custom, +denounced as a sinful extravagance, which no doubt it was, but in vain +until the fashion had worn itself out. + +It might fairly be expected, this being the case, that many examples of +this kind of codex would still be in existence. But owing to war, fire, +robbery, and other misfortunes but very few remain. One of the oldest +and finest is the so-called _Codex Argenteus_, or Silver-book, now kept +at Upsala, in Sweden, containing portions of the Gospels of the +Mæsogothic Bishop Ulfilas. Originally the effect of the stamped or +burnished silver on the rich purple of the vellum must have been very +splendid, but now the action of the air has blackened it, as it has done +in many other instances where silver was used in illumination. Even gold +will gather tarnish, and in several such MSS. has turned of a rusty red. +Gold ink was not invariably confined to tinted vellum; it was often used +on the plain ground. The copy of the Old Testament in Greek, presented +by the high priest Eleazar to King Ptolemy Philadelphus, was a roll of +fine white vellum, upon which the text was written in letters of gold. + +To enter upon the antiquities of Greek palæography would lead us too far +from our track in view of the brevity of our present survey. We +therefore with some reluctance turn from this interesting topic to our +more immediate subject. We may remark, however, that the great majority +of Greek MSS. are written on vellum. In the eleventh century are found +instances of what is called _charta bombycina_, or cotton-paper, +appearing more plentifully in the twelfth century, but on the whole +vellum is the chief material of Byzantine illuminated books. Much has +been said about the want of life and total lack of variety of treatment +in this school of art. To a very great extent the charge is just, yet it +could scarcely be otherwise. The one circumstance which compelled +Byzantine work to remain so long as if cast in one unalterable mould, +and thus to differ so strangely from that of Western artists, was due to +the fact that in very early Christian times the scribes and illuminators +were enrolled into a minutely organised corporation originating +primarily in monasticism, but by no means confined to the monastic +Orders. Lay guilds existed, the regulations and methods of which were +rigid beyond modern belief. So that, as a class, Byzantine art has +acquired the reputation of a soulless adherence to mechanical rules and +precedents, depriving it of originality and even of individuality, and +therefore excluding the remotest scintilla of artistic genius. Of the +great crowd of examples of ordinary work this may be true, but it +certainly is not true of the best, by which it has the right to be +judged, as we shall see from the examples referred to by-and-by. +Certainly there is one invaluable particular in which Greek MSS. are +superior to those of the West, Latin or otherwise. That is, they are +much more frequently signed with the names, localities, and dates of the +copyists and illuminators. + +It will be some help towards our knowledge of this school if we divide +its existence into chronological sections or periods. + +1. From præ-Christianity to the Age of Justinian, _i.e._ down to the +year 535. (Justinian reigned from 526 to 564.) + +This period marks the decadence of ancient art, but carries with it the +characteristics and methods of the ancient Greek painters. + +2. From the Age of Justinian to the Iconoclastic paralysis of art under +Leo III. the Isaurian, _i.e._ 564 to 726. (Leo reigned from 717 to 741.) + +During this period vast numbers of illuminated liturgical books were +destroyed for religious or fanatical reasons, just as in our own +Cromwellian times numbers of _Horæ_, Missals, etc., were destroyed as +papistical and superstitious. + +This Edict of 726 did not absolutely put an end to all art in MSS. It +only had the effect of excluding images of God, Christ, and the saints, +as in Arabian and Persian MSS., leaving the artist the free use of +flowers, plants, and line ornament, after the manner of the Mohammedan +arabesques. + +3. From Leo III. to the Empress Irene, who restored the worship of +images in part, _i.e._ from 741 to 785. (Irene ruled from 780 to 801.) + +This was a period of stagnation, though by no means of extinction of +art. + +4. From Irene to Basil I. the Macedonian, _i.e._ from 801 to 867. + +A half-century and more of rapid renaissance to the most brilliant epoch +of Byzantine art since the time of Justinian, if not the zenith of the +school. + +Basil I. was a great builder--building, in fact, was his ruling +passion--so that it may be said that he took Justinian for his model +both as a ruler and as a patron of the arts. (He reigned from 867 to +886.) + +5. From Basil the Macedonian to the Fall of Constantinople, _i.e._ from +886 to 1453. + +Allowing for a few flashes of expiring skill in various reigns, this may +be considered as a period of gradual but certain decline to a state +worse than death, for though the monks of Greek and Russian convents +still kept up the execution of MSS., it was only with the driest and +most lifeless adhesion to the Manual. This so-called art still exists, +but more like a magnetised corpse than a living thing. + +Examples of the first period are seldom met with. We have one signal +specimen in the British Museum Add. MS. 5111, being two leaves only of a +Gospel-book, and containing part of the Eusebian canons, or +contents-tables of the Four Gospels, etc. The work is attributed to the +time of Justinian himself. It is of the kind already referred to as +probably affording the model of work to the early illuminators of France +and Ireland, and as being like the Gospel-book of Hormisdas and those +brought to England by Augustine in 596. Another example of the same +Eusebian canons is found in Roy. MS. 1 E. vi. + +Of the fourth period--_i.e._ the ninth century--perhaps the most typical +example is the Menologium (a sort of compound of a calendar and lives of +the saints), now in the Vatican Library (MS. Gr. 1613). This MS. shows +that the revival under Basil the Macedonian was a return not to Roman, +but to ancient Greek art, the facial types being of the purest classical +character. + +[Illustration: +EVANG. GRÆCA +6TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 5111, fol. 13_] + +[Illustration: +EVANG. GRÆCA +9TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Burney MS. 19 fol. 1 v._] + +In some of them we see the horizontal frown of the Homeric heroes +(σύνοφρυς Οδυσσευς), and of the Georgian and Armenian races shown in the +features of the Emperor Johannes Ducas. We have, too, the large +Hera-like eye with its mystic gaze, which, in later Byzantine work, +becomes first a gaze of lofty indifference, as in the portraits of the +emperors and empresses, and lastly a stony and expressionless stare; +still, if possible, more stony and glaring when transferred to Celtic +and Carolingian Gospel-books. (See chapter on Carolingian Illumination.) + +Of this fourth period we might indeed point to many examples. One must +suffice. It is the beautiful Greek Psalter, now at Paris (MS., p. 139), +containing lovely examples of antique design, including remarkable +personifications or allegorical figures. In this MS. is one of the most +graceful personifications ever painted, that of _Night_, with her veil +of gauze studded with stars floating overhead. The seven pictures from +the Life of David are among the best ever put into a MS. But +personification is carried to an extreme. Thus the Red Sea, the Jordan, +Rivers, Mountains, Night, Dawn, etc., are all represented as persons. +The drawings are really beautiful and the illuminated initials and +general ornament in good taste. + +For other examples the reader may consult the British Museum Cat. of +Addit. MSS., 1841-5, p. 87; also Du Sommerard, _Les Arts au Moyen-âge_, +tom. v., 1846, pp. 107, 162-8, and album, 2e sér. pl. xxix., 8e sér. +pl. xii.-xvi. + +It is noticeable in these Byzantine pictures that while the +figure-painting is often really excellent, the design skilful, and the +pose natural, the landscape, trees, etc., are quite symbolic and +fanciful. The painters seem to have been utterly ignorant of +perspective. Buildings, too, without any regard to relative proportion, +are coloured merely as parts of a colour scheme. They are pink, pale +green, yellow, violet, blue, just to please the eye. That the painter +had a system of colour-harmony is plain, but he paid no regard to the +facts of city life, unless, indeed, it was the practice of the mediæval +Byzantines to paint the outside of their houses in this truly brilliant +style. Possibly they did so; we have similar things in Italy even +nowadays. + +No doubt the French illuminators of the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries drew from these sources both their perspective and their +architectural colouring. As for ornamental illumination, the principal +method of decoration was a square heading,[10] perhaps including a +semicircular arch sweeping over several arcades, the corners and +wall-space being occupied either with arabesque patterns, showing them +to be after the time of Leo III., or with scrolls of line-ornament +enriched with acanthus foliages. Under this the scribe has placed his +title. + +[10] It has been thought to represent the Greek π, and to mean πύλη, a +gate or door. + +[Illustration: +CARVED IVORY COVER +LATIN PSALTER OF MELLISENDA +12TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Egert. MS. 1139_] + +[Illustration: +CODEX AURENS +(GOLDEN GOSPELS OF ATHELSTAN) +C. 835 +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2788, fol. 176_] + +Other examples have a square frame filled with the latter kind of +scrolls and foliages, leaving a sort of open panel in the centre, in +which is placed a small scene of sacred history or perhaps of country +life. Sometimes the title, in golden letters, is surrounded with +medallions containing heads of Christ and the Virgin, apostles, and +saints. The peculiar interlacing bands of violet, yellow, rose, blue, +etc., which are still often seen in Russian ornament, are also features +of these Byzantine MSS.; but most of all is the lavish use of gold. +Perhaps the fact most to be remembered about these MSS. is that the +painters of them worked in a manner that was absolutely fixed and rigid, +the rules of which are laid down in a manual called the _Guide to +Painting_, a work which has been translated by M. Didron. + +So fixed and unalterable, indeed, is the manner that there is absolutely +no difference to indicate relative antiquity between a MS. of the +eleventh century and one of the sixteenth or even later, we might almost +say, of the present day. In the matter of saint-images this is strictly +true. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CELTIC ILLUMINATION + +Early liturgical books reflect the ecclesiastical art of their +time--This feature a continuous characteristic of illumination down to +the latest times--Elements of Celtic ornament--Gospels of St. +Chad--Durham Gospels--Contrast of Celtic and Byzantine--St. +Columba--Book of Kells--Details of its decoration. + + +In the earlier centuries of Christianity, when liturgical books were the +chief occupation of the illuminator, it will need little pointing out to +demonstrate that the page of the illuminated manuscript, where it +contained more than the mere ornamental initial, was simply a mirror of +the architectural decoration of the church in which it was intended to +be used. Where the church enrichments consist, as on the Byzantine +basilicas, of panellings, arcades, and tympana of gilded sculpture in +wood or stone, with figures of saints, the pages of the Gospel-book bear +similar designs. Where, as in the Romanesque, they are rich in mosaics, +and fretted arcades interlacing each other, so are the illuminated Lives +of the Saints, the Menologia, Psalters, and Gospel-books. Where, as in +the Gothic cathedrals of the West--of France, Germany, or Italy--the +stained glass is the striking feature of the interior, so it is with the +illumination; it is a "vitrail"--a glass-painting on vellum. On this +latter point we shall have more to say when we reach the period of +Gothic illumination. + +Incidentally, also, the book reflects the minor arts in vogue at the +period of its execution. Often in the illumination we may detect these +popular local industries. We see mosaic enamelling, wood-and +stone-carving, and lacquer-work, and as we approach the Renaissance, +even gem-cutting and the delicate craft of the medallist. In Venice and +the Netherlands we have the local taste for flower-culture; in Germany +we find sculpture in wood and stone; in France the productions of the +enameller and the goldsmith; until at length, in the full blaze of the +Renaissance itself, we have in almost every land the same varieties of +enrichment practised according to its own special style of work. + +It has been said that the oldest Celtic illuminated MSS. show no signs +of classic, or even Byzantine, influence, yet the plan or framework of +the designs makes use both of the cross and the arch, as used in the +earliest Byzantine examples. The details, indeed, are quite different, +and manifestly derived from indigenous sources. It may be, therefore, +that the framework is merely a geometrical coincidence which could not +well be avoided. The fact that the basis of pure Irish ornament _is_ +geometrical, and developed out of the prehistoric and barbarous art of +the savages who preceded the Celts in Ireland; such art as is used on +the carved shafts of spears, and oars, and staves of honour, and +afterwards on stone crosses and metal-work, may account for the +similarity of ideas in ornament developed by old Roman decorators in +their mosaic pavements, and may reconcile, in some measure, the varied +opinions of different writers who have approached the subject from +different points of view. Westwood adhered to the theory of its being +purely indigenous. Fleury, on the other hand, in his Catalogue of the +MSS. in the Library at Laon, asserts that we owe the knots and +interlacements to the influence of the painters, sculptors, and +mosaicists of Rome. "These interlacings, cables, etc., there is no +Gallo-Roman monument which does not exhibit them, and, only to cite +local instances, the cord of four or five strands is seen in the +beautiful mosaics discovered in profusion within the last five years +(1857-62) at Blanzy, at Bazoches, at Vailly, and at Reims. It was from +them that the Franks borrowed their knots and twists and ribbons for +their belts and buckles, their rings and bracelets" (pt. i., p. 8). + +The elements, therefore, of book ornament, as used by the Celtic penmen, +are such as were employed by the prehistoric and sporadic nations in the +textile art in plaiting and handweaving, and afterwards transferred to +that of metal-work. Terminals of animal, bird, or serpent form +afterwards combine with the linear designs. The dog and dragon are +common, as may be seen in the archaic vases produced by the Greeks +before they came under the influence of ideas from Western Asia. + +Among Celtic artists, as among those of later times, the practice of +working in various materials was common to the same individual, and +Dagæus (d. 586) may compare with Dunstan, Eloy, Tuotilo, and others. + +To apply these observations to the style of illumination which now comes +under our notice it may be said that if we allow the cross and arch to +be copied from the Byzantine MSS. introduced from abroad, the details +are undoubtedly supplied by the wickerwork and textile netting familiar +to the everyday life of the artist. Assisted by the fertile imagination +of bardic lore in snakes, dragons, and other mythic monsters of heroic +verse, the illuminator produces a pencilled tapestry of textile fabric +or flexile metal-work as marvellous as it is unique. No amount of +description can give a true idea of what Celtic work is like; it must be +seen to be comprehended. One glance at a facsimile of such a MS. as the +Book of Kells or the Lindisfarne Gospels, or those of St. Chad at +Lichfield, or wherever, as at St. Gall, such work is to be met with, +will supersede the most laboured attempt at description. We must +therefore at once refer the reader to the facsimile. When that has been +inspected, we may proceed. In the first place it may be noted that with +these Occidental MSS. begins the importance and development of the +initial, which, indeed, as regards the illumination of Western Europe, +is the very root of the matter. It is the development of the initial +letter first into the bracket, then into the border, which forms the +great distinction of the "Art of Paris," as Dante calls it, from that of +Byzantium. The latter is almost always of a squared or tabular design, +traced and painted on a ground of burnished gold. The former exhausts +itself first in fantastic lacertine forms, twisted into the shapes of +the commencing letters or words of the writing, to which the suggestion +of some Byzantine MS, perhaps occasionally adds a frame. Next come +birds, dogs, dragons, vine-stems, and spirals embedded in couches of +colour; but, whatever its character, always it is the letter that +governs and originates the ornament. Only at the very end of its life, +when the border has completely eclipsed the initial, is the idea of +origin forgotten. Then, indeed, we find the border treillages of +flower-stem or leaf-work starting from meaningless points of the design, +or scattered shapelessly at random. + +When we meet with work of this sort, we need no further proof that the +real art is dead. We have before us in such a performance--a trade +production--a mere object of commerce, valuable so far as it is the +result of labour, but not as a work of art. + +According to the Abbé Geoghegan,[11] Christianity was known to the people +of Ireland in the fourth century. The Greek Menology asserts that it was +carried thither by Simon Zelotes, but this is contradicted by the Roman +Breviary and the Martyrologists. Simeon Metaphrastes attributes it to +St. Peter, Vincent of Beauvais to St. James. Unreliable as these +traditions may be taken singly, they nevertheless agree in placing the +conversion of Ireland at a very early date, probably, as Geoghegan says, +in the fourth century. It is certain that about the middle of the sixth +century an Irish prince of distinguished ancestry, and himself a saint, +led a band of missionaries from Donegal to Iona. It is curious to +observe that the event is almost contemporary with the renovations of +Justinian at Byzantium, and only a short time before the founding of the +famous Abbey of Monte Cassino by St. Benedict. Before the existence of +the Benedictine Order there was a monastery at Durrow, in Ireland, and +in this monastery the aforesaid prince was educated. His name was +Columba. At least, so he is called, but whether it be merely in allusion +to his mission--"the Dove"--or really a patronymic, it is hard to say. +He was the messenger of peace to the natives of Iona, and even the name +of the island seems to suggest an allusion to the Old Testament +missionary to the Ninevites, Jonah. The Irish missionaries called the +spot to which they went _I. columcille_, "the cell of the Dove's isle," +or Columba's cell. It is usually spoken of as the Monastery of Iona. +Columba went on many other missions, but ultimately returned to his +beloved Iona, where he died in 597, the year after the arrival of +Augustine at Canterbury. + +[11] _Hist. de l'Irlande._ + +His companions busied themselves with the transcription of the Gospels +for the use of new converts, after the model of those they had seen and +used at Durrow. It is even traditionally asserted that Columba himself +took part in the work, and transcribed both a Psalter and a Gospel-book, +moreover, that one of the Iona Gospel-books written by him is still in +existence. This MS., whether the work of St. Columba or not, and +probably it is not, is the earliest known monument of Irish calligraphic +art. It is known as the Book of Kells, and there is no doubt that it is +the most amazing specimen of penmanship ever seen. It is at once the +most ancient, the most perfect, and the most precious example of Celtic +art in existence. It exhibits the striking peculiarities and features of +the style--the band work knots and interlacings, such as may be seen on +the stone crosses which mark the burial-places of British and Irish +chieftains. Witness, for instance, the Carew, or the Nevern Cross, +described in the _Journal of the Archœlogical Institute_, iii. 71, which +might be taken to represent an initial "I" wrought in stone. There is no +foliage, no plant form at all. It is not, therefore, derivable from +Romanesque, Byzantine, or Oriental ornament. It is indigenous, if not to +Ireland, at least to those prehistoric Aryan tribes of which the Irish +were a branch. Its basis is the art of weaving, and in some respects +resembles the matting of Polynesia much more closely that the vine-stems +of Sicily or the arabesques of Byzantium. Spirals occur that bewilder +the eye, yet are so faultlessly perfect that only the magnifying-glass +brings out the incredible accuracy of the drawing. Among them are +mythological and allegorical beasts, snakes, and lizards--thought to +represent demons, like the gargoyles of Gothic architecture--in every +conceivable attitude of contortion and agony. There are also doves and +fishes, but the latter, being sacred emblems together with the lamb, are +seldom made grotesque. It was a monkish legend that the devil could take +the shape of any bird or beast, except those of the dove and the lamb. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CELTIC ILLUMINATION--_continued_ + +The Iona Gospels--Contrast with Roman and Byzantine--Details--Treatment +of animal forms--Colour schemes--The Gospel-book of St. Columbanus--That +of Mael Brith Mac Durnan--The Lindisfarne Gospels--_Cumdachs_--Other +book-shrines. + + +We have seen that in both Roman and Byzantine MSS. the titles and +beginnings of books were merely distinguished by a lettering in red or +gold, rather smaller, in fact, than the ordinary text, but rendered +distinct by the means referred to. The handwriting, too, is clear and +legible, whether capital, uncial, or minuscule. + +In absolute contrast to all this the Iona Gospels have the first page +completely covered with ornament. On the next the letters are of an +enormous size, followed by a few words, not merely in _uncials_, but in +characters varying from half an inch to two inches in height. The page +opposite to each Gospel is similarly filled with decoration, separated +into four compartments by an ornamented Greek cross. This may, of +course, be simply a geometrical device in no way connected with Greece, +but, taken in connection with other features, we see in it an indication +of contact with Byzantine work and the side of illumination which deals +rather with the tabular enrichment of the page than the development of +the initial. Further, the writing, though large, is not easily legible, +for it is involved, enclaved, and conjointed in a manner sufficiently +puzzling to those who see it for the first time. + +The plaiting and inlaying are certainly borrowed from local usages, and +the survival of the same kind of interlaced plaiting in the Scottish +tartans is some evidence of the long familiarity of the Celtic race with +the art of weaving. When we remember that some of the early illuminators +were also workers in metals, we can understand that penmen like Dagæus, +Dunstan, and Eloy had designs at their command producible by either +method. So we see, both in the MS. and in the brooch and buckle, the +same kind of design. Among the earliest animals brought into this Celtic +work we find the dog and the dragon; the latter both wingless and +winged, according to convenience or requirement. The dog is so common in +some of the Celto-Lombardic MS., of which examples still exist at Monte +Cassino, as almost to create a style; while the dragon survives to the +latest period of Gothic art. + +Whatever is introduced into a Celtic illumination is at once treated as +a matter of ornament. When the human figure appears it is remorselessly +subjected to the same rules as the rest of the work; the hair and beard +are spiral coils, the eyes, nostrils, and limbs are symmetrical +flourishes. Colour is quite regardless of natural possibility. The hair +and draperies are simply patterned as compartments of green or blue, or +red or black, as may be required for the _tout ensemble_; the face +remains white. Lightened tints are preferred to full colours, as pale +yellow, pink, lavender, and light green. A very ludicrous device is made +use of to denote the folds of the drapery; they are not darkened, there +is no light and shade in Celtic work, but are simply lines of a strongly +contrasting colour. The blue and red appear to be opaque, and therefore +mineral colours; the rest are thin and transparent. Nothing can be more +wayward than the colouring of the symbolic beasts of the Gospels. In the +Evangeliary of St. Columbanus (not Columba, but the founder of Luxeuil +and Bobbio, who died in 614) the Lion of St. Mark is an admirable beast +in a suit of green-and-red chain armour in the form of mascles or +lozenges. (See the illustration in Westwood's _Palæographia Sacra +Pictoria_ of a figure page from the Gospels of Mael Brith Mac Durnan for +a typical example.)[12] + +[12] See also an article by Westwood in _Journal Archæol. Inst._, vii. +17, on "Irish Miniatures." + +The only point that might argue the freedom in Celtic work from +Byzantine influence is the absence of gold, but perhaps this was only +because the earlier Irish illuminators could not obtain it; we find it +later on. In the Book of Kells and the Lambeth Gospels there is no gold. +The former dates somewhere in the seventh century, not the sixth, as +sometimes stated; the latter, shortly before 927. In the Lindisfarne +Gospels (698-721) gold is used. In the Psalter of Ricemarchus, now in +Trinity College, Dublin, are traces of silver. It is in connection with +these Irish MSS. that decorated and jewelled cases, called _cumdachs_, +make their appearance, such as the one attached to the Gospels of St. +Moling in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. These book-shrines are +almost exclusively an Irish production. In other countries the idea was +to adorn the volume itself with a splendid and costly binding, perhaps +including gold, silver, and gems. In Ireland the idea of sacredness was +carried out in another way. Instead of decorating the covers of the book +itself, it was held, as in such a MS., for instance, as the Book of +Durrow, to be too venerable a relic to be meddled with, and a box or +case was made for it, on which they spent all their artistic skill. +Generally the case is known as a _cumdach_; but one kind, called the +_cathach_, was so closed that the book was completely concealed, and it +was superstitiously believed that if it were opened some terrible +calamity would overtake its possessors. Such was the _cathach_ of +Tyrconnell. We must remember, however, that in this instance the keepers +were not men of book-learning, but hardy warriors who carried the +_cathach_ into battle as a charm and an incitement to victory. + +Of similar shrines, which were made for precious books by both the +Greeks and Lombards, the oldest and most famous is that made for +Theudelinde, wife of Agilulf, King of the Lombards, and given by her, in +616, together with the famous iron crown and other relics, to the +Cathedral of Monza, where they are still to be seen. + +The enrichment of the covers of books themselves, as distinct from the +use of cases or shrines, has been usual in almost all ages and styles of +decoration. When we come to speak of Carolingian MSS. we shall find +several remarkable instances. + +We must now pass on from this curiously attractive theme of Celtic +calligraphy to its contemporary styles of France, Germany, Spain, and +Italy, only remarking by the way that no other style of its time had so +marked an influence on the local _scriptoria_ into which it was +introduced as this same Celtic of Ireland. It is not only traceable, but +easily recognised all along the Rhine, in Burgundy, the Swiss Cantons, +and Lombardy, until at length overwhelmed by the general introduction of +Romanesque or Byzantine, which was restored and filtered through the +Exarchate and the Lombard schools during the early days of the new +Carolingian Empire. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SEMI-BARBARIC ILLUMINATION + +Visigothic--Merovingian--Lombardic--Extinction of classic art--Splendid +reign of Dagobert--St. Eloy of Noyon--The Library of Laon--Natural +History of Isidore of Seville--Elements of contemporary art--Details of +ornament--Symbolism--Luxeuil and Monte Cassino--Sacramentary of +Gellone--"Prudentius"--"Orosius"--Value of the Sacramentary of Gellone. + + +To reach the beginning's of these various degenerate and illiterate +attempts at book-work we have only to watch the last expiring gleams of +classic art beneath the ruthless footsteps of the barbarian invaders of +the old Roman Empire. + +In the sixth century the light of the old civilisation was fast fading +away. Perhaps we may look upon the so-called splendour of the reign of +Dagobert in France as the spasmodic scintillations of its latest moments +of existence. The kingdom of Dagobert, after 631, was almost an empire. +For the seven years preceding his death, in 638, he ruled from the Elbe +and the Saxon frontier to that of Spain, and from the Atlantic Ocean to +the confines of Hungary. It was during his reign that we read of the +skill in metal-work of the celebrated St. Eloy of Noyon, the rival of +our own St. Dunstan. + +St. Eloy or Eligius (588-659) began his artistic career as the pupil of +Abbo, the goldsmith and mint-master to Chlothaire II., and rose from the +rank of a goldsmith to that of Bishop of Noyon. Among his handiwork were +crowns, chalices, and crosiers, and he is reputed to have made the chair +of bronze-gilt now in the National Library at Paris, called the +_fauteuil_ of Dagobert, and many other works, which disappeared either +during the wars of Louis XV. or those of the Revolution of 1789. He +founded the Abbey of Solignac, near Limoges, and it is not improbable +that the reputation of this city for metal-work and enamelling may be +dated from his foundation. With such works as those of Eloy before them, +it is difficult to believe that the wretched and puerile attempts at +ornamental penmanship and illumination which are shown at Laon and other +places as the work of this period can possibly represent the highest +efforts of the calligrapher. But we must remember that St. Eloy was an +extraordinary genius in his art, and that the bulk of the clergy, not to +mention ordinary workmen, were very ignorant and ill-taught. Very few, +indeed, were men who could be considered cultured. Gregory of Tours, the +historian, and Venantius Fortunatus, the hymn-writer, are among the few. + +In the Library at Laon, M. Fleury describes a MS. of the Natural History +of Isidore of Seville, which is looked upon as a work of reference both +as regards art and learning. It was at one time a very popular book, +being a Latin cyclopædia, dealing with the sciences and general +knowledge of the time; yet the example referred to by M. Fleury shows us +only a crowd of initials learnedly styled by the Benedictine authors and +others "ichthio-morphiques" and "ornithoeides," _i.e._ made up of fishes +and birds, and about equal in quality and finish to the efforts of a +very ordinary schoolboy. + +These initials betray an utter decadence from the beautiful uncials of +the fifth and sixth centuries, seen in the St. Germain's Psalter, for +example, now in the National Library at Paris. The colours are coarse +and badly applied, and even where brightest are utterly unrefined and +without taste. + +Notwithstanding, however, the apparently total eclipse or extinction of +Roman art in Gaul, or, as it must henceforth be called, France, it is +claimed by M. Fleury[13] that the interlacements which constitute the +principal feature of these earlier Merovingian MSS. are derived from the +remains of Roman mosaics found profusely at Blanzy, Bazoches, and Reims. +This may be so, but those mosaics would not account for the same +features in the Irish work, for the Romans never reached Ireland as +occupants or colonists. + +[13] See later. + +Take another example from the Laon collection, the History of Orosius. +The first page is a type of the species to which it belongs, and, +moreover, a good sample of the earliest efforts of all pictorial art. An +ordinary rectangular cross occupies the centre of the page. The centre +shows us the Lamb of the Apocalypse and St. John. On the arms are the +beasts which typify the Evangelists--their emblems, as they are +sometimes called. We notice that they are all symbolic, and not intended +to be natural imitations of reality. The various animals scattered about +the page are all symbolic--all have a mystical interpretation and +_raison d'être_. A border-frame, passing behind each extremity of the +cross, contains a number of dog-like animals, some plain, others +spotted, while the body of the cross itself is occupied with attempts at +foliage ornaments. In the left upper corner are the letters "X P I," in +the right "I H V," thick foliage springing from the "I" and "V" and +falling back over the monogram. In the lower corners are two fishes and +two doves, each pair hanging to a penwork chain. + +The emblem of John, on the upper extremity of the cross, is an +eagle-headed and winged man holding a book; its opposite one of Lucas at +foot is a singularly conceived anthropoid and winged ox, also with a +book. On the left Marcus, whose head is indescribable; and on the right +Matthew, with human head, the rest of the figures being as before. The +eye in all the figures is a most remarkable feature. Both in the +pictures and the initials of this MS. the outline has been drawn in +black ink, and the colours yellow, red, brown, and green applied +afterwards. + +As the new masters of the West were not so much interested in the +artistic remains of the mangled civilisation they were endeavouring to +destroy as in mastery and military success, it was left for the +monasteries and the church to see to the welfare of books and monuments. + +In the seventh century it was the monasteries that saved almost all we +know of the preceding centuries. During the turmoil of the period from +the fifth to the eighth century we find certain quiet corners where +learning and the arts still breathed, grew, and dwelt in security. +Lérins, founded by St. Honoratus of Aries; Luxeuil by Columbanus, Bobbio +his last retreat; and, above all, Monte Cassino, the great pattern of +monasticism, the Rule of whose founder was destined to become the basis +of all later Orders, were each of them steadily labouring to rescue the +civilisation daily threatened by the ravage of war, and to preserve it +for the benefit of the ignorant hordes who, because of their ignorance, +now only aimed at its entire destruction. We have seen how these monks +and clerics, with more goodwill than ability, did their best to adorn +the books which came into their hands. It is a poor show, but there is +no better. It is absolutely our only record of how civilisation managed +to struggle through the storm. + +Let us, then, be thankful even for the Laon "Orosius," for the +Sacramentary of Gellone, and the Mozarabic Liturgies of Puy. They are +among the links between ancient and mediæval art. + +As already stated, the handwriting of Merovingian MSS. is mainly an +adaptation of the Roman uncial, as it is in Irish and Lombardic, or, we +might say, everywhere else. Abbreviations we still uncommon. Where +minuscules are used, the writing is not quite so legible as in the +larger hands, but we are not met by the singular difficulties of some of +the Lombardic texts. + +A few solitary texts of the earliest time are in capitals, such as the +really handsome "Prudentius" of the Paris National Library, where the +entire text of the great Christian poet is boldly inscribed in the +centre of a large white page of vellum, like a series of separate +inscriptions. The first few words are "rubrished" in the antique manner. +The MS. is supposed to date previous to the year 527. A little later +than this St. Columbanus founded the monastery of Luxeuil, and later +still, viz. in 616, that of Bobbio. + +If we turn to the Visigothic area, including the South of France and the +entire peninsula of Spain, our first and typical example is the +celebrated Sacramentary of Gellone. This MS. dates, it is said, from the +eighth century. It is written throughout in Visigothic uncials, though +executed in the South of France. Its ornamentation is frankly barbaric. +The colours used are yellow, red, and green. The great initials are +double lined, and the interlinear space filled in with a flat tint of +colour and lines of red dots, as in the Book of Kells occasionally +follow the contours. Here, also, are the fish or bird-form letters as in +the Laon "Orosius." Now and then occurs a tiny scene--perhaps a fight +between two grotesque brutes, neither fish, nor fowl, nor beast known to +the naturalist, but a horrible compound of the worst qualities of each. +The human figure, when it occurs, is childishly shapeless. But the +design and treatment, nevertheless, bear witness to a lively imagination +and considerable knowledge of Christian symbolism. It is these mental +qualities which, in spite of the manifest absence of manual skill, +render the Gellone Evangeliary one of the most precious monuments of its +time. Of the rest of the MSS. of this wretched period we will say +nothing. + + "Non ragioniam di lor', ma guard' e passa." + +We are glad to hurry on for another century or so, remembering that the +leading idea now is the development of the initial letter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DEVELOPMENT OF THE INITIAL + +The initial and initial paragraph the main object of decoration in +Celtic illumination--Study of the letter L as an example--The I of "In +principio" and the B of "Beatus Vir." + + +From the moment when the initial was placed beneath the miniature the +object of the whole design was not to give prominence to the initial but +to the picture. Until then, that is, whilst the initial remains above or +beside or outside the picture, it is the initial we must watch for style +and development. And therefore we seize on one letter among those of the +latter part of the eighth century, because of the frequency of its +occurrence in the Gospel-book or Evangeliary, one of the commonest books +of the time. This the letter L of "Liber Generationis," etc., the +commencing words of St. Matthew. This passage is always made of +importance, and on the initial and arrangement of the words the artist +expends his best efforts. + +Properly I should here display pictorially the series of which I speak. +It would certainly be the quickest way of explaining the matter. But as +this is out of the question for many reasons, and as the present little +guide aims rather at showing the way than marching through it, the +reader must be content to take its advice about where to look for +examples which it cannot reproduce. + +Regarding the letter L as an index of time and style, first we may take +the Irish L of the Book of Kells on p. 17, pt. 1, of Miss Stokes' _Early +Christian Art in Ireland_. Note first the form of the letter, then the +way it is filled up with ornament. Compare this, which dates from the +seventh century, with a similar L in the Ada-Codex in the Town Library +at Trèves, No. 22. A black and white copy of this is given in taf. 6 of +Lamprecht Initial Ornamentik. This carries up the work to the second +half of the eighth century. Next, say the L in the Town Archives at +Cologne, No. 147. This belongs to the second half of the ninth century. +The chief departure here is towards the knotted band work which figures +so largely afterwards both in German and Italian book ornament, the form +is still unchanged. But with the tenth century comes change of form as +well as of mode of filling, as for example taf. 19 of Lamprecht, in +which there is a complete alteration of treatment. The student may take +for similar comparison also the I of "In principio" of St. John's +Gospel, and the B of the first psalm in the Psalter, and carry the +comparison on to the end of the fourteenth century, by referring to the +MSS. in the British Museum and other public libraries, or in the +numerous illustrated works to be found in those collections. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FIRST ENGLISH STYLES + +Transition from Iona to Lindisfarne--Influence of Frankish art--The +"Opus Anglicum"--The Winchester school and its characteristics--Whence +obtained--Method of painting--Examples--Where found and described. + + +The succession of the school of Iona shows us in the first examples of +English illumination the type exemplified in the Book of Kells, +modified, but not very much, by its transference to Lindisfarne. + +Whatever doubt may be felt as to the influence of Byzantine or +Romanesque models on pure Irish work, such as the Book of Kells, there +can be none as regards the Lindisfarne Gospels. In the first place we +have gold both in the lettering and ornament. This MS., known also as +the Durham Book (Brit. Mus., Nero D. iv.), was the work of Abbat +Eadfrith, of Lindisfarne. It has been often described, as it is really a +most precious example of eighth-century art in this country. No other +MS. of its time is to be found in any continental scriptorium to be +compared with it. It is not a collection of clumsy inartistic attempts +at ornamental writing, but high-class, effective work, which should be +seen and studied by every student of illumination. + +From its style of execution, its details of portraiture, and other +features, it may be looked on as one of the earliest links between the +two extremes of Oriental and Occidental Art. + +Another MS. in the British Museum (Vesp. A. 1), which combines the Roman +method of painting as in the Vergils with the penwork of these +Anglo-Celtic Gospel-books, may also repay careful examination. + +It is very possible that the celebrated _scriptoria_ of York and Jarrow +may have been furnished with both MSS. and copyists from Rome, yet there +can be little doubt that the intercourse with Durham would be quite as +active. Nor is it less probable that similar intercourse would keep them +_en rapport_ with Oxford, St. Alban's, Westminster, Glastonbury, and +other _scriptoria_, so that in the eighth century England stood with +respect to art second to no other country in the Christian world. + +During the ninth century active intercourse with the Frankish Empire +enriched English churches and religious houses, especially Winchester, +with examples of Byzantine and Roman models, which Charlemagne had +introduced into his own palatine schools. From such secondary models as +the Sacramentaries and Evangeliaries executed at Tours, Soissons, Metz, +and other busy centres of production, English illuminators succeeded in +forming a distinctive style of their own. In the French or, rather, +Frankish MSS., while the richness of the gold and the beauty and +delicacy of the colouring are in themselves most charming, and while +certain features may in general be recognised as no doubt suggestive +there is nothing which quite predicts the remarkable treatment which +characterises the English work. "Opus Anglicum" was its distinctive +title. The term, indeed, was applied to all English artistic productions +more or less--embroidery among the rest. The women of England, says +William of Poitiers, were famous for their needlework, the men excelled +in metal-work and jewellery. But it was the illuminated Service Books +that have perpetuated the term. + +From the Lindisfarne Gospels to the Winchester Benedictionals is a far +cry--but Art is long and time is fleeting, hence many pages of +intervening description must be omitted. We may, however, refer the +reader to Westwood's _Palæographia Sacra Pictoria_, the Palæographical +Society's publications, and other works, for enlightenment on this +period. On the Rouen and Devonshire Benedictionals much interesting +information may be found in vol. 24 of the _Archæologia_ and in the +recent volume of the Bradshaw Society concerning them. + +The work is peculiar; and if we consider the treatment of foliage apart +from the colour, we cannot but notice its similarity to the ivory +carving observable in the consular diptychs. Ivory carving was then a +popular artistic occupation. The foliage is graceful, the composition +well-balanced, and the colour mostly bright body colour applied in the +Greek manner. The fault of the heads is that they are too small for the +figure, and of the draperies that the folds are overdone too much +fluttering detail. The gilding differs from the Byzantine in not being +laid on the vellum in the form of burnished leaf, but painted on like +the colours, not only in the figures but in the framework and ornaments. + +The British Museum contains several characteristic examples, but, as has +been said, the very finest are those at Rouen and in the library of the +Duke of Devonshire. + +Perhaps no genuine example exists earlier than the Golden Charter of +King Edgar of true Winchester illumination, executed forty years after +the accession of Athelstan, whose Coronation Book (Brit. Mus., Tib. A. +2) is most probably not English at all, but Carolingian of the finest +type. Many other _scriptoria_ in England in the tenth century were +equally busy with Winchester, but none could vie with the royal city in +the production of illuminated books. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CAROLINGIAN ILLUMINATION + +Why so-called--Works to be consulted--The Library of St. Gall--Rise and +progress of Carolingian art--Account of various MSS.--Features of the +style--Gospels of St. Sernin--The Ada-Codex--Centres of +production--Other splendid examples--The Alcuin Bible--The Gospel of St. +Médard of Soissons. + + +Once more crossing the Channel let us now inquire what has been doing +among the Franks since the Gellone Sacramentary, especially in the +schools instituted by the Emperor Charles the Great. Materials for this +inquiry are most abundant. One of the more important works on the +subject is the lucid monograph of Dr. Rahn, of Zurich, on the Golden +Psalter of Folchard at St. Gall, which deals more or less with the whole +question of Carolingian art, while M. Léop. Delisle's brochure on the +Evangeliary of St. Vaast of Arras gives us a copious account of the +Franco-Saxon branch of it. Apart, however, from these sources of +information, we have not a few original MSS. still extant, which, of +course, more vividly speak for themselves, and only require pointing out +to the student. + +The clearest method of study being to take things in the order of their +creation, so in order to understand the "character of savage grandeur +and naïve originality" which has been attributed to this style, it will +be best to take up these MSS. chronologically. At the same time, if +anyone merely wishes to know what the style is like at its best, Dr. +Rahn must be his guide, as the Golden Psalter which he has selected for +study is as splendid an example as perhaps may be found in the whole +career of the art. We have noticed how the Irish missionary-artists +carried their work to their continental settlements, how they planted +their schools in Burgundy, Switzerland, and Lombardy. Of all their +depositories, however, numerous as they are elsewhere, none is richer in +the relics of their work than the celebrated abbey which takes its name +of St. Gall from that disciple of St. Columbanus, who in 614 founded his +little cell beside the Steinach, about nine miles south of the Lake of +Constance. Under Charles Martel the cell had become a monastery, which +he endowed as a Benedictine abbey. In 830 was founded its magnificent +library of MSS. The library still exists, and at the present moment +gives shelf-room to 1,800 MSS. and more than 41,700 printed books. +Besides this, another, called the Town Library, founded in the sixteenth +century, and containing 500 MSS. and 60,400 printed books, gives this +upland, busy, modern manufacturing Swiss town no mean importance as a +centre of literary culture. Physically it is probably the highest town +in Europe, its street-level being very nearly 2,200 feet above that of +the sea. Its libraries and museums are rich storehouses of mediæval +treasures. The architect raves over its monastic buildings; the scholar +and palæographer gloat over its books and MSS. In the libraries of St. +Gall are some of the masterpieces of Irish Saxon, and Carolingian art, +and its great Benedictine abbey under Grimald from 841, _i.e._ during +the later Carolingian period, possessed one of the most active +_scriptoria_ in Europe. To begin with the beginning, however, we must +leave St. Gall, and, passing by some less important MSS., go back to the +year 781 and the city of Toulouse. In that year, and in the Abbey of St. +Sernin (Saturninus) in that city, was finished a wonderful and truly +splendid manuscript of the Gospels as a present to the Emperor and his +wife Hildegardis. This is our first example. It now is to be seen in the +National Library, Paris (Nouv. acqu. Lat. 1203). + +Next comes the Evangeliary of Abbat Angilbert of Centula (now St. +Riquier), near Abbeville, Charlemagne's son-in-law. This MS., executed +about the year 793, is still preserved in the Town Library of Abbeville. +In the same rank, but somewhat finer in execution, comes a third +Evangeliary, that of St. Médard of Soissons, now in the National +Library, Paris (No. 8850, Lat.). + +In these three MSS., reproductions from which are to be found in various +modern works on art, the writing and ornamentation are the parts into +which the artist puts his best work, not the figure drawing. Although in +the St. Sernin MS. there is, in the Christ-figure, a distinct attempt at +portraiture quite different from the coils and pen-flourishes which make +up the Gospel-figures in the Irish and Merovingian MSS. Here the +inspiration is clearly Greek, not Irish. The figure is draped in green +and violet--seated on an embroidered cushion before a low castellated +wall. The hair is light, and the chin beardless. The design shows a +decided likeness to the consular ivory diptychs, and the painting +follows the Eastern methods. In the details of ornament only are Irish +features. Thus we trace in this MS. the sources of Carolingian art. The +MS. being dated, is important as affording a means of comparison with +other undated work. It was presented to St. Sernin on the occasion of +the visit of the Emperor and Empress with their son, the amiable Louis +"le Debonaire,"[14] just after the latter had been made King of +Aquitaine. Godeschalk, the writer of it, on the last two leaves tells us +that it took him seven years to accomplish. It is written throughout in +gold and silver letters on purple vellum, and is, moreover, ornamented +with borders, pictures, portraits, and panellings. At first it was kept +in a _cumdach_ of silver, set with precious stones, but that has +disappeared. + +[14] Mod. Fr. "Debonnaire." + +The Golden Gospels of St. Médard, like the Centula MS., are similar, but +betoken an advance in both taste and execution. The figures are still +rude and deformed, but the artist shows a laudable desire, an ambition, +in fact, to imitate the work of better artists than himself. +Nevertheless, the calligraphy and borderwork are the best parts of his +performance. In this MS. the use of silver betrays a tendency to +prodigality. In design, the influence of the artists who built the new +church of San Vitale at Ravenna, a church which became the model for the +Abbey of St. Médard itself, is quite manifest, yet perhaps need not be +traced further than Soissons or Pavia. In certain of the illustrations, +as, for instance, the "Fountain of Life," there is at once a likeness +and a variation as compared with the same symbol in the Evangeliary of +St. Sernin. They are both too intricate to describe, but of both it may +be said that they show an intimate acquaintance with early Christian +symbolism. The ivory carving and architecture of Ravenna have evidently +been known to the director of these frames and backgrounds. In the year +which saw the completion of Godeschalk's Gospels, Alcuin was at Parma, +but when the St. Médard's Gospels were written he was Abbot of St. +Martin's at Tours. It was the presence of Alcuin at the Court of +Charlemagne that accounts for the prevalence of the Saxon character in +the new and beautiful handwriting we now call Carolingian. It was the +presence of Paul Warnefrid that accounts for much of the classic and +most of the Lombardic features, both of the writing and the +illumination. Many other scholars assisted these two in the various +centres in which Alcuin established branches of the palatine schools. +The intercourse with Italy and England was constant, and led to the +frequent interchange of books, and community of methods and models. +Another fine MS. of the same period (c. 780) is the Golden Ada-Codex of +St. Mesmin or Maximin, of Trèves. In 1794 this MS. was taken from Trèves +to Mainz; in 1815 it was transferred to Aix-la-Chapelle, and is now back +again at Trèves. The externals of the Ada-Codex are very costly, its +binding being a late Gothic pendant to the cover of the Echternach +Evangeliary at Gotha. In the centre of the fore-cover there is a +magnificent topaz,[15] with several imperial figures. Inside, the work is +a handsome example of the early Carolingian.[16] It contains the four +Gospels written by order of the "Mother and Lady Ada," sister of Charles +the Great, Abbess of St. Mesmin. Next we have in the British Museum +another grand example of the style as modified by English or Saxon +influence. Also the Zurich Bible, of the same date, executed at +Tours--and the Bamberg Bible, said to be a copy of the Alcuin Bible of +the same school. Then follow the Drogo Sacramentary, presented by the +Emperor to his natural son Drogo, Archbishop of Metz (826-855), perhaps +illuminated at Metz, but of the same school as those above mentioned. + +[15] Or sardonyx (Lamprecht says topaz.) + +[16] A photograph of the cover is sold by F. Linz of Trèves. + +In our own National Library, again, we have the Athelstan Gospels (Harl. +2788), also in all probability executed at Metz. At Paris (Nat. Lib., +Theol. Lat. 266) is the Evangeliary of Lothaire--a most beautiful +example of gold-writing and ornament. So we might enumerate a score of +splendid MSS., and classify them into their various minor schools. But +such is not our object. All we want here is a general but clear idea of +the style as a whole. + +To characterise it broadly by the names of its most important elements +we should call it a Lombard-Saxon style--the interlacing bands and knots +and other minor features and the main character of the writing being of +Saxon origin, the classical foliages and manner of painting the figures +and certain ideas of design Lombardic, strengthened by direct contact +with the sources of the latter style. Whatever variations there may be, +they can generally be accounted for according to locality and centre of +production. We have instanced a few examples of the earlier time as +showing the principal features of the style. Under the Emperor Charles +the Great's grandson, Charles the Bald, Carolingian illumination reached +its highest point of excellence, and the MSS. executed for him or his +contemporaries accordingly give a correct idea of what Carolingian +illuminators considered as good work. The chief centres were still Tours +and Metz--the latter a branch of the former, but gradually developing +distinct features of its own; and among the productions of these schools +there still remain precious--we might say priceless--examples, such as +the Vivien Bible of the Paris Library, so-called because presented by +Count Vivien, Abbat of St. Martin's of Tours, to Charles the Bald in +850.[17] It contains a fine picture of the presentation with _beardless_ +figures. It has also a number of exceedingly splendid initials showing +strong Byzantine influence--capitals of columns of classic origin and +traces of Merovingian in letter forms and ornamental details. It is like +the Evangeliary of Lothaire, already mentioned, a most sumptuous example +rich in silver and gold--the latter having a grand portrait of Lothaire +seated on his throne. Both MSS. are in the National Library at Paris, +the Vivien, No. 1 (Theol. Lat.), the Lothaire, No. 266. But the one +example to which we would call the reader's attention, though among the +earlier productions of the period, as not only most readily accessible, +but most precious to the English student, is the celebrated Alcuin Bible +in the British Museum (Add. MS. 10546). This venerable MS. is a copy of +the Vulgate revised by Alcuin himself, and said to be exactly similar to +the one at Bamberg. Biblical revision was perhaps the most important of +his many literary occupations, and this volume is reasonably believed to +be the actual copy prepared for presentation to Charlemagne under the +reviser's own superintendence, possibly, in part at least, the work of +his own hand. It is a large folio, finely written in a neat minuscule, +mainly Saxon hand, with uncial initials in two columns. The miniatures, +including their architectural details, are in the Roman manner, the +ornaments partly Byzantine, partly Celtic. The great similarity of +design between different manuscripts is strikingly exemplified by a +comparison of three borders from (_a_) the Evangeliary of St. Vaast of +Arras, fol. 28 _v._ (see Delisle); (_b_) the Evangel. in National +Library, Paris, anc. fds. Lat. 257 (see Louandre), and Evangeliary No. +309 Bibl. de Cambrai (see Durieux). + +[17] Plate in t. 1 of Louandre. + +Indeed, comparisons of this kind are very instructive frequently as +suggestive of _provenance_, as each working centre would have its own +set of models and designs. Of course, comparison of the MSS. themselves +is out of the question, but the comparisons can often be effected by the +student's having Louandre, Durieux, Fleury, Labarte, etc., by his side +during the examination of any given period. The limits of our little +book forbid our speaking of other examples of this splendid style, but +we cannot conclude without noticing that in the opinion of M. Ferdinand +Denis, the Golden Gospels of St. Médard of Soissons is the most +beautiful Carolingian MSS. extant. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MONASTIC ILLUMINATION + +Introductory--Monasteries and their work from the sixth to the ninth +century--The claustral schools--Alcuin--Warnefrid and Theodulf--Clerics +and monastics--The Golden Age of monasticism--The Order of St. +Benedict--Cistercian houses--Other Orders--Progress of writing in +Carolingian times--Division of labour. + + +In the sixth century the monasteries, such as they were, necessarily +kept themselves very quiet and unobtrusive. They were situated usually +in out-of-the-way corners, solitudes apart from civilisation, or, at +least, apart from the busy haunts of men. In the eighth century there is +a marked difference. The Capitular of Aix-la-Chapelle, of 789, required +that minor schools should be attached _to all monasteries and cathedral +churches_ without exception, and that children of all ranks, _both noble +and servile_, should be received into them. Also that the larger +monasteries should open major schools in which the seven sciences of +mathematics, astronomy, arithmetic, music, rhetoric, dialectics, and +geography, were to be taught--and this in two ways. There were to be two +sorts of schools--interior or _claustral_, intended for monastics only, +and exterior or _canonical_, intended for secular students. These +schools were under separate scholastics or masters, and lay students +were received in the exterior schools as freely and fully as in the +public schools of the present time. Mabillon[18] gives a list of some +twenty-seven monastic and cathedral schools, by no means confined to +great or wealthy cities, but well distributed throughout the Empire. + +[18] Præfat. in iv. Sæcul. 184. + +In the time of Charlemagne those most in repute were Tours, St. Gall, +Fulda, Reims, and Hirsfeld. + +We have given the names of Alcuin and Paul Warnefrid as the chief +promoters of the Carolingian Revival, but we should not omit that of +Theodulf, of Orleans, the indefatigable school inspector of the time. He +it was who assisted the artistic side of the movement by his ingenious +contrivances as a writer and illustrator of school books. Undoubtedly it +was from his suggestions that we so often find in mediæval scientific +treatises of the driest kind those graphic and wonderful tabulations and +edifices, labelled and turreted, which make Aristotle, Priscian, and +Marcianus Capella, not only comprehensible, but attractive. Theodulf +composed in simple and easy Latin verse--somewhat after the style of the +_Propria quæ maribus_ our own childhood--the description of a supposed +tree of science, which he had drawn and painted, on the trunk and +branches of which were the figures and names of the seven liberal arts. +At the foot sat Grammar--the basis of all learning--holding on her hand +a lengthy rod (ominous for the tender student). On the right Rhetoric +stretched forth her hand. On the left was Dialectic. Philosophy sat on +the summit; the rest being disposed according to their relative +importance. The whole was explained in the _Carmina de septem artibus_, +in which the bishop, who was one of the famous poets of the age, strove +in flowery language to render these dry-as-dust studies acceptable to +the youthful understanding. Theodulf was a great scholar, and assisted +Alcuin in the revision of the Bible, one copy of which he himself had +written whilst still Abbat of Fleury, about 790. At the beginning of +this Bible is a poem in golden letters on purple, and a preface in +prose, also in golden letters, giving a synopsis of the several books. +The text differs somewhat from the Alcuin Bible, as it is that of Jerome +before Alcuin's revision. This MS. is now at Paris. Another Bible +executed to the order of Theodulf is now in the Town Library at Puy. + +It seems incredible, after the efforts made by Charlemagne and his +ministers for the maintenance of learning and the arts, that there +should ever be any risk of a return to barbarism, but it is a fact that +the dissolution of the Empire proved in certain localities the +suspension of prosperity. Fortunately the monastics--especially the +Benedictines--and the canons of the cathedrals still kept up the +practice of copying books; but almost all the South of France, +Languedoc, and Provence, always conservative, remained more or less +illiterate. They produced poets and jongleurs, but seldom artists or +scholars. And even in the North, where the capitular schools were most +flourishing--as Paris, Reims, and Chartres--the general tendency was +towards relapse. In High Germany it was even worse. In spite of all +efforts of the clergy by the extension of secular schools, the laity +preferred the excitement of chase and camp to the quiet humdrum of the +schoolroom. Religion seemed to be regarded rather as a profession than a +principle, quite right in its place, _i.e._ the Church and the +monastery, but unsuited for active life. The wealthy land-owners, +therefore, did not cease to endow religious houses or to build churches, +but they left book-learning to the clerics. Accordingly the clerics and +the monastics flourished exceedingly. + +From the beginning of the tenth century to the beginning of the +thirteenth was the Golden Age of monasticism. The Order of St. Benedict +scattered its foundations thickly over France and Western Germany, while +its reformed colonies of Cluny, Citeaux, Clairvaux, and the Chartreuse +again spread their settlements in all directions. Thus we find Cluny +established in 910, Grammont in 1076, the Chartreuse in 1080, Citeaux in +1098, Savigny in 1105, Tiron in 1109, Austin Canons in 1038, +Premonstrants in 1120, Crutched Friars in 1169. In England, from 1100, +scarcely a year passed by without the establishment of some fresh +foundation. During the thirty-five years of the reign of Henry I. more +than 150 religious houses were founded. And even during the disastrous +reign of Stephen, in less than twenty years, no fewer than 100 houses of +various Orders were established. The twelfth century in England was +especially the age of monasteries. + +It is true that not very much in the way of original literature, except +theological treatises, can be assigned to the three centuries referred +to, but the unwearied labours of the copyist and illuminator did much to +preserve the works which previous centuries had created. Of course, in +so long a period changes were many and great. So great, indeed, that +between a MS. of 850 and another of 1200 scarcely is there a common +feature. + +From 850 to 1000 in France the Carolingian minuscule, from the first so +clear and beautiful, remained with scarce a stroke of alteration. But +immediately after the opening of the eleventh century a series of rapid +changes set in, and by the beginning of the twelfth a new hand, +perfectly clear and regular, but quite different from the Carolingian, +had been formed, which lasted until it was superseded by the Gothic, +while a system of contractions adopted because of the scarcity of +parchment creates a fresh need for study apart from the peculiarities of +personal habits. Side by side, too, with this there grows up a +non-professional hand--the so-called cursive or running hand of the +ordinary writer--in many cases, especially in deeds and other brief +compositions, all but utterly illegible, except to the professional +palæographer. Occasionally these autographs are of the highest +importance and intensely interesting, as, for instance, when in an +English MS. we come Across a note in the handwriting of Ordericus +(Vitalis) or Matthew Paris. + +From 900 to 1200 the vast majority of MSS., illuminated and otherwise, +were the work of monastics. Every house of any note had its room set +apart for writing. The larger monasteries sometimes utilised the +cloisters of the churches themselves, in recesses of which they had +desks or tables placed for the copyist. Usually, however, they had a +large common room called the scriptorium, where either the copyist and +illuminator worked separately and each on his own account, or where a +number of copyists awaited with pen and parchment the dictation by one +of the fraternity of some work of which a number of copies had to be +made. "No admittance except on business" was the rule of this chamber. +There, under the direction of the _armarius_, the expert writers did +their work. + +Sometimes a single monk executed the book from first to last by himself. +He prepared the vellum, ruled it with the fine metal point, copied the +text, painted the illuminations, put on the gilding, and even added the +binding. Generally, however, the labour was divided--one monk scraped +and polished the parchment; another ruled it; another wrote the text, +leaving spaces for initials and miniatures; another put in the initials +and did the gilding and flourishing with borders, etc.; and another +painted the miniatures. This in the monasteries was done in the case of +large and important MSS., and afterwards, when illuminating became a +lay-craft, subdivision of labour was the common practice. Binding was +done in a special apartment, and by one specially skilled therein. + +The _scriptorium_ was looked upon as a sort of sacred place, and the +work of copying often considered as a labour of piety and love--entered +upon with devout prayer, and solemnly blessed by the superior, +especially in cases where the books to be written were Bibles, or +connected with the services of the house, the Lives of the Saints, or +Treatises on Theology. + +Very frivolous or absurd indeed are sometimes the inducements to +copyists to do gratuitous work of this kind, such as that every letter +transcribed paid for one sin of the copyist, and it is said that a +certain monk--a heavy sinner--only owed his salvation to the fact that +the number of letters in a Bible which he copied exceeded by a single +unit the sum total of his sins. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MONASTIC ILLUMINATION--_continued_ + +The copyists--Gratuitous labour--Last words of copyists--Disputes +between Cluny and Citeaux--The Abbey of Cluny: its grandeur and +influences--Use of gold and purple vellum--The more influential abbeys +and their work in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. + + +Of course, only really expert calligraphers were employed on great and +important works. In the monastery all such labour was gratuitous, that +is, the copyist received no pecuniary remuneration, only his food and +lodging. Yet even this had to be provided for. Hence the frequent +requests for donations from the laity. + +To give a volume to a monastery did not always mean actually to present +the book, but to stand the expense of its production in the monastery +itself. In the case of specially distinguished penmen, their +entertainment in a monastery was sometimes an expensive business. It was +only in later times, however, when lay-artists were invited to reside in +the monastery to do their work that money was paid for their services. +Very often we find notices at the end of volumes that "So-and-so" had +ordered the book to be written and illuminated at his expense, and an +invocation for the gratitude of the reader and remembrance in his +prayers is added, sometimes with the date to the very hour when the book +was finished. + +The copyist's last words after his task was completed are often very +full of weariness--sometimes pious, sometimes hankering after fleshly +lusts, occasionally quite too dreadful to repeat. "May Christ recompense +for ever him who caused this book to be written." At the end of a Life +of St. Sebastian: "Illustrious martyr, remember the monk Gondacus who in +this slender volume has included the story of thy glorious miracles. May +thy merits assist me to penetrate the heavenly kingdom; and may thy holy +prayers aid me as they have aided so many others who have owed to them +the ineffable enjoyments both of body and soul." Wailly quotes the +following: "Dextram scriptoris benedicat mater honoris" ("May the mother +of honour bless the writer's right hand"). A very common ending is "Qui +scripsit scribat semper cum Domino vivat" ("He who wrote, let him write; +may he ever live with the Lord"). Another: "Explicit expliceat. Bibere +scriptor eat" ("It is finished. Let it be finished, and let the writer +go out for a drink"). Another ending is "Vinum scriptori reddatur de +meliori" ("Let wine of the best be given to the writer"). And again: +"Vinum reddatur scriptori, non teneatur" ("Let wine be given to the +writer; let it not be withheld"). Here is the recompense wished for by a +French monk: "Detur pro penâ scriptori pulcra puella" ("Let a pretty +girl be given to the writer for his pains," or "as a penance") The monks +enjoyed puns, as "bibere," a common pun on "vivere." One writer groans +thus: "Scribere qui nescit, nullum putat esse laborem" ("Whoso knows not +how to write, thinks it is no trouble"). + +As time goes on, after the tenth century, it is noticeable that the more +beautiful a manuscript becomes in its writing the less accurate becomes +its Latinity. And so the monks who once were noted for learning, +gradually lose their grip on Latin. The manuscripts executed in +Benedictine abbeys became inaccurate--almost illiterate. Faults of +ignorance of words; misrendering of proper names; blundering in the +inept introduction of marginal notes and confounding such notes with the +text, showing that the heart of the copyist was not in his work nor his +head capable of performing it. His hand is simply a machine, which when +it goes wrong does so without remorse and without shame. So in the +greater houses, men were appointed whose sole business was to supervise +the copyists--in fact, to supply the brains, while the scribe furnished +the manipulation of the pen. Even they, however, did not always succeed +to perfection, as very few of them were too well furnished with +scholarship. There were not many Alcuins or Theodulfs in the twelfth +century. What they did usually keep free from serious error were the +books used in their own services. It was the aim, particularly among the +Cistercian houses, to have their liturgical texts absolutely without +fault. In respect of illumination, there was a great quarrel between the +Abbey of Citeaux and that of Cluny. The great Abbey of Clugny (or Cluny) +in ancient Burgundy was founded in 910, and in the course of a century +or obtained a degree of splendour, influence, and prosperity unrivalled +by any other mediæval foundation. It possessed enormous wealth and +covered Western Europe with its affiliated settlements. Under Peter the +Venerable, when the controversy began, it was the chief monastic centre +of the Christian world. The words of Pope Urban II., when addressing the +community, were: "Ye are the light of the world." + +The grand Basilica at Cluny was completed in 1131, and, until the +erection of St. Peter's at Rome, was the largest church in Christendom, +and even then was only ten feet shorter than the Roman edifice. The +building is a masterpiece of architectural beauty and massiveness, being +with its narthex added by Abbat Roland de Hainaut, no less in length +than 555 feet. The splendour of the church, its gorgeous tombs and +mausoleums, its huge coronals for lights of brass, silver, and gold--the +grand candelabrum before the altar, with its settings of crystal and +beryl--the mural painting of the cupola, and the general luxury and +magnificence of the whole constituted an unpardonable sin in the eyes of +the stern and self-denying Cistercians. Hence arose long disputes +between the abbats of the two houses about tithes and other matters. +Among the other matters were included questions of candlesticks and +bindings and gildings of books. The two houses were long at variance on +the right definition of luxury in living, and this variance may to this +day be observed in their separate and distinct styles, both of +architecture and the ornamentation of books. The use of gold was still +continued in the older Benedictine abbeys, but was long forbidden in the +Cistercian, almost all the ornament of the latter being confined to +pen-drawing and the use of coloured inks. The employment of gold for the +text of manuscripts so common in the ninth century became rare in the +eleventh. Only here and there do we hear of such volumes. Where the gold +lettering still lingers, it is confined to the first page or two, and +the same may be said of the purple vellum. A certain monk, Adémar, who +died at Jerusalem in 1034, wrote a Life of St. Martial of Limoges +entirely in letters of gold; but it was quite an exceptional volume. +Another example occurs in an Evangeliary, which was probably a copy of a +ninth-century model, as at first glance it might be assigned to that +age, but on closer examination it is found that in one of the borders is +a medallion bearing the name of the Emperor Otho, showing that it cannot +be later than the latter part of the tenth century. It is now in the +National Library at Paris. + +Before speaking of Othonian illumination it may be well to refer to that +of the Netherlands in these earlier centuries. + +The most ancient writings known in this district were charters and other +documents, and the pious effusion of the occupants of the monasteries, +such as St. Amand, Lobbes, Stavelot, etc. + +It was the revival of art and literature under Charlemagne that was the +beginning of artistic calligraphy, then followed the production of books +outside the monasteries, classical authors, chronicles, and mirrors of +various sciences. In the eleventh century we find monastic books and +others of which the ornamentation is sometimes even splendid, such as +Psalters, Evangeliaries, Bibles, and Missals, glowing with gold and +colours. Already the Abbeys of Stavelot and Liége were high-class +centres of production. St. Martin's of Tournay had a famous scriptorium +also, noted for the beauty of its writing and its grand initial letters. +Immediately following St. Martin's, the Abbeys of Gembloux, St. Bavon at +Ghent, and others, produced or acquired MSS. of the most sumptuous kind, +and before the thirteenth century the Netherlands had established quite +a distinguished reputation. + +In a later chapter we shall deal with the development of its remarkable +schools, whose work eventually took rank, not only among the most +artistic, but the most prolific in Europe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +OTHONIAN ILLUMINATION + +Departure from Carolingian--Bird and serpent--Common use of dracontine +forms in letter-ornament--Influence of metal-work on the forms of +scroll-ornament--The vine-stem and its developments--Introduction of +Greek taste and fashion into Germany--Cistercian illumination--The +Othonian period--Influence of women as patronesses and +practitioners--German princesses--The Empress Adelheid of Burgundy--The +Empress Theophano--Henry II. and the Empress +Cunegunda--Bamberg--Examples of Othonian art. + + +Perhaps the first departure towards a new style arising out of the +elements of Carolingian illumination is in the combination of the bird +and serpent used for letter forms and continued into coils of vine-stem +and foliage in combination with golden panelled frames or pilasters. The +monsters thus produced seem to be a revival of the dracontine forms of +the semi-barbarous Celtic and early Frankish arts. But the difference in +elegance and refinement of drawing and beauty of colouring is very great +indeed. Other animal forms are also made use of, nor is the human figure +altogether absent. Sometimes entire letters are made up of the latter in +various attitudes. Little scenes illustrative of the subject which the +initial commences are often placed within it, as, for instance, in the B +of the first psalm.[19] + +[19] A characteristic Othonian Evangeliary of the eleventh century, +executed at the Abbey of Stavelot, may be seen in the Royal Library at +Brussels. + +[Illustration: +BIBLIA SACRA +12TH CENT. (LATE) +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2799, fol. 185 v._] + +[Illustration: +EVANGELIA (PARIS USE) +C. 1275 +_Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 17341, fol. 120 v._] + +Many twelfth-century initials look like designs in metal-work placed on +the panelled grounds of coloured enamels. But the rapid development of +the vine-stem coils out of the stemless foliages of the Carolingian and +Winchester styles is one of the wonders of the early German revival +after the accession of the Emperor Otho I. A still greater improvement +takes place after the marriage of his son Otho II. to the Princess +Theophano, daughter of Romanus II., attributable, no doubt, to a fresh +accession of artistic enthusiasm from the home of the new Empress. In +point of elegance of design, beauty of curve, adaptation of every part +to its share in the composition, nothing could be finer than the initial +letters of the Othonian period of illumination. The year 963 introduced +Greek fashions and Greek artists into Germany, the results of which are +at once traceable in the increased splendour of monastic illumination in +that country. The details of Greek ornament become the fillings of the +frames and panels of the large initials. + +The Cistercian illuminators, or rather calligraphers, while they +constantly repudiate the golden splendour and monstrous follies of their +rivals, absolutely excel in this same ornamental draughtsmanship. What, +for example, could be finer than the pen-drawing of the great Arnstein +Bible in the British Museum (Harl. 2800)? The ornament is mostly in a +red ink, with flat-coloured blue, green, or yellow backgrounds, but it +is not to be surpassed. No, the interlacements and coils, foliages and +panels of the twelfth century are absolutely among the finest examples +of ornamental lettering ever conceived. Illuminating seemed at this +epoch to be more and more closely following the details of contemporary +architecture, and so paving the way to the next great variety of the +art, which is looked upon by some writers as the real beginning of +mediæval illumination. + +It must be admitted, however, that the excellence limits itself to the +ornament. The human figure is wretchedly incorrect--even barbarous. It +may be asked why is this? How is it that while the decorative portion of +an illuminated book is beautiful in the highest degree, both in line and +colour, and yet occasionally the artist seems not to have the remotest +idea of the true shape of hands and feet or any part of the human body? +Of course the usual explanation offered is that monastic education did +not permit the study of the nude, and hence the monkish ignorance of +figure drawing. But that is scarcely an excuse for the monstrous hands +and feet and exaggerated facial expression of the miniatures. The +Italian monk Angelico, in spite of his monastic limitations, succeeded +in a most graceful rendering of the figure, and a charming delicacy in +the forms of the hands. As in some instances the artist does reach a +fair standard, it must be admitted that where he does not is owing to +actual inability in himself and not in his system. The three emperors +who give the name of Othonian to the period immediately succeeding the +Carolingian ruled Germany, and had much to do with the ruling of Italy, +from 936, when Otho I., called the Great, succeeded Henry the Fowler +about five years before the death of Athelstan, whose sister Eadgyth[20] +was Otho's first wife. His mother Mathilda was the patroness of the +cloister-schools for women, working in them personally. She herself +taught her servants and maids the art of reading. Her daughter Mathilda, +the famous Abbess of Quedlinburg, in 969 persuaded the Abbat Wittikind +of Corvey to write the History of the Saxon Kings, Henry her father, and +Otho her brother (now in the Royal Library at Dresden). Hazecha, the +Treasury-mistress of Quedlinburg, also employed the monks of Corvey, +with whose beautiful initial drawing she was greatly pleased, to +illuminate her own Life of St. Christopher. The beautiful but imperious +Princess Hedwig, another of Otho's sisters, read Virgil with Ekkehard of +St. Gall, and taught the child Burchard Greek, while Otho's niece +Gerberga, Abbess of Gandersheim, was the instructress of the celebrated +Hrosvita, "the oldest German poetess." And this reminds us that at this +time the women-cloisters of Germany and the Netherlands were among the +most active centres of learning and book-production. The great monument +of feminine erudition and artistic skill, called the "Hortus +Deliciarum," was of a somewhat later time, but other examples still +exist, among them the beautiful Niedermünster Gospels of the Abbess +Uota, now at Munich. A wood-cut by Albert Dürer prefixed to the first +edition of Hrosvita's works (Nürnberg, 1501) represents the nun Hrosvita +kneeling before the Emperor and beside the Archbishop Wilhelm of Mainz +presenting her book.[21] As to the literary labours of Hrosvita, this is +not the place to discuss them. She is simply an incidental figure in our +view of the brilliant Court of the Othos. A MS. of her works 500 years +after her death was found among the dust of the cloister-library at St. +Emmeram of Regensburg by Conrad Celtis, and, as we have seen, printed +for the first time in 1501. Thus she stands out as an illustration of +the fact often alluded to, of the importance of feminine foundations in +the monastic scheme. + +[20] The chroniclers are rather confused as to the name of this Princess. + +[21] It is thought, however, by some that the figure behind is that of +the Abbess--not the Archbishop. See Dürer Soc. Portfolio for 1900. + +Her picturesque story of the romantic adventures of Adelheid of +Burgundy, her marriage in 947 to King Lothaire of Italy, her widowhood +and perils, her misfortunes and eventual marriage to the Emperor Otho, +reads more like a chapter from the _Morte d'Arthur_ or the _Arabian +Nights_ than a veracious history of real people. The Empress Adelheid +was, indeed, a remarkable woman, and the nun of Gandersheim is full of +her praises. In her younger days she had been a zealous patron and +protectress of the Abbey of Cluny, which stood on her native land of +Burgundy, and her sympathies remained always with the religious houses. +In this respect, indeed, she was a worthy successor of the pious +Mathilda and her daughters. She died in her seventy-first year in her +Abbey of Selz in Elsass, leaving a memory rich in benefits to the +monastics, especially those of Cluny, and venerated as the patroness of +many an illuminated volume of poems or theology, not to mention the +liturgical books executed at her expense for use in her various +foundations. The tenth century seems to have been an age of illustrious +women. No sooner do we leave the story of Adelheid than we enter upon +that of the young wife of Otho II., the Empress Theophano, daughter of +the Greek Emperor, Romanus II. When little more than a child she was +married to the son of Adelheid, he himself being in his twentieth year +in the year 972, and in the city of Rome. The young Greek Princess who +had been reared amid the luxury and splendour of the Eastern capital at +once became the fashion--the manners of her Byzantine household became +those of her Roman court, and were transplanted to her German home at +Bamberg. Artists, limners, copyists, musicians, scholars, formed part of +her retinue, and at once the German Court became the rival of those of +England, Byzantium, Cordova, and Rome. + +It was, indeed, a Renaissance, an awakening in literature, art, and +social life. Nor did its glory fade until eclipsed by the succeeding +rivalries of France and Italy. Theophano survived her husband, who died +in 983, and proved herself a capable Regent during the infancy of her +son Otho III. She, however, did not live to see his early death, nor +indeed to see that of the aged Adelheid, who survived her eight years, +and died in the same year (999) as Otho's aunt, Matilda, Abbess of +Quedlinburg. + +The death of Otho III. in 1002 did not affect materially the steady +advance of monastic art. Bamberg, St. Gall, Corvey, Luxeuil, Bobbio, +Monte Cassino continued their accustomed labours. Under the Capetian +Kings the French foundations maintained the reputations they had won +during the Carolingian times, while others were added from time to time +throughout the Rhineland, Limousin, and the South of France, where the +Romanesque or Byzantine tastes had not yet penetrated, and whose work +therefore remained distinct from that of Italy and the German Empire. + +Henry II. and the Empress Cunigunda made Bamberg the great centre of +German art, and it is to Bamberg, St. Gall, Luxeuil, Monte Cassino, and +Magdeburg that we have to look for the finest productions of the +eleventh century. Among the earlier works of the Othonian period we may +mention the famous Gospel-book executed for the minister of Otho II., +Egbert, Archbishop of Trèves, and known as the Codex Egberti. It was +written in 980 at Reichenau on the Lake of Constance (or Bodensee, as it +is locally known) by two monks, Kerald and Heribert, whose dwarfish +figures appear beneath that of the archbishop on the frontispiece. It +contains fifty-seven illuminations and several folios of violet +parchment with golden ornaments and lettering. But its pictures are +rather remarkable, mostly the figures are too short and the limbs and +extremities badly drawn, but in some of the statelier personages the +error is reversed and they are too tall--this seems to be owing to Greek +influence, while the Byzantine taste shows itself in the treatment of +the border-foliages. Beasts are unnatural--demons and swine are alike, +both in form and colour (Pub. Lib., Trèves). + +An Evangeliary, formerly in the Cathedral Treasury at Bamberg, but now +in the Royal Library at Munich (Cimel. 58), is a good example of the +kind of work that at first glance appears to be actually Carolingian +both in the figures, attitudes, and treatment of drapery, but which on +closer examination proves to be really due to the reign of Otho II. In +this MS. the beginning of St. Matthew contains four medallions--two of +Henry I. (the Fowler), one of Otho I., his son, and another of his +grandson, Otho II. (Nat. Lib., Paris, Lat. 8851). + +A still more notable MS. is kept in the Munich Library (Cimel. 58), +containing a two-paged picture of tributary cities bringing gifts to the +Emperor Otho III. In the painting in this MS., notwithstanding the +exaggerated solemnity of expression, the faces are well drawn and the +features carefully modelled. The painting is in the Greek manner, as is +also the general character of the draperies. The small, ill-drawn feet +are by no means comparable with the heads. + +The Imperial crown is square, like those of the Magi in the Bremen MS. +now in the Library of Brussels, or like that of Baldwin as Emperor of +Constantinople. In the several enthronements which occur among the +Imperial miniatures at Munich there are important and significant +differences which might not be noticed unless pointed out. + +The changes in the shape and treatment of the orb, for instance, mean +more than a mere advance in enrichment, or an improvement in artistic +skill. The difference indicates a change in political usage. In the +miniature of Charles it does not occur at all; in that of Otho III. it +is a mere symbol; in that of Henry II. it is the actual emblem of +sovereignty presented by the Pope to the Emperor, to be held by the +latter in token of his investiture. + +It was Selden's opinion that the orb, surmounted by the cross, never +appears in western art until the time of Henry II. Thus it is here one +of the many seemingly insignificant details which, in the miniature art +of the Middle Ages, contribute to the elucidation of History. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +FRANCONIAN ILLUMINATION + +The later Saxon schools--Bernward of Hildesheim--Tuotilo and Hartmut of +St. Gallen--Portrait of Henry II. in MS. 40 at Munich--Netherlandish and +other work compared--Alleged deterioration of work under the Franconian +Emperors not true--Bad character of the eleventh century as to +art--Example to the contrary. + + +The MS. just referred to (Munich, Cimel. 58) brings us most probably to +the time of the third. Otho, but it is really with his father's marriage +to the Princess Theophano that the great revival in the arts began, and +the names of St. Bruno of Cologne and Augsburg, Gerbert, Bernward of +Hildesheim, Tuotilo, Salomon, Hartmut, Folchard, and Sintramn of St. +Gallen, are, as it were, points of light and centres of expanding +circles of artistic skill. Bruno and Gerbert are too well known to need +any further remark. Bernward of Hildesheim, made bishop there in 992 by +Theophano, and tutor to her son Otho III., "excelled no less in the +mechanical than in the liberal arts. He was an excellent penman, a good +painter, and as a household manager was unequalled." Such is Tangmar's +tribute to his pupil's character. He was, indeed, an enthusiast in +painting, mosaic, and metal-work, and used to collect all the objects of +art he could lay hands on, to form a museum or studio for the +instruction of a class of art students and workmen. The collection was +formed mainly out of the numerous presents brought to the young Emperor +from foreign, and especially Greek and Oriental, princes, and contained +many examples of beautiful metal-work and Greek illumination. His own +Cathedral of Hildesheim was supplied with jewelled service-books, in +part at least the work of his own hand. The chalices and incense-burners +and the massive golden corona or candelabrum of the cathedral were also +the productions of his own workshops. The mural paintings, too, were +executed by himself. His handiwork, so lovingly described by his old +schoolmaster Tangmar, may still be seen in Hildesheim, where visitors to +that quaint old Saxon city are told that the bronze gates of the +cathedral and the jewelled crucifix were placed there by the venerable +bishop himself in 1015, while in the cathedral-close rises a column +adorned with bronze reliefs from the Life of Christ, authoritatively +declared to be the work of his own hands--let us say they came out of +his own workshops, in the year 1022, nearly a thousand years ago. St. +Bernward was canonised by Celestine III. in 1194. His sarcophagus is in +the crypt of the Basilica of St. Michael at Hildesheim. Of Tuotilo, the +pupil of Moengall (or Marcellus), it is said that he was physically +almost a giant; just the man, says his biographer, that you would choose +for a wrestler. He was a good speaker, had a fine musical voice, was a +capital carver in wood, and an accomplished illuminator. Like most of +the earlier monks of St. Gallen, he was a clever musician, equally +skilful with the trumpet and the harp. And the charm about it all was +that he was always cheerful and in excellent spirits, and in consequence +a general favourite. Nor is this all. Besides being teacher of music in +the upper school to the sons of the nobility, he was classical tutor, +and could preach both in Latin and Greek. His chief accomplishments, +however, were music and painting, and on these his reputation mainly +rests. He composed songs, which, like an Irish bard, he sang to the +harp--the popular instrument of this Irish foundation. Being thus +multifariously accomplished (he was, by the way, an excellent boxer), he +was much in request, and by the permission of his abbot travelled to +distant places. One of his celebrated sculptures was the image of the +Blessed Virgin for the cathedral at Metz, said to be quite a +masterpiece. Nay, he was even a mathematician and astronomer, and +constructed an astrolabe or orrery, which showed the courses of the +planets. + +This allusion to the astrolabe reminds us that it was Abbat Hartmut of +St. Gallen, who was also an accomplished illuminator, who constructed a +large map of the world--one of the extremely few that until that time +the world had ever seen. + +St. Gallen and its artists, however, must not be permitted to monopolise +our attention too long. The reader must for the rest refer to Dr. Rahn +and the writers whom he quotes. Sometimes it is said that the +illuminations of the eleventh century are proofs of the rapid decline of +art, and to demonstrate the fact that they are frankly hideous, some +writers bring forward instances such as the miniatures of a Missal, +especially a Crucifixion, said to be at Paris,[22] and a MS. at Berlin +said to have been executed in the earlier days of the Franconian dynasty +(1034-1125) containing another Crucifixion, which, though not quite so +horrible as the one just referred to, is sufficiently bad. These +miniatures are irredeemably barbaric and not in any sense typical of the +age. Such examples, in fact, can be found in any age and in any country. +Were they really representative of the best art of the time, there might +be an excuse for their reproduction, but they are not, and therefore no +reliance can be placed on their evidence. + +[22] _Le Livre, etc._, par M.P. Louisy, Paris, 1886, 8°, p. 79. + +In the miniatures of MSS. executed for the Othos and Henrys of the early +Saxon dynasty the worst they can be charged with, as compared with the +periods before and after them, is slavish imitation. The portrait of +Henry II. (Saint Henry, husband of Cunegunda) in MS. 40 at Munich is by +no means barbaric--it is more Greek than anything else--but it is down +to the smallest element of composition a direct imitation of the similar +portrait of Charles the Bald in the Emmeram Gospels. It is not a copy, +for there is a significant difference in the attitudes of the emperors. +Henry holds a sceptre in his right hand and an orb in his left, like +Otho III. in the miniature already described, whereas Charles is empty +handed. Then both on the Emperor's head and on the smaller figures the +crowns are different--the panelling of the Imperial canopy is different, +and, of course, there is a different inscription. Lastly, it may be said +that some of the differences are improvements. Another change is +characteristic--Charles was beardless, Henry has a pointed beard. + +It is true this is an example belonging to the very brightest years of +the Othonian revival. But to pass over other Saxon MSS., there are +extant examples from Evroul (when Roger de Warenne, son of the great +Earl of Surrey, practised as a scribe and illuminator on his retirement +to that monastery), St. Martin's of Tournay, St. Amand, Benedictbeuern, +Lobbes, and Weissobrunn could all boast accomplished calligraphers. The +last establishment produced the celebrated Diemudis, who, though a +woman, was distinguished by a most extraordinary activity and skill. + +Nor are these all that could be named, for by no means least among them +we may quote Monte Cassino, many of whose elegant productions have been +published by the present occupants of the monastery. Then the Greek +miniaturists of the eleventh century are once more to the front. The +famous Slav Evangeliary of Ostromir (1056-67) shows us a MS. probably +executed for a governor of Novgorod, which contains by no means +despicable work, whether in the figures of the evangelists or the +ornamental borders. Of course, in Greek MSS. we know pretty well what to +expect; fairly good ornament, rich details of embroidery, etc., +wilfulness of colour in architecture, mannerism in the attitudes and +faces, but good, clever technic and bright gold. + +Lastly, there is the celebrated Evangeliary given to San Benedetto of +Mantua by the Countess Matilda now in the Vatican, enriched with little +miniatures from the Life of the Virgin, which Lanzi declares surpass +everything else he ever saw of the same period. + +The Poitevin MS. at Poitiers, a biographical compilation of saints in +honour of St. Radegonde, though nothing wonderful, is worth recording as +a transitional example just before the close of the century. As an +example of the latter part of a continual deterioration, it should be +worse than anything preceding. Yet it is not so. It is certainly heavy +and rather dull, and the drawing far from excellent, but it is also, on +the other hand, far from "frankly horrible." In introducing examples of +other schools into this chapter the writer's object has solely been to +vindicate the illuminators of the eleventh century from the sweeping +charge sometimes made against them of absolute deterioration. Of the +school directly under our notice, the charge is certainly not true, and +the wretched stuff cited in support of it can only be looked upon as +accidental salvages of no artistic value whatever. + +In proof that the book-work of the eleventh century was not all +worthless, we may refer to just one example. It is a MS. consisting of +but a few fragments executed at Luxeuil under Abbat Gerard II. The +remains are such as to cause regret for the loss of the rest. On one +page Christ is shown seated on a rich _sella_ covered with an +embroidered cushion in the manner of the consular diptychs. He is +clothed in a pale yellow tunic, over which is worn a purple pallium with +a white border. He is beardless, and his brown hair is kept close to the +head and neck, and falls over the shoulders. The feet are nude and by no +means ill-drawn. Surrounding the head is a cruciform nimbus enclosed in +a circle--both cross and circle being pale green, the latter outlined +with red. The chief fault of the head is the excessive length of the +nose and the wide stare of the eyes. The right arm is raised somewhat as +in the St. Sernin Evangeliary, but with the palm outwards, and much +superior in drawing. + +The whole figure is painted on, or at least surrounded by, a golden +background--so far indicating the Byzantine origin of the design. It is +enclosed in a cusped aureola formed of several coloured bands of green, +violet, and rose. This shows German taste. Eight circlets or medallions +surround this figure of Christ, four of which contain the symbols of the +evangelists; the other four--Isaiah, Daniel, Ezechiel, and Jeremiah. All +hold portions of the band which connects them, and on which appears a +series of inscriptions in Latin. These consist of passages from the +Vulgate. + +The whole picture is placed in a square frame consisting of bands of +various colours and gold outlined in red. The inner ground is chiefly +blue, and the names of the prophets and evangelists are painted on it in +white Roman capitals. Taken altogether it is a very splendid page, but +even this is surpassed in gorgeous richness of ornament by the miniature +of St. Mark. And the borders of other pages in this Luxeuil fragment are +full of ornament, giving the impression that the work was imitated from +that of the goldsmith and enameller. The figures and symbols of the +evangelists in these early Gospel texts are fully explained after St. +Jerome by Alcuin, whose revision of the Vulgate forms the text of the +Durham Book already referred to. + +The "Manual" shortly to be mentioned differs somewhat in its explanation +of these symbols. The curious combination called the "Tetra morph" is a +compound of the four attributes or symbols into a single figure, to +signify that the four evangelists give only one gospel, and ought not to +be separated. It occurs frequently in Greek, but only seldom in Latin or +Western iconography.[23] + +[23] On this figure see _Annales Archéologiques_, tom. 8, p. 206, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ARTISTIC EDUCATION IN THE CLOISTER + +The "Manual"--Its discovery--Its origin and contents--Didron's +translation--The "Compendium" of Theophilus--Its contents--English +version by Hendrie--Benedictine and Cistercian illumination--How they +differ--Character of monastic architects and artists. + + +About the twelfth century comes forward the mention of a certain manual +minutely detailing every process of painting, and laying down rules for +the due composition and arrangement of every subject to be represented +in the sacred history and other books connected with divine service. How +long such a manual had been in use is unknown, but it is thought that +something of the kind must have existed from the time, at least, of +Justinian, perhaps earlier. The manual here referred to was found by M. +Didron at Sphigmenou, on Mt. Athos. This little monastery is said to +have been founded by the Empress Pulcheria, sister of the Emperor +Theodosius the Younger. She died in the year 453. Theodosius, it may be +remembered, was himself an admirable penman and illuminator, so much so +as to have acquired the cognomen of Kalligráphos. + +The monastery is built in a narrow valley by the seaside, between three +little hills, and as it were "squeezed" in, and hence its name (in Greek +σφιγμένος), which describes its situation exactly. It is occupied by +about thirty unusually neat and orderly monks, who are justly proud of +the few relics and curiosities which they exhibit to visitors. It was at +Sphigmenou that Curzon saw the piece of _ancient_ jewellery set with +diamonds and a Russian or Bulgarian MS. of the Gospels. + +The book which M. Didron found there is the copy of an older MS. which, +it is said, was copied by Dionysius, one of the monks, from the works of +the once celebrated master, Manuel Panselines of Thessalonica, who was +the Giotto of the Byzantine school and flourished in the twelfth +century. If by works the monk meant literary, it is most likely that it +was the transcript of a still older document. If by works Dionysius +meant paintings, it is a manual of his practice. One of his pupils, in +order to propagate the art of painting which he had learnt at +Thessalonica, writes down the series of subjects to be taken from the +Bible, so as to epitomise the divine scheme of salvation, and describes +the manner in which the events of the Old Testament, and the miracles +and parables of the New, ought to be represented. He mentions the +scrolls and inscriptions (such as we noticed in the Gospels of Luxeuil) +belonging to each of the prophets and evangelists, with the names and +characteristics of the principal saints in the order of the menologium +or martyrology, and then goes on to direct how the subjects should be +arranged on the walls and cupolas of the churches. + +The Manual of Dionysius is an abstract of this wide scheme, but is still +very comprehensive. The copy of it seen by Didron was one belonging to a +monk of Sphigmenou named Joasaph, who was himself a painter. It was +"loaded with notes added by himself and his master, which in course of +time would be incorporated, according to immemorial custom, in the +text." In this way, indeed, the Manual has grown to what it is at +present. A transcript of it may probably be found in every monastery +belonging to the Greek Church. Another monk named Macarios, also a +painter, had a fine copy of it laid open in his atelier, and his pupils +read from it in turn, whilst the rest painted according to its +directions. For the scheme itself we must refer the reader to the second +volume of Didron's _Christian Iconography_, p. 193. Unfortunately the +transcriber did not think it of sufficient importance or relevancy to +copy the first part, as being purely technical and dealing merely with +the art of painting. The scheme, therefore, only contains the part +relating expressly to iconography. It is to be regretted, too, that this +part also has been in some places considerably abridged, as dealing with +Greek art and martyrology more copiously than, it was thought by the +translator, would be interesting to English readers. There are numerous +good and reliable introductory works dealing with early Christian art, +besides the greater treatises to which the student who wants to pursue +this line of research shall be directed later on. But there is another +of these original manuals to which we must call attention, as especially +dealing with the practice of monastic artists in the twelfth and +following centuries. + +The one to which we now refer is quite distinct from the Greek Manual +which we just mentioned, and by way of contrast may be called the Latin +Manual as being originally composed in that language. Moreover, as the +Greek Manual formed the guide and _vade mecum_ of all the painters of +the Greek Church, so this Latin one became the indispensable monitor in +all Latin foundations. Its origin was German, and said to be the +compilation of a Benedictine monk who is variously spoken of as +Rutgerius, Rugerius, Rotkerius, etc., and assigned by different editors +and critics to either the eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth centuries. +Probably we shall not be far wrong in placing him about the middle of +the twelfth. The treatise is known as _Diversarum Artium Schedula_, and +the compiler of it calls himself simply _Theophilus presbiter humilis_, +which, of course, records nothing but his personal modesty. + +It was at first attributed to Tuotilo of St. Gallen. This opinion was +put forward by Lessing, but it had no foundation whatever beyond the +fact of Tuotilo's well-known versatility.[24] Besides, Tuotilo lived in +the ninth century. But really the question of attributions does not +concern us here. It matters little who he was outside the Treatise, and +certainly we shall not discuss the question further. It is with the +Treatise that we are concerned. We shall simply call the author +Theophilus, and his work the Compendium. Let us turn to it at once. + +[24] Tuotilo was renowned throughout all Germany as painter, architect, +preacher, professor, musician, calligrapher, Latinist, Hellenist, +sculptor, and astronomer. + +The Compendium, which is thus known to contain the working methods of +all the monastic illuminators, mosaicists, glass painters, enamellers, +and so forth, throughout Germany, Lombardy, and France, consists of +three books, containing altogether one hundred and ninety-five chapters +of definite and special instructions in artistic matters. Book I., +comprising forty chapters, treats of the preparation, mixture, and use +of colours for wall-painting, panel, and parchment, _i.e._ for the +decoration of churches, furniture, and books. It contains some most +curious and valuable instructions for the employment of gold, silver, +and other metals in the decoration of MSS.; how it should be applied; +whether in leaf or as an ink; how raised and burnished, down to the +minutest details of practice; how colours are to be tempered (_i.e._ +mixed); what _media_ or temperings are best for each colour, according +to the surface to which it is to be applied. Such is the Compendium. We +need not, therefore, wonder at its popularity and the estimation in +which it was held. + +Thirty-one chapters on glass, glass painting, enamelling, etc., form a +second book, and the third and last book contains some hundred and +twenty-four chapters on gold and silver work--the art of the +goldsmith--in cups, chalices, vases, candelabra, shrines, and so on. It +is the first book that is of most interest to us, and had we space we +would have liked to quote from its pages. But as it is we can only refer +the reader to the work itself. It is to be met with in various forms and +editions. First, we recommend the English translation by Robert Hendrie. +The oldest MS. of the work is one of the twelfth century in the Library +at Wolfenbüttel. The next is in the Imperial Library at Vienna. +Fragments of other copies exist in several other public libraries, but +the completest copy known is that in the Harl.[25] Collection of the +British Museum used by Hendrie as the basis of his translation (8°, +1847). + +[25] 1 Harl. MS. 3915. + +It was, as we have said, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries +especially that the great abbeys were founded. And it cannot be too +clearly stated that the principal abbatial churches--those most splendid +monuments of architecture whose structure and dimensions are still the +admiration of the most cultured critics, and in which all the rules of +art were so marvellously applied--were the work of simple monks. The +great Church of St. Benignus at Dijon (so often spoken of by writers on +Burgundian art) was built in 1001, under Abbat William, assisted by a +young monk named Hunaldus. The period between 1031 and 1060 saw the +creation of the grand abbatial Church of St. Remi at Reims. In the words +of the Comte de Montalembert: "From the very beginning of the Monastic +Orders St. Benedict had provided in his Rule that there should be +artists in the monasteries. He had imposed on the exercise of their art +only one condition--humility." Hence it is that all we know of the +author of the Compendium from himself is "humilis presbiter Theophilus." +For the same reason Tuotilo and Folchard and Sintramn and the rest are +never anxious to put their names upon their work. For the same reason +the occurrence of an artist's name in a monastic MS. is quite +exceptional and unexpected. The foresight of St. Benedict "was +accomplished and his law faithfully fulfilled." The Benedictine +monasteries soon possessed not only libraries but ateliers, where +architecture, painting, mosaic, sculpture, metal-chasing, calligraphy, +ivory carving, gem-setting, book-binding, and all the branches of +ornamentation were studied and practised with equal care and success, +without interfering in the least with the exact and austere discipline +of the foundation. The teaching of these various arts formed an +essential part of monastic education. "The greatest and most saintly +abbeys were precisely those most renowned for their zeal in the culture +of Art. St. Gallen in Germany, Monte Cassino in Italy, Cluny in France, +were for centuries the mother-cities of Christian Art." And after the +establishment of the reformed colony at Citeaux, the Cistercian Order +became the one above all others which has left the most perfect +edifices, and if the Cistercian illumination may not claim the splendour +of some contemporary examples, it often excels them in soundness of +design and severe correctness of execution. + +In saying that all this kind of work was executed by monks, we are +speaking literally. The monks were not only the architects, but also the +masons, and even the hodmen of their edifices. Nor were the superiors in +this respect different from their humble followers. Whilst ordinary +monks were often the architects-in-chief of the constructions, the +abbats voluntarily accepted the rôle of labourers. During the building +of the Abbey of Bee, in 1033, the founder and first abbat, +grand-seigneur though he was, worked as a common mason's labourer, +carrying on his back the lime, sand, and stones necessary for the +builder. This was Herluin. Another Norman noble, Hugh, Abbat of Selby in +Yorkshire, when, in 1096, he rebuilt in stone the whole of that +important monastery, putting on the labourer's blouse, mixed with the +other masons and shared their labours. Monks, illustrious by birth, +distinguished themselves by sharing the most menial occupations. It is +related of Roger de Warenne that when he retired to Evroul, he took up +quite a serious rôle of this kind in cleaning the shoes of the brethren, +and performing other offices which a mere cottager would have probably +considered degrading. + +Occasionally in our school histories we come across the mention of a man +like Dunstan, of whom it is related as a wonderful thing that he was at +the same time a metal worker, architect, and calligrapher; but monastic +biographies abound in such instances. We have already quoted several. +"The same man was frequently," says Montalembert, "architect, goldsmith, +bell-founder, miniaturist, musician, calligrapher, organ builder, +without ceasing to be theologian, preacher, litterateur, sometimes even +bishop, or intimate counsellor of princes."[26] + +[26] "L'Art et les Moines," _Ann. Archéologiques_, t. vi. p. 121, etc. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE RISE OF GOTHIC ILLUMINATION + +Germany the chief power in Europe in the twelfth century--Rise of +Italian influence--The Emmeram MSS.--Coronation of Henry II.--The +Apocalypse--The "Hortus Deliciarum"--Romanesque--MS. of Henry the +Lion--The Niedermünster Gospels--Description of the MS.--Rise of +Gothic--Uncertainty of its origin--The spirit of the age. + + +In the chapter on Othonian art we saw how the ornamentation of books was +drawn away from the great French centres, and began to take a new +departure from the various leading cities of Germany, such as Bamberg, +which the Othos had made their capital. Whilst the decline, which was +the inevitable consequence of a personal government like that of +Charlemagne, took place in France, it was but natural that the new +artistic movement at Bamberg should become the fashion, and Germany +predominant in art, as she was in politics. In the twelfth century the +German Empire was the principal power in Europe. France, Italy, England, +and Spain were all more or less secondary. Italy, however, was already +on the alert. She was initiating certain movements in social life that +must soon withdraw the cultivation of all the arts from the control of +the monasteries. At the same time the love of learning and personal +accomplishments of the second and third Othos and (St.) Henry II. soon +prepared the Imperial Court to become as brilliant as classical +scholarship and artistic skill of the highest class could make it. + +The wave of Byzantine influence which had passed over Germany by the +time of Henry II. had immensely benefited the Germans. We notice it +especially in the miniatures of the Gospel-books. The technic is much +more masterly, the painting really methodical in soundly worked +body-colour with a delicate sense of harmony, and showing no longer that +coarse handling and slovenliness of execution that marks some of the +Carolingian miniatures. In the figure a sense of proportion has been +gained, the tendency, perhaps, being rather to excessive tallness, as +compared with the thick-set proportions of the Carolingian work. Again, +expression is improved--the faces are more intellectual--not beautiful +but strong, and quite superior to the utterly expressionless faces of +the Carolingian type. + +Take, for example, that fine Missal now at Munich (Cimel. 60--Lat. +4456), in which St. Henry, who is bearded, receives his crown from a +bearded Christ, his arms being upheld by two bishops, Ulrich of Augsburg +and Emmeram of Regensburg, the two great saints of Bavaria. We know +these to be the personages represented, because two inscriptions tell us +so. To the one supporting the King's right hand: "Huius VODALRICVS cor +regis signet et actus." To the other: "EMMERANVS ei faveat solamine +dulci." The Christ is seated on a rainbow within a cusped aureola or +"amande" of several bands of different colours, on the central one being +inscribed in a mixture of Greek and Latin characters--one of the new +fashions brought in by the Greek revival: + + "Clemens XPE tuo longum da vivere XPIC to: + Ut tibi devotus non perdat temporis usus." + +Some writers have thought this to be a picture of the Emperor's +apotheosis, and that the crown is that of Life or Immortality; but such +is certainly not the import of the above verses. + + "O gentle Christ give to thy Christ long to live + That devoted to Thee he may not lose the use of time." + +Besides, two angels on either side Christ precipitately bestow on the +Emperor the spear and sword of a temporal sovereignty. Round the Emperor +are the words: "Ecce coronatur divinitus atque beatur. Rex pius +Heinricus proavorum stirp(e) polosus," all which can scarcely refer to +anything but his German Empire. + +The expression, "give to thy Christ," is an allusion to the Hebrew usage +of calling the king the "anointed" or the "Christ." + +Besides the interest possessed by this MS. as a monument of the art of +its own time, it has a special value resting in the fact that its +illuminations were copied from the famous Emmeram Golden Gospels of +Charles the Bald, written by Linthard and Berenger, and sent as a +present to Regensburg. Another illumination in it, representing the +enthronement of the Emperor, is extremely interesting as showing how the +later artist renders the work of the earlier one. The general +composition is precisely the same, the lower figures in the same +attitudes and bearing the same insignia. But in the details of costume, +and in the significant position of the Emperor, there are alterations. +In the miniature of the Emmeram Gospels the two angels above are simply +winged messengers of the usual biblical type; in the Missal they are +cloaked and crowned and bear horns in their hands. In the older MS. the +two crowned figures with horns on either side wear simple mural crowns; +in the later one they are regal like those of the Emperor. The details +also of the canopies are different. But the remarkable difference is +that while Charles the Bald is beardless and bears nothing in his hands, +merely sitting as if addressing an assembly, Henry II. holds in his +right hand a sceptre and in his left an orb and cross. Here is a +distinctly new feature with a meaning. Here are the symbols of authority +in the Emperor's own hands, and not merely in those of his +attendants.[27] These two MSS. are worthy of careful study. + +[27] See p. 92. + +In another Missal in the library at Bamberg is a miniature of the +Emperor presenting the book to the Virgin. In the great Evangeliary +presented by the Emperor Henry II. to the Cathedral of Bamberg there is +a grand picture of the Emperor and his consort the famous saint +Cunegunda being crowned by Christ, with SS. Peter and Paul standing at +the sides. Here also, as in the Carolingian MS. already mentioned, are +the nations bringing tribute, but not in the same order. Here Germany +stands upright between two figures of Gaul and Rome, while six others +appear simply as busts (Munich, Cimel. 60. 4456). + +The twelfth century was clearly much given to symbolism and allegory, as +shown in apocalyptic commentaries and similar works. A very remarkable +"Apocalypse" is that in the library of the Marquis d'Astorga. The latter +is remarkably rich in pictures, which have been described by M.A. +Bachelin of Paris. The drawing in these pictures reminds one of the +bas-reliefs of the campaigns of Hadrian and Trajan and other work of the +early Roman centuries. One hundred and ten miniatures of uncommon +interest constitute the illustrations, many of which are perfect +curiosities of symbolism, depicting not only the four figures of the +evangelists, but the mysteries of the seals and vials, serpents, beasts, +etc., on yellow, red, green, blue, and brown backgrounds. The draperies +in some of the miniatures show Byzantine teaching, but with the +grandiose style of the early Roman times. The MS. it might be compared +with of the twelfth century is the "Hortus Deliciarum" of the Abbess +Herrade. This latter MS., which unfortunately was burnt with many other +treasures during the siege of Strassburg by the Germans in 1870, was a +veritable treasury of mediæval customs, furniture, and costumes, +illustrating a medley of encyclopædic information for the use of the +nuns and secular students of the Abbey of Hohenburg in Alsace. The good +abbess called her book a "Garden of Delights." + +It is known that it dated from 1159, as that date and also the date of +1175 occurred in its pages. We do not know whether the authoress was +also the illuminatrix, but at any rate she directed the illumination. +Their style is of the same type as that of the Apocalypse just spoken +of, somewhat monumental as figures of the Liberal Arts, allegorical +figures of the virtues and vices, and the syrens as symbols of sensual +temptation. There was a figure of the Church riding upon a beast with +the four heads of the evangel-symbols--the sun and moon in chariots as +in the classical mythology, and scenes of warfare, marriage festivities, +banquets, everything indeed depicting the life of contemporary +persons.[28] The drawing and treatment generally is of no very skilful +kind--the colouring bright and in body-colour. Draperies as usual much +folded and fluttering, and the heads generally of the calm expression of +the later French school, but the action sometimes very spirited. + +[28] For a copious and exhaustive account of the "Hortus," see "Het +Gildeboek," Utrecht, 1877, v. i. Also Engelhardt, Herrad v. H., etc., +8°, with atlas of twelve plates, 1818. + +The title began thus: "Incipit hortus deliciarum, in quo collectis +floribus scripturarum assidue jucundetur turmula adolescentularum." In +the _Rhytmus_ came the lines:-- + + "Salve cohors virginum + Hohenburgensium + Albens quasi lilium + Amans dei filium + + Herrat devotissima + Tua fidelissima + Mater et ancillula + Cantat tibi cantica + + Sic et liber utilis + Tibi delectabilis + Et non cesses volvere + Hanc in tuo pectore." + +In the Netherlands, which mostly at this time lay within the boundary of +Lotharingia or Lorraine, the style of illumination was much the same as +in other German districts. Gospel-books and Psalters, however, exhibit +features somewhat akin to English work. + +In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the continental methods prevail in +more solid painting and less penwork. + +Of the twelfth-century work of Germany examples are exceedingly +numerous, stretching over every province from West to East, as +Westphalia, the Palatinate, Burgundy, Switzerland and Bavaria, extending +even into Bohemia. An Evangeliary in the University Library at Prag +agrees altogether with those of Germany. + +Towards the middle of the twelfth century, with the accession of the +House of Hohenstaufen (1138, etc.), arose a new style, since called +Romanesque, of which many examples are to be found in various libraries. +It is not very easy to select the most typical examples, but one good +and typical MS. is found in a Gospel-book at Carlsruhe, which contains +some capital miniatures of this most thoroughly German style. + +Under Frederick Barbarossa, as under the Caroling Emperors and the +Othos, we may note a wave of new life, especially in Saxony. A contrast +as regards artistic ability to the "Hortus Deliciarum" is the +Gospel-book executed for Henry the Lion at the convent of Helmershausen, +once in the Cathedral Library at Prag, and bought by King George of +Hanover.[29] In the page of the Eusebian Canons we see features which +take us across the plains of Lombardy to the doors of S. Michele of +Pavia, and to the churches of Venice. The columns rest on crouching +animals. Allegorical figures are introduced striving with each other as +in the later Gothic illuminations. A half-nude figure of Faith +vanquishes the champion of Paganism. On the dedication page sits the +Madonna with SS. John Baptist and Bartholomew, and below them the patron +saints of Brunswick, Blaize, and Egidius leading forth the Duke and his +wife, Mathilda. It may indeed be called a splendid book. Among the rest +of the pictures, some of them within richly decorated borders, occurs +the usual representation of the Duke and his Duchess receiving crowns. +The figures are well drawn, even elegant, the draperies good, and the +colouring skilful. + +[29] See F. Culemann in _Neue hannov. Zeitung_, 1861, Nos. 22-4. + +One of the many characteristic MSS. of this period to be seen in +continental libraries is the "Mater Verborum" of the monk Conrad, of +Scheyern in Bavaria, a noted scribe, illuminator, goldsmith, and +grammarian. The subject is one that scarcely gives promise of lending +itself to pictorial illustration, but after the successful attempts of +Theodulf we may be prepared for anything in the way of diagram and +symbol. Imagine a dictionary in which not only actual objects are +pictorially represented, but also abstract terms. Music, philosophy, +virtues and vices illustrated by historical instances--sacred subjects +treated in the manner of the glass painters which is so commonly found +in German and French work of this period. + +Of twelfth-century illumination in general it may be said that it shows +a marked effort towards true artistic design and subtle beauty of linear +outline. Some of the noblest curve-drawing, with rich and massive +grouping of foliages, is to be found in the ornamental initials and +dignified border designs presented on the later examples of the century, +and it is very interesting to observe the rapid pace at which the climax +is reached in mere calligraphic ornament after the opening of the Gothic +period. Initials become smaller but exquisitely drawn, and reasonable +expression takes the place of the senseless stare or grotesque +exaggeration of attitude and feature which detract from the artistic +value of all preceding efforts. To conclude our list of German +illuminations of purely monastic production, we will bring forward one +more example of women's work, which whether as regards its curious +illustrations of symbolism, or its richly foliaged geometrical +backgrounds and borders, is one of the most interesting MSS. in any +collection. It is the Evangeliary of the Abbess Uota, or perhaps, +rather, Tuota of Niedermünster, a lady of the House of the Counts of +Falckenstein (1177-80); or of Utta, abbess from 1009 to 1012, but more +probably the former. Another, Tutta, ruled the abbey from 920 to 934, +and still another 1239-42. This precious MS., which Cahier has very +fully described as the "Manuscrit du Niedermuenster de Ratisbonne," is +now in the Royal Library at Munich (Cimel. 35). Some writers, in +speaking of it, have classed it among the MSS. of the eleventh century, +but it is too refined and too well done for that period, and, indeed, +that it belongs to the _latter part_ of the twelfth is almost proved +from the work itself. Perhaps it was the profusion of inscriptions or +legends placed all over the miniatures that gave the idea of its +belonging to the eleventh century. In this respect the MS. certainly +resembles the Evangeliary of Luxeuil already described. The miniature of +the Crucifixion is very remarkable. Besides the figure of Christ showing +a return to the primitive Syriac idea,[30] instead of the figures as +usual of Mary and John, here are given allegorical figures _of_ Life and +Death. (Cf. Fest. in exaltatione sce crucis. Ad Laudes, 14th Sept.). +Perhaps the best commentary on these old figures is the "Biblia +Pauperum," as it is commonly called, or as it should be called, the +Bible of the poor preachers. It also has the old allegories and +inscriptions rendered into later forms. + +[30] Cf. the Rabula MS. at Vienna. + +As for the texts or inscriptions, they would require a commentary to +themselves--not to speak of translations and remarks upon the +calligraphy. One of these remarkable miniatures may be described, as it +depicts the presentation of the volume to the Madonna. Our Lady in the +centre of the design is seated on a Byzantine _sedile_ with the infant +Jesus on her knees. She is crowned, and has the nimbus, and appears as +if intended to represent the glory of the Church. Her hand is raised as +in the act of teaching. Christ, also, has the nimbus, but with the cross +upon it, and raises his hand in the attitude of benediction. In the +tympanum of the semicircle over the Madonna, written in letters of gold +on purple, surrounded by the word "Sancta" in ordinary ink, is the +monogram of Maria, having a small sun and moon above it, and other +inscriptions, partly Latin, partly Greek. Below the Madonna, on the +left, stands the abbess, her knees slightly bent, holding up her book, +and clothed in the costume of her Order, but coloured, no doubt, simply +for artistic reasons. Thus she wears a blue veil and a claret-coloured +robe. In the reversed semicircle before her is another monogram, Uota or +Tuota, a name which perhaps may be translated Uta, Utta, Ida, etc. It +has been said already who she is likely to have been. It does not +follow, of course, that she herself wrote or illuminated the book she is +presenting, but judging from similar instances, as _e.g._ Herrade of +Landsberg and Hrosvita of Gandersheim, she may have done so. + +Still the work looks technically too masterly for anyone not a trained +artist to have done. In the corners are small quadretti, containing +busts of the four cardinal virtues:--Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and +Fortitude; and in circlets in the centre of each border are Faith, Hope, +and Charity, the latter twice, at top and bottom. A number of +extraordinary beasts fill up little niches in the design, which may +possibly be also symbolical, but possibly also nothing but artistic +fancies. The other miniatures we must pass over. Nevertheless those +representing the four evangelists are worth examination;[31] the +ornamentation being especially rich and elaborate. Let us now turn our +attention to a new element--a new spirit we might term it--which was +manifesting itself in Italy and France. We cannot too strongly insist +upon the fact that whatever appears in illumination has appeared first +in architecture and its auxilliary arts. Now we have to see how this +fact begins to change almost entirely the character of the ornamentation +of books. During the latter part of the twelfth century, when precisely +we cannot say, nor where, a new form of architecture began to show +itself. This new style, laying aside both the classic cornice and the +Romanesque arch, makes use of a new vertical principle of construction, +called in French the _ogive_ or arch, composed of two sections only, +instead of the whole semicircle. By some fatality, of which no exact +explanation can be given, English writers have given this new style the +name of Gothic. Scores of cathedrals throughout Europe are called Gothic +cathedrals, whereas in all probability, if we exclude Sweden, there is +only one really Gothic building in the world, that is the Tomb of +Theodoric at Ravenna, and none of the so-called Gothic cathedrals are in +the least like it. As to the invention itself, it has been claimed by +almost every nationality in Europe. There can be no doubt that +accidentally, or otherwise, the pointed arch had been used often enough +without any idea of its adoption as a principle of construction even in +ancient buildings. The famous gate at Mycœne is one instance. This is +not the place to discuss the question, so we let it pass. We could point +out long and elaborate arguments intended to prove that it originated in +England--that it originated in France--in Germany.[32] Possibly they may +all be right in a sense, for most probably the origin was not in any +particular locality, but in the religious spirit of the time. It was a +general revival of the Church itself that was its cause. If any special +locality has more reason on its side than another, it is probably +France, but as we say, that is not an essential point. It must suffice +us here that it arose, and that by the end of the twelfth century it was +a fact. And the remarkable part about it is that it was by the influence +of lay artists and especially of the freemasons that it became the +accepted architecture of Christendom. + +[31] For more about them, see Cahier, _Mélanges d'Archéologie, etc._ + +[32] Not to mention _theories_, which are endless. + + + + + BOOK II + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUMINATION + +The Gothic spirit--A "Zeitgeist" not the invention of a single artist +nor of a single country--The thirteenth century the beginning of the new +style--Contrast between North and South, between East and West, marked +in the character of artistic leaf-work--Gradual development of Gothic +foliage--The bud of the thirteenth century, the leaf of the fourteenth, +and the flower of the fifteenth--The Freemasons--Illumination +transferred from the monastery to the lay workshop--The Psalter of St. +Louis--Characteristics of French Gothic illumination--Rise of the +miniature as a distinct feature--Guilds--Lay artists. + + +We have now reached the parting of the ways. The study of Nature is fast +superseding the dogmas of the monastic code, and what some writers have +characterised as the hieratic is giving way to the naturalistic +treatment of art. Like the pointed architecture itself, it is an outcome +of the spirit of the age. Exactly when it begins we cannot say. As in +the physical sciences, our limits are necessarily somewhat arbitrary to +suit our convenience in classification. We take the beginning of the +thirteenth century as a convenient dividing line between old and new. We +accept it as the boundary between the artistic sway of the East and +South--and that of the West and North--between the lifeless fetters of +prescription and the living freedom of invention. The contrast between +the two is very strongly marked. The soft and curling foliages of the +sunny South are for a season giving way to the hard and thorny leafage +of the wintry North. It would seem as if pointed architecture began with +the hard and frozen winter of its existence, and if it had been the plan +or design of one individual we might have accepted this peculiarity as +part of the scheme, and all that followed as a natural consequence and +development. But it is curious that as a system worked out by many minds +pointed architecture should thus begin. First come thorns and cusps and +lanceolate forms without foliage. Then, not perfect leaves, but buds. In +due time the bud opens, at first into the profile coil, and by-and-by +into the full-spread leaf. Then comes the flower, and finally the fruit. +After that, rottenness and decay. It is curious that this should +actually take place through a course of centuries. That it should be +reflected in book illumination is simply the usual order of things--the +fact has been frequently observed, and as it is curious, we call +attention to it. But, as we have said, the great change itself was +brought about by the influence of lay artists, and chiefly by the +freemasons. + +Who and what the freemasons were everybody is supposed to know, but on +inquiry we find very few people indeed know anything definite about +them. Of course we do not refer to the friendly societies or social +guilds that now bear the name, but to the mediæval builders. "Everybody +knows," says Batissier,[33] "that the study of the sciences and of +literature and the practice of the various branches of art took refuge +in the monasteries during the irruptions of the barbarians and the +strife of international war. In those retreats, not only painting, +sculpture, engraving on metals, and mosaic, but also architecture were +cultivated. If the question arose about building a church, it was nearly +always an ecclesiastic who furnished the plan and monks who carried out +the works under his direction. The brethren in travelling from convent +to convent naturally exercised a reciprocal influence over each other. +We conceive, then, that the abbeys of any given Order would put in vogue +the same style, and that the art would be modified under certain points +of view, in the same manner in each country." + +[33] _Hist. de l' Art Monumental_, p. 466, Paris, 1845, I. 8°. + +"It is certain, moreover, that outside the cloisters there were also +troops of workmen not monastics, who laboured under the direction of the +latter." + +"Masons were associated among them in the same way as other trade +corporations. It was the same with these corporations in the South as +with the communes--the _débris_ of the Roman organisation; they took +refuge in the Church, and had arrived at a condition of public life and +independence, when order was established between the commune, the +Seignory, and the Church." + +"During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries these corporations were +organised into recognised fraternities having their own statutes, but +there is abundant evidence of their having a much earlier existence." + +"A great number of masons were trained in Italy, and came from Lombardy, +which in the tenth century even was an active centre of civilisation. +Italy had its corporations of masons called _maestri comaccini_, +enjoying exclusive privileges, who, having passed the different degrees +of apprenticeship, became 'accepted'[34] masons, and had the right of +exercising their profession wherever they might be. The sovereigns of +different countries granted them special privileges, and the popes +protected them in all Catholic countries where they might travel. Thus +the lodges grew and prospered. The Greek artists who had fled from +Constantinople during the various Iconoclast persecutions had got +themselves enrolled in the ranks of the freemasons, and taught their +fellow-masons their Byzantine methods." + +[34] German "angenommen." + +"Speedily these corporations spread through France, England, and +Germany, where they were employed almost exclusively by the religious +Orders, in building their churches and conventual buildings." + +While, therefore, the general plan and rules of construction were common +to all members of the fraternity, the details were almost entirely left, +under regulations, to the individual taste of certain members of each +band of workmen, who, being all qualified artists, were quite capable of +putting in execution, and with masterly skill, any such minutiæ of +ornament as might be left to their discretion.[35] Local illuminators +would thus speedily get hold of every novelty, and the page of the +Psalter or Bible would become, as a French writer has explained it, a +_vitrail sur velin_. If not indeed exclusively following the stained +glass, they copied the mural decorations, and so we find the backgrounds +of the miniatures, whether fitted into the initials or placed separately +in framed mouldings, faithfully reproducing the imbrications, +_carrelages_, panellings, and diapers of these mural enrichments. + +[35] Governor Pownall ("Observations on the Origin and Progress of Gothic +Architecture, and on the Corporation of Freemasons," _Archæologia_, +1788, vol. 9, pp. 110-126) was of opinion that "the Collegium or +Corporation of Freemasons, were the first formers of Gothic architecture +into a regular and scientific order by applying the models and +proportions of timber framework to building in stone," and that this +method "came into use and application about the close of the twelfth or +commencement of the thirteenth century." See also Gould (R.F.), _History +of Freemasonry_, vol. i. p. 259, note. "Without going so far as to agree +with Governor Pownall that the Freemasons invented Gothic, it may be +reasonably contended that without them it could not have been brought to +perfection, and without Gothic they would not have stood in the peculiar +and prominent position that they did, that there was mutual indebtedness, +and while without Freemasons there would have been no Gothic...without +Gothic the Freemasons would have formed but a very ordinary community of +trades unionists." + +To select an example of Gothic illumination which shall exemplify the +earliest features of the pointed style is not an easy matter, +notwithstanding the number of thirteenth-century MSS. which still exist +in public collections. In the National Library at Paris are several such +MSS. One that decidedly marks the change from the German work hitherto +in vogue is the Psalter of St. Louis (Nat. Lib., Paris., Lat. 10525), +which contains nearly eighty small, delicately executed miniatures. It +was completed about 1250. Its noticeable features are a vastly improved +dexterity in draughtsmanship, which displays a refined certainty of +touch, enabling the artist to express his intention with unhesitating +freedom. The drawing thus produced in outline is filled in with flat +tints of body-colour, without gradation or any attempt at brush-work +shading. Whatever finishing in this respect might be thought necessary +was added with the pen. Nothing could show more clearly that it is +simply and frankly imitative of stained glass. As in the glass the black +outline is left for definition. No colour is used on hands of faces +except a slight touch of red on the cheeks and lips. The prevailing +colours are rich blue and bright scarlet. Perhaps the illuminator would +have been better advised had he neglected some of the harder features of +this kind of work. Not considering that the limits of the glass painter +did not apply to his vellum, he fettered himself unnecessarily, and +instead of a picture he has only succeeded in producing a surface +enamel, or a mere reticulation of surface-patterns. This very defect has +by some writers been held up to admiration as the true perfection of all +illumination. Its flatness was applauded because it had to be shut up in +a book, and was therefore the only appropriate way of making a picture +for such a purpose. But whoever would dream that because a picture, +painted in due perspective and proper light and shade, was to be shut up +in a book that the figures represented in relief would actually be +crushed. Such reasoning is most puerile. The supposed parallel case of a +carpet or hearth-rug representing groups of flowers--even if the latter +ever did deceive the domestic cat--does not in the least affect the most +childish conception of a picture in a book. We see it in a scene in +light and shade, we enjoy and admire its reliefs, but at the same time +we know it is a picture, and that it is quite flat. The two tests of +knowledge never interfere with each other. To suppose they do is to +suppose a case of imbecility that even a lunatic must laugh to scorn. So +far, therefore, we think the illuminator mistaken in slavishly copying +the limitations of the glass-painter. It is no very great knowledge of +nature that is shown in these drawings. There is a good example of the +method of study followed by thirteenth-century artists in the +sketch-book of a French mason named Villars de Honnecourt, still kept in +the National Library at Paris.[36] In this book the artist has made +drawings, as he says, from the life--some are views, others drawings of +objects of art; one represents a lion of the mediæval heraldic type, yet +the artist assures us it is from the life. But there is no real +accuracy, everything is done with reference to some canon. It is, +however, quite free from the Byzantine influence, though by no means +free from a certain tincture of symbolism. The nude is rarely attempted, +but when it is it is certainly less ugly than in Carolingian and +Romanesque. To return to the Psalter--the style of the figures is rather +graceful, attitudes are gentle and modest, though the inclination of +head and body are such as to suggest a sort of undulatory movement in +walking that is scarcely natural. The forms are slender, and the limbs +occasionally beyond the owner's control--sometimes even deformed. The +feet are small and weak--now and then over-twisted. The hands more +delicate than formerly, especially when open. Faces are gently oval and +sometimes expressive. + +[36] It has been published as the Album of V. de H., Paris, 1858. + +Sometimes the "histories" are placed in initial letters, the grounds of +which, when not of burnished gold, consist of imitations of mural +_carrelages_, chequers, etc., or rich enamelled patterns imitative of +engraved traceries on metal. In other cases they are placed in +frame-mouldings, consisting of a bar or beading of gold supporting an +inner bar of coloured and polished wood or enamel work--the polish being +represented by a fine line of white along the centre. For illustrations +of this precious volume the reader may refer to Labarte, _Hist. des Arts +industriels_, album, pl. 92 (Paris, 1864). + +Now that the monasteries had ceased to be the exclusive nurseries of art +and literature, the masters of the different arts and crafts usually +belonged to the middle classes of the towns, where at first each art or +craft had its own fraternity, and as the idea of trade-association crew, +the crafts most nearly related would form a guild or corporation. All +who joined these corporations bound themselves to work only as the ruler +of the guild permitted. Nor were outsiders allowed to compete with them +in their own branches, so exclusive was the protection of the guild. + +Each confraternity had its altar in some particular church, whose patron +saint became the protector of the guild. And indeed the constitution of +the guild included even political rights and obligations--military +service among the rest, like other feudal institutions. Each town had +its own special corporations, which thus led to the formation of +separate schools of art; while travelling apprenticeships gave the +opportunity to all of acquiring knowledge not accessible at home. +Members were accustomed to travel and to attach themselves to the +service of various princes, receiving appointments as "varlets" or +"escripvains" or "enlumineurs," which sometimes obliged them to resign +their membership. Occasionally they became political agents and even +ambassadors. + +It will be remembered that, some pages back, we noticed the fact that in +Western illumination generally the design of the page depended upon the +initial letter, or that at least the initial was the principal object of +it. In the thirteenth century, although the initial had very much +diminished in size, the same principle still prevailed. The letter +itself was formed of some fabulous long-necked and long-tailed animal or +bird, mostly a dragon as conceived by the mediæval artist. The head +framed more or less on that of the mastiff or lion, or both; the legs of +a bird of prey; the body and tail of a serpent; wings of heraldic +construction to suit the form of the letter. While the body of this +unspeakable beast formed the body of the letter, the tail was +indefinitely extended to sweep down the margin of the text and round the +base of it, so as to form a border, while not unfrequently slender +branches would spring from it to form coils here and there ending in a +kind of flower-bud, the extremity of the tail forming a similar coil. +Very soon, however, the animal form was abandoned, and the letter made +simply as a decorated initial or capital. If possible, one of its limbs +was made to sweep up and down the "margin" and along the bottom or top +as before. Where the interior is not occupied by a "history," we find +coiled stems ending in profile leaves or buds. + +At the same time the text has diminished in size, sometimes down to +dimensions no greater than those of an ordinary printed book of to-day, +but often beautiful and regular as the clearest printing. Such a book is +the Bible written by a certain William of Devon, now in the British +Museum (Roy. MS. 1 D. 1). A description of this beautiful MS. may be +seen in _Bibliographica_, vol. i. p. 394, written by Sir E.M. Thompson. +Here, though the writing is that of an Englishman, the style is +completely French. + +Another MS. deserving of study is a richly illuminated Bible now in the +Burney Collection of our National Library (No. 3). Another, which, owing +to its being recommended for study by the late John Ruskin, was once +known as the Ruskin Book, is Add. MS. 17341, which contains many fine +initials with border and bracket foliages similar to those of the +Evangeliary of the Sainte Chapelle, now in the National Library, Paris +(MS. Lat. 17326). Both the MSS. show the contemporary peculiarity of +presenting Bible characters, excepting divine personages, apostles, and +evangelists in ordinary local costume. Paris, of course, is the city +where most, and perhaps the best, of these MSS. are preserved; but those +named above, in London, are also among the finest known examples. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RISE OF NATIONAL STYLES + +The fourteenth century the true Golden Age of Gothic +illumination--France the cradle of other national styles--Netherlandish, +Italian, German, etc.--Distinction of schools--Difficulty of assigning +the _provenance_ of MSS.--The reason for it--MS. in Fitzwilliam Museum, +Cambridge--The Padua Missal--Artists' names--Whence obtained. + + +Through the thirteenth century is the epoch of the Gothic renaissance, +it is the fourteenth to which really belongs the title of the Golden +Age. The style of work remains precisely the same, only it grows. It +changes from the bud to the leaf. It casts off the severity and much of +the restraint of its earlier character. To the grace of youth it adds +beauty, the beauty of adolescence. To fourteenth-century illumination we +can give no higher praise than that it is beautiful. Not, indeed, +because of its deliberate limitations, but in spite of them. For after +ages have taught us that if in pure ornament and resplendent decorative +completeness the pages of the fourteenth century cannot be surpassed, in +miniature historiation it must take a second place. The skilled +illuminators of the later schools are the masters of the mere picture. +For surely no judge of art could possibly assert that the miniatures of +the Grunani Breviary or of the Brera Graduals as miniatures are inferior +to those of the Psalter of St. Louis, the Berry Bible, or the +Prayer-book of Margaret of Bavaria. Yet these are typical MSS. of the +highest rank. Hence we say that while the illumination of the Golden Age +of the art was beautiful, it was not absolutely perfect. It is not to be +taken by modern students as the only possible model or basis simply +because it was the best of its kind. There is no such despotism in art. +To those who think it the only possible form of book decoration, let it +be so by all means, but we may as well hope to clothe our soldiers in +chain or plate armour, and send the elite of our nobility on another +crusade to Jerusalem, or satisfy our universities with the _quod libets_ +and _quiddities_ of the _trivium_ and _quadrivium_, as hope to make +popular to the England of the twentieth century the artistic tastes of +the fourteenth. We indulge in no such dreams. If we are to have +illuminated books, our own age must invent them. The illuminators of the +Bibles, Romances, Mirrors, and Chronicles of the fourteenth century no +doubt did their best, and we honour and praise them for it. We think +their work among the loveliest gratifications of the eye that can be +imagined. But the eye is very catholic--it has immense capacities for +enjoyment. The window of the soul opens on illimitable prospects, and if +the soul be satisfied for the time, it is not necessarily repleted for +ever. Golden ages are cyclical, and it may be that the glory of the +books of the future shall surpass all the glories of the past. + +By 1350 France had absorbed all the antecedent varieties of +illumination. From France, therefore, spring all the succeeding styles +now considered national. + +And as is most natural, these styles develop by proximity--the nearest +to French being Netherlandish. The next, as a result of immediate +intercourse, Italian. Then German, Spanish, and the rest, as intercourse +gave opportunity. It is not always an easy matter to say offhand whether +a MS. is French or Flemish. In the earlier days it is not easy to say +whether it be French or English, or even whether French or Italian. But +the distinctness comes later on. + +In the fifteenth century the Italian, German, French, and English are +quite distinct varieties. Towards the sixteenth the Netherlandish is +quite as distinct. But the styles of Spain, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, +though possessing features which identify them to an experienced eye, +are to the ordinary spectator merely sub-varieties of Netherlandish, +Italian, or German. + +With regard to the distinctions of schools or local centres within the +same country, the evidence of probable origin has to be corroborated by +historic fact. It is not safe without further proof than that afforded +by general features to affirm that this or that MS. was executed at +Paris, Dijon, Amiens, or Limoges in France; or at Ghent, Bruges, or +elsewhere in Flanders; or whether a MS. be Rhenish or Saxon, Bavarian or +Westphalian, in Germany; Bolognese, Florentine, Siennese, Milanese, or +Neapolitan in Italy; or executed at Westminster, St. Albans, Exeter, or +elsewhere in England. Nevertheless the special characteristics of all +these schools are quite distinguishable. In the attempt to distinguish +them, although the diagnosis may be perfectly accurate, the actual facts +may be otherwise accounted for. Hence the danger to which even the +experienced connoisseur is liable. For example, certain MSS. are written +in a fine Bolognese hand, which it is proved were actually executed in +Flanders; others that one would feel sure were Netherlandish, were +illuminated in Spain. Some very fine typical Flemish miniatures were +painted in Italy; certain Florentine miniatures were the work of artists +residing in Rome. Milanese illumination is quite distinguishable from +Neapolitan, and Venetian from both, yet the school is not proof of the +_provenance_. + +Illuminators, like other craftsmen, travelled from city to city, and +princes employed men, who resided in their patrons' palaces, who yet had +learned their art many leagues away. How often we find the names of +artists with the words Dallemagna, il Tedesco, le Poitevin, Veronese, +Franco, Crovata, etc., employed in Italian houses, indicating the place +of their nativity. So that even when we know every feature of the work +we have much to learn ere we can say with truth that it was executed in +such and such a city. We must take into account details which are liable +to escape the ordinary observer, such as quality of vellum or paper, +choice of pigments, mode of application, and other particulars quite +distinct from style of ornament or varieties of form in foliage. In the +Fitzwilliam Library at Cambridge is an Italian MS., the characteristics +of whose ornamentation are unequivocally French, but whose mode of +treatment shows not only that it is Italian but that it is Milanese, but +whether executed in Milan or not is more than anyone can affirm. In the +British Museum is a magnificent service-book called the Padua Missal, +but the probability is that the Paduan artist who painted its splendid +pages, painted them at Venice. That it was executed for Sta. Justina, at +Padua, is no proof that the work was done in that city. + +In monastic times we have seen why the artist rarely signed his name. +After the thirteenth century the lay artist had no such scruples, and +hence we often find particulars of origin and purpose which explain all +we wish to know. But if the MSS. themselves do not contain the +particulars, very often the account-books of cathedrals and other +establishments for which the books were illuminated, give the details of +price and purpose, and add the names of the artists. The household +expense books, guild books, municipal records, and the journals of the +painters themselves are fertile sources of information. And if we seek +with sufficient diligence these will probably be the means by which it +may eventually be found. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FRENCH ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE RENAISSANCE + + +Ivy-leaf and chequered backgrounds--Occasional introduction of plain +burnished gold--Reign of Charles VI. of France--The Dukes of Orleans, +Berry, and Burgundy; their prodigality and fine taste for +MSS.--Christine de Pisan and her works--Description of her "Mutation of +Fortune" in the Paris Library--The "Roman de la Rose" and "Cité des +Dames"--Details of the French style of illumination--Burgundian MSS., +Harl. 4431--Roy. 15 E. 6--The Talbot Romances--Gradual approach to +Flemish on the one hand and Italian on the other. + + +In addition to the expanding ivy leaf which forms the chief feature of +fourteenth-century book-ornament, we find the miniaturist as a further +improvement adding delicate colour in the faces. Also that instead of +the invariable lozenging or diapering of the background he occasionally +makes a background of plain burnished gold. And as if to prove that his +predecessors were really hampered with the restrictions imposed by their +imitations of painted glass, he begins to try his best to paint up his +miniatures into real pictures with high lights on draperies and shading +upon the folds. A certain amount of flatness, however, still remains, +but it scarcely seems to have been the intention or aim of the painter. +There is a similar flatness in the work of all the early schools of +painting, which had no reference whatever to the destination of the +picture. See, for instance, the Origny Treasure Book in the Print Room +at Berlin (MS. 38), and the Life of St. Denis in the National Library at +Paris (Nos. 2090-2), both MSS. dating somewhere about 1315. The drapery +shading in the latter MS. is no longer the work of the pen, but +brush-work in proper colour. The Westreenen Missal in the Museum at the +Hague, which dates about 1365, though not a French MS., is an example of +the fact that by the middle of the century the tradition of penwork +outline and flat-colouring had become pretty nearly obsolete. + +The reign of the afflicted Charles VI. of France, disastrous in the +extreme to the material welfare of his own subjects, full of untold +misery to the poor, and of oppression to the growing community of +artisans and traders, was nevertheless, as regards literature and the +arts, a period of progress and even splendour. The King's incapacity, by +affording his uncles and brothers opportunities for fingering the +revenues during the self-appointed and irresponsible regencies, enabled +them to gratify their magnificent tastes in the purchasing of costly +furniture and the ordering of splendid books. Louis of Orleans, usually +credited with the worst of this prodigality, was by no means singular in +his conduct. His uncle, the Duke of Berry, while daily earning the +execrations of the tax-payers by his unscrupulous employment of the +public money, was constantly enriching his library, and both he and his +brothers and nephews were in the habit of sending priceless volumes, +illuminated by the best artists, as wedding and birthday gifts, to each +other, or their wives or acquaintances. We talk, and justly, of the fine +taste and noble love of literature of Jean de Berry. His contemporaries, +at least those beneath his own rank, looked upon him as a tyrant and +plunderer. His disastrous administration of Languedoc was described as +"one long fête where the excess of expenditure was rivalled only by the +excess of scandal." If the _marmousets_ could have hanged him they +would. In default they hanged his treasurer. + +All this maladministration was very wrong, but we cannot afford to burn +the MSS. in consequence, for the Bible, the "Grandes Heures," and other +books once possessed by the wicked Duke, are among the most precious +relics of any age. Add to them the beautiful volumes of poetry and +romance composing the contemporary literature of the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, and we have treasures that we dare not relinquish. + +By the beginning of the fifteenth century pure French illumination was +losing its own characteristics and acquiring others. In the North, in +Flanders and Brabant, Franche-Comté and the Burgundian Dukedom +generally, it was becoming that peculiar kind of French which had +received the name of Burgundian. It can scarcely be said to be Flemish +enough to rank as Netherlandish, yet neither can it stand side by side +with "French of Paris." + +Let us look at a few examples. There is the Book of Offices in the +Library of St. Geneviève at Paris (Bibl. Lat. 66), also the St. +Augustine in the same library. Also a small crowd of volumes in the +Royal Library at Brussels, another in the National Library at Paris. One +of the richest examples known is the "Psalter of the Convent of Salem," +in the University Library at Heidelberg. Other grand MSS. are the two +volumes of the "Mutacion de Fortune" of Christine de Pisan and the "Cité +des Dames" of the same authoress. The volume of her poems, etc., in the +British Museum, is a marvellously fine work (Harl. 4431). The greater +part of this volume is in the earlier or "Berry" style, _i.e._ the fine +pen-sprays of ivy leaf of burnished gold. But the first grand border is +altogether transitional, consisting of the pen-sprays of golden ivy leaf +alternating with sprays of natural flowers. This innovation, it has been +said, was due to the school of van Eyck, but as no proof is forthcoming +that J. van Eyck ever worked on illuminating we may be content to say +that it arose about 1413, and that probably it came from Bruges. It is +the beginning of the Burgundian style. But the ornamental leafage is +different from ordinary Brugeois, inasmuch as it is "pearled" along the +central veins, and is not symmetrical. The pearling is perhaps a +suggestion from glass painting. It was very early adapted in German +foliage work. On the first fly-leaf are several signatures, including +the name and device of Louis Gruthuse: "Plus est en vous Gruthuse." The +miniatures still remain French with mostly panelled backgrounds, some +with landscape. It is evidently a transitional document. + +[Illustration: +PSALTERM. ET OFFICIA +14TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2897, fol. 184_] + +[Illustration: +HEURES, ETC. +14TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2952, fol. 22_] + +The works of Christine de Pisan, the popular--one may fairly say +fashionable--authoress, were perhaps among the best known and most +widely read while Caxton was setting up his press at Westminster, as she +was among the most welcome guests at the Courts of Charles VI. and +Philip of Burgundy. She was the daughter of a distinguished Venetian +savant, Thomas de Pisan, who had come at the invitation of Charles le +Sage to Paris as "Astrologue du Roi." At the age of fifteen Christine, +who was as beautiful as she was accomplished, became the wife of a +Picard gentleman named Estienne Castel. Two years afterwards the death +of the King brought trouble upon her father, and with it sickness and +despondency. Then followed sorrow upon sorrow. Whilst she was herself +still burdened with the cares of early motherhood her father died, and +within nine years from her marriage the sudden death from contagion, of +her husband, to whom she was most fondly attached, left her a widow with +two little children dependent upon her, and with only what she herself +could earn as a means of livelihood. She was not yet twenty-six years +old. To assuage her misery she betook herself to study and the +composition of essays and poetry. Her works speedily brought her the +recognition of distinguished personages; her children were provided for, +and she herself soon acquired both fortune and reputation. Charles VI. +allowed her a pension, and she composed for his Queen, Isabella of +Bavaria, several important treatises. Among her numerous compositions +were "Les cens Histoires de Troyes" in verse, "Le Chemin de longue +estude", "La Mutacion de Fortune," and a Life of Charles V., the latter +composed at the request of Philip the Good of Burgundy. But the work +which sets off her wit and learning to the best advantage was an +allegorical essay on Womanhood, which she called "Le Trésor de la Cité +des Dames." Altogether her works include fifteen books and about sixty +smaller writings, which she dedicated to the King and Queen of France, +the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, and the princesses and princes of the +Court. + +One beautifully illuminated copy of the Mutation of Fortune in two +volumes is a curious example of its title, for one volume of it is in +the National Library at Paris (fonds fr. 603) and the other in the Royal +Library at Munich. In the former we have her portrait. In a blue gown +she sits at her writing-desk busy at her work. On her head is the +muslin-draped and high-peaked "hennin." Beside her a table covered with +a green cloth and laden with crimson and violet-bound books and an +inkstand. Her chair has a high back, and the floor is of the usual kind +seen in illuminations; that is, as if composed of a parquetry of +coloured woodwork or of tiles of various kinds of marble. On the sill of +the Gothic-latticed window, through which we catch a glimpse of the blue +sky, stands a vase of flowers. Not perhaps an ideal lady's boudoir, but +still an apartment of taste, and an altogether charming little picture. +In the second miniature of the Munich volume Christine is standing in a +chamber--in the same costume as above described. The pictures on the +walls are--a fortress, a watchman, two knights, a prince with crown and +sceptre, seated on his throne, surrounded by courtiers; a duel; and a +martyr having his head struck off. Just such mediæval subjects as we may +expect in a fifteenth-century mansion. + +In a copy of the "Cité des Dames" at Munich is another portrait of +Christine. The book is an Apology for the feminine sex, and it is well +thought out. It appears that the conversation of the time was not always +free from rather severe sarcasm concerning the ladies. We learn from Du +Verdier that the continuator of the Romance of the Rose narrowly escaped +most condign chastisement from some of the insulted sex at the French +Court for the base insinuations in his poem against the character of +women. Christine herself heartily disapproved of the Romance of the +Rose, and wrote a sharp criticism upon it. Her "Cité des Dames" is an +elaborate confutation of the opinion that women are naturally more +immoral and less capable of noble studies or high intellectual +attainments than men. In her introduction she says: "I reflected why men +are so unanimous in attributing wickedness to women. I examined my own +life and those of other women to learn why we should be worse than men, +since we also were created by God. I was sitting ashamed with bowed head +and eyes blinded with tears, resting my chin on my hands in my +elbow-chair, when a dazzling beam of Light flashed before me, which came +not from the sun, for it was late in the evening. I glanced up and saw +standing before me three female figures wearing crowns of gold, and with +radiant countenances. I crossed myself, whereupon one of the three +addressed me. 'Fear not, dear daughter, for we will counsel and help +thee. The aphorisms of the Philosophers are not Articles of Faith, but +simply the mists of error and self-deception.'" The three ladies or +goddesses are Fame, Prudence, and Justice, and they command Christine +under the supervision of Reason (or Commonsense) to build a city for the +noblest and best of her own sex. So the city was begun, and the elect, +allegorically, let into it. In varied ranks following one another came +goddesses and saintly women, Christian and heathen women--among them +walks as leader the Queen of the Amazons. "Queen" Ceres, who taught the +art and practice of agriculture. Queen Isis, who first led mankind to +the cultivation of plants. Arachne, who invented the arts of dyeing, +weaving, flax-growing, and spinning. Damphile, who discovered how to +breed silkworms. Queen Tomyris, who vanquished Cyrus. The noble +Sulpicia, who shared her husband's exile, and many others, among whom +may be seen Dame Sarah, the wife of Abraham, Penelope, Ruth, and the +Saints Katharine, Margaret, Lucia, and Dorothea. In the first miniature +on the left sits Christine with a coif upon her head and a great book on +her lap; on her left hand is the plan of her new city, while opposite +stand the three ladies already spoken of as her advisers, furnished with +building tools and giving her their advice. On the right she appears +again in elegant costume with hewn stones and a trowel assisted by two +workmen who are busily at work. Before her is an unfinished wall and +several completed towers. In two other miniatures the gradual progress +and entire completion of the city are shown, and in the foreground of +each Christine and her three patronesses as before. Other examples +deserving of extended notice are the Shrewsbury Romances (Roy. 15 E. 6) +and Augustine, Cité de Dieu (Roy. 14 D. 1), two great folios, the former +most interesting for its miniatures--the latter as a fair example of the +rougher kind of Lille work, bold in design, good drawing. The choice of +colours includes marone, blue, green, and gold. The ornaments, as usual, +consist of sprays of ivy leaf and grounds filled in with treillages of +natural flowers, among which are the daisy, viola tricolor, thistle, +cornbottle, and wild stock. Fruits and vegetables also, as grapes, field +peas, and strawberries. The miniatures include a few rather coarse +grisailles. + +A little volume (Harl. 2936) contains exquisitely drawn Brugeois scrolls +in monochrome on grounds of the same colour or plain gold or black. +Lastly we may mention "Les Heures de la Dame de Saluces," otherwise +called the "Yemeniz Hours," in the British Museum (Add. 27967), a large +octavo, as an example of transitional Burgundian. Here the secondary +borders have mostly the penwork ivy leaf with Brugeois corners and with +strawberries, etc., in the midst of the sprays. Among the foliages +grotesque figures frequently appear. The principal pages, however, are +more like Harl. 4431, yet without the ivy-leaf tendrils. The miniatures +are still Gothic, but richer and deeper in colour than ordinary French +work. It would appear that two different artists were employed--one +decidedly French, the other Netherlandish, and of a more individual +character, still with French accessories. Every page has a border of +some kind. Among the flowers the thistle is peculiar in having a golden +cup next the down. The work generally resembles, in some parts, 4431 +Harl.; in others, and perhaps more strongly, 15 E. 6. The colours are +chiefly blue, scarlet, rose-pink, green, and gold. + +We have now pretty nearly worked our way into Flemish illumination. The +after-history of French as developed through the influence of Italy on +the schools of Paris and Tours must have a chapter to itself. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ENGLISH ILLUMINATION FROM THE TENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY + +Organisation of the Monastic _scriptoria_--Professional outsiders: lay +artists--The whole sometimes the work of the same practitioner--The +Winchester Abbeys of St. Swithun's and Hyde--Their vicissitudes--St. +Alban's--Westminster--Royal MS. 2 A. 22--Description of style--The +Tenison Psalter--Features of this period--The Arundel Psalter--Hunting +and shooting scenes, and games--Characteristic pictures, grotesques, and +caricatures--Queen Mary's Psalter--Rapid changes under Richard +II.--Royal MS. 1 E. 9--Their cause. + + +In a former chapter we left our native schools of illumination at work +on such MSS. as the Devonshire and Rouen Benedictionals, and with the +reputation of being the best schools of the kind in Christendom. Mention +also is made elsewhere in dealing with monastic art of the usages of the +_scriptoria_. Such usages, of course, could only obtain in houses where +scribes themselves were to be had. Hence we should discover, were it not +otherwise known, that writing and illumination, even in the monastic +age, were not confined absolutely to the cloister. + +With respect to the secular scribes, who sometimes worked in the +monastery, sometimes at their own homes, in those days when the monastic +orders still did most of the book-production, there were three classes +of specialists. These were the _Librarii_ or ordinary copyists; the +_Notarii_ or law-scribes, whose business lay in copying deeds, charters, +and such-like instruments, and taking notes in the courts; and +_Paginators_ or _Illuminatores_. It sometimes happened, as we have said, +that in some monastery or other, no monastic was found qualified to +undertake any of these duties. It then fell to the prior or abbat to +seek the assistance of professional outsiders. The paging and +rubrication, putting in initials in the spaces left by the common +scribe, and, if needed, the addition of pictures or marginal drawings +and ornaments, caricatures, heraldic illustrations, etc., were the +proper work of the illuminator, but it often happened that the same man +had to do the whole work from the commencement to the finish. The +Chronicon Trudonense tells us: "Graduale unum propria manu formavit, +purgavit, pinxit, sulcabit, scripsit, illuminavit, musiceque notavit +syllabatim." Several of our old English chronicles, of which the MSS. +exist in the British Museum and elsewhere, seem to be of this +description. + +Reference has been made to the _scriptoria_ at Winchester, _i.e._ at St. +Swithun's and the New Minster. It is the latter foundation which is +usually referred to in speaking of Winchester work. The Monastery of the +Holy Trinity or the New Minster was founded in the first year of his +reign by King Edward, son of Alfred, no doubt in obedience to his +father's wish, if not absolutely in the terms of his will. Its first +charter is dated 900 (for 901) and the second in 903. In the latter +document the abbey is spoken of as dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the +Blessed Virgin Mary, and to St. Peter, and is amply endowed under the +Augustinian Rule. In 965, not without trouble and resistance, it was +converted into a Benedictine abbey. In 968 Ethelgar, who had been +trained at Glastonbury and Abingdon, became abbat, and from this time +the New Minster became famous for both discipline and the production of +MSS. As we walk along the High Street of Winchester now we find the +story in moss-grown stones or other memorials how, among other methods, +William the Norman punished the monks for their English warlike +proclivities by walling them up nearly close to their church with the +walls of his royal palace. In the old time, when the two monasteries +stood side by side--St. Swithun's is close behind the New Minster--"so +closely packed together," says the old chronicler,[37] "were the two +communities of St. Swithun and St. Peter that between the foundation of +their respective buildings there was barely room for a man to pass +along. The choral service of one monastery conflicted with that of the +other, so that both were spoiled, and the ringing of their bells +together produced a horrid discord." The result of this was, first the +above-mentioned hemming in of the younger establishment and eventually +its migration to another site in Hyde Meadow. Here while the monastic +buildings suffered much through fires and other disasters, the Rule +remained until 1538, when it was surrendered into the King's hands, and +the abbat, prior, and nineteen monks, the last survivors of this +once-famous foundation, were pensioned. + +[37] Dugdale, _Monasticon_. + +The scriptorium at St. Alban's, to which the fame of book production in +the Middle Ages very largely reverted, was not founded until nearly +three centuries after the foundation of that abbey. The library began +with twenty-eight notable volumes, and eight Psalters, a book of +collects, another of epistles, and _Evangelia legenda per annum_, two +Gospel-books bound in gold and silver and set with gems, together with +other necessary volumes for ordinary use. Almost every succeeding abbat +contributed something to the library shelves. Geoffrey, the sixteenth +abbat, a Norman who once had a school at Dunstable, and who was both a +popular and liberal ruler, enriched the library with a Missal bound in +gold, another incomparably illuminated and beautifully written, and also +a Psalter richly illuminated, a Benedictional, and others. His +successor, Ralph Gubiun, also gave a number of MSS. Robert de Gosham, +the next abbat, gave "very many" books, which he had caused to be +written and sumptuously bound for the purpose. And Abbat Simon, who +followed in 1166, created the office of historiographer to the abbey, +repaired and enlarged the scriptorium, and kept two or three of the +cleverest writers constantly employed in transcription, and ordained +that for the future every abbat should maintain at least one suitable +and capable scribe. Among the many choice MSS. added by Abbat Simon was +a beautiful copy of the Bible specially written with the greatest care +and exactness. In addition he presented the library with all his own +precious collection. Another liberal benefactor was John de Cell, a man +of vast learning in grammar and poetry, and also a practitioner in +medicine. Being unfit for household management, he committed the secular +affairs of the abbey to his prior Reymund, by whose zeal many noble and +valuable books were transcribed for the library. And so grew in +magnitude and importance the great collection which supplied Roger of +Wendover and Matthew Paris with materials for their famous histories. +St. Alban's, indeed, was at one period perhaps the most noted of all the +English centres of book production. To dilate on other centres, such as +Westminster, Exeter, Worcester, Norwich, or York, would lead us too far +afield for a mere handbook like the present. Enough has been said to +give a good idea of what our English abbats and priors were in the habit +of doing for art and letters. + +[Illustration: +PSALTERIUM CUM CANTICIS +A.D. 1240 +_Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 2, A. xxii, fol. 14_] + +[Illustration: +EPISTRE AU ROY RICH. 2 +C. 1375 +_Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 20 B, vi, fol. 1_] + +Since 980 a considerable quantity of transcription and illumination must +have been produced, notwithstanding disquiet, turbulence, and war. At +Westminster the traditions of illumination seem to have followed the +methods of the earlier Winchester school. But in the twelfth century +English work shows, on the whole, a greater likeness to the contemporary +work of Germany. Of Westminster work an example occurs among the Royal +MSS. (2 A. 22). The subject is the Psalter, and the text is the handsome +style of penmanship known as English Gothic of the latter part of the +twelfth century. It would appear from the frequent occurrence of this +particular service-book that it held the place of the later Book of +Hours, and so we may expect a great similarity among different copies, +both in the selection of the illustrations and their mode of treatment. +It was usual in all such volumes to prefix to the text a series of +subjects from the Old and New Testaments and the Lives of the Saints. +Here we have them from the Life of the Virgin and from the Life of +David, by no means unworthy samples of the school. One represents the +Virgin and Child seated on a seat of the Germano-Byzantine type beneath +an arch and within a square frame-border. The border seems first to have +been flatly painted in two colours, pale blue and pale red ochre, and on +this a foliage scroll of recurring forms in a bold dull red outline +finely relieved with white. This is more or less repeated as the form of +border to the other illuminations. Outside the whole is a characteristic +slender frame of bright green in two tints. The arch overhead has two +bands of vermilion, with white edge-reliefs and a central band of blue, +again in two tints, with pairs of black cross-bars every half-inch or so +resting on the capitals of the two pillars which form the sides of the +scene. These pillars have each a green abacus at the top of each capital +and scarlet bead below. Each pillar is of dappled red, marble-like +porphyry, with plinths of scarlet and blue. Tiers of differently +coloured steps separated by bands of scarlet, green, etc., form the +seat. The Virgin wears the hood, cape, and robe of the Benedictine nun, +but coloured grey, chocolate, and blue respectively. An under garment of +pale amber completes her dress. The infant wears an amber tunic, wrapped +in a scarlet robe. A very common embroidery of the drapery consists of +little stars or triads of white studs. This also is a characteristic of +German and early Netherlandish illumination. There is a rich gold +brocade border to the blue robe of the Virgin. Both mother and child +have round nimbuses, the former in plain circular bands of russet and +orange, the latter consisting of bands of pale blue surmounted by a +scarlet cross. Two lumps of green glass or metal hang from the arch. The +background is a plate of gold. The flesh tones are livid, being of a +pale greenish ochre tint. One other of the illuminations of this +exceedingly interesting MS. may be mentioned, viz. the David playing his +harp. He also wears three garments--a tunic of white shaded with pale +blue, then another of lavender or lilac and having rich brocaded +borders, and, lastly, a pallium or robe of pale chocolate lined with +ermine; orange-coloured hose. The throne, like the previous one, is of +several colours--slate-blue, green, orange, and white, with a buff +cushion. Here is a back to the throne of a deep blue, with a background, +as before, of bright flat gold. The white moulding is shaded with pale +green, with bluish slate corners. The outer border is of the pale red +ochre or pink, so common in later work in contrast with deep blue. An +outer frame or edging of green completes the page. The harp is not +gilded, but of a drab hue, with two quatrefoil studs or orifices in the +frame, relieved as usual with fine edges of white. Compare this MS. with +one in the Library at Lambeth. + +The English illumination of the thirteenth century is so like that of +France that it is often difficult to determine its real nationality. +There is occasionally some feature which we know from other sources to +be English, or some circumstance in the history of the MS. which fixes +its origin, as, for example, in the Additional MS. 24686, known as the +Tenison Psalter. Sir E.M. Thompson also describes this MS. in the +_Bibliographica_, i. 397. But it was previously described at some length +by Sir Edward Bond in the Fine Arts _Quarterly Review_. The Psalter, +which has had a somewhat eventful history, is one of the best examples +of English thirteenth-century illumination. At least, this may be said +of the early portion of it, for while it is illuminated throughout, only +the first gathering is in the earlier manner. The peculiar value to the +student lies in the fact that although quite in the same style as +contemporary French work, it is the work of an English illuminator. The +colouring, however, is not confined, as in somewhat earlier examples, to +blue and dull pale rose or paled red ochre and gold. It gives us +scarlet, crimson-lake, green, and brown, besides the blue and pink and +bright gold which suggests some German influences. The line fillings are +somewhat peculiar as having silver tracery, on the blue, side by side +with golden tracery on the crimson. The full ivy leaf appears in the +long branch work of the borders, and some of the initials still retain +the bird or dragon forms in their construction. The compound bar-frame, +gold and traceried colour side by side, is however already taking the +place of the mere sweeping tail or branch. But perhaps the best +indication of English design is the presence of a number of grotesque +animals, with birds and occasional humorous scenes disposed, not in +framed miniatures, but simply among the stems and coils of the foliage. +This is a form of illustration much appreciated by English illuminators +at all times, though it appears also in much continental work. Among +other English MSS. which display this taste we may point out Arund. 83, +which among many other treatises and curious compositions, such as the +"Turris Sapientiæ" and a valuable calendar, in which are notes on the +Arundels of Wemme, contains a psalter with anthems, etc., and hence is +known as the Arundel Psalter. Its date is probably between 1330 and +1380. + +The drolleries are very funny, and the other illuminations very +instructive and curious. Some of them contain really good +pen-drawing--refined, expressive, and graceful, but above all typical of +English draughtsmanship. In a little scene of the adoration of the Magi +(folio 125) the kings are costumed like our Henry III., as we find him +'n sculpture, wall paintings, etc. Over a very expressive picture of the +three living and the three dead occur the lines, each over a figure: +"Ich am afert Lo wet ich se Methinketh hit beth deueles thre. Ich wes +welfair Such scheltou be For godes loue be wer by me" (folio 128).[38] +The three living in this illumination are three fashionable ladies--no +doubt princesses, for they wear crowns. Generally they are men, as at +Lutterworth in the sculptures over the door, and in the famous fresco of +Gozzoli at Pisa. The subject occurs sometimes in Books of Hours. + +[38] "I am afraid. Lo, what I see Methinketh it be devils three. I was +well fair. Such shalt thou be. For love of God beware by me." + +Many MSS. of this period and later have hunting scenes, shooting +practice, and games. + +In MS. 264, Misc., Bodl. Lib., Oxford, there are such scenes, one being +a game at "Blind Man's Buff," or as literally here "Hoodman Blind," for +the latter actually wear a hood drawn down over his head and shoulders, +and three girls are having a fine game with him. The goldfinch or linnet +looking on from the border seems to enjoy the fun. Another fine source +of similar things is the Louterell Psalter in the British Museum. In +this also are some richly diapered backgrounds and exquisite border +bands. This MS. dates about 1340. But the gem of English +fourteenth-century illumination is the Royal MS. (2 C. 7) called Queen +Mary's Psalter, not as being painted for her, since it had been painted +nearly two centuries before she ever saw it. But in the year (?) 1553, +being about to be sent abroad, it was stopped by a customs officer and +presented to Queen Mary Tudor. It is bound in what appears to be the +binding put on it by the Queen--_i.e._ crimson velvet embroidered on +each cover with a large pomegranate, and having gilt corner protections +and (once upon a time) golden clasps. The clasps are gone, but the +plates remain riveted on the covers, engraven with the Tudor badges. The +MS. contains 320 large octavo leaves, the first fifty-six being taken up +with illuminated illustrations of biblical history from the Creation to +the death of Solomon. These pictures are arranged in pairs one over the +other, and to each one is given a description in French, taken sometimes +from the canonical text, sometimes from an apocryphal one. The drawings +are really exquisite, they are so fine, so delicately yet so cleverly +sketched. They are not coloured in full body-colours, but just +suggestively, the draperies being washed over in thin tints, the folds +well defined, but lightly shaded. Next after these subjects follows the +Psalter with miniatures of New Testament scenes and figures of saints +accompanied with most beautiful initials and ornaments, illuminated by a +thoroughly practised hand, for the artist of this volume was by no means +a novice at his work. A good example of it is given in _Bibliographica_, +pl. 7 [23], which forms the frontispiece to vol. i., and one or two +outlines in the folio catalogue of the Arundel MSS. + +Arund. MS. 84 is also a good example of thirteenth-century illumination +to a rather unpromising subject, being a Latin translation of Euclid +from the Arabic by Athelard of Bath. It is illustrated with diagrams. + +Speaking of fourteenth-century illumination brings us to notice a very +striking change which takes place in the reign of Richard II. in the +character of English illumination. In the British Museum (Roy. 20 B. 6) +is a MS. entitled an Epistle to Richard II., written, it is said, in +Paris, in which the illuminations and foliages are purely French, but +which are the type of all the English work of the same date. Take, for +example, the MS. already spoken of (Roy. 2 A. 22), produced in the +scriptorium at Westminster Abbey. Compare with it a Bible written for +the use of Salisbury, and dated 1254. Then add the Tenison Psalter, the +Arundel Psalter, illuminated 1310-20. If these MSS. be compared, +however, with Lansd. 451, or Roy. 1 E. 9, the least accustomed eye must +notice the entire and almost startling change in the luxuriance and +character of the flowers and foliages which constitute the initial and +border decorations. It is not merely a development. There are additional +features, but that these features are added, as usual, from France, is +contradicted by reference to Roy. 20 B. 6, mentioned above. The new +features are not French. The question is, where did they come from? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SOURCES OF ENGLISH FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ILLUMINATION + +Attributed to the Netherlands--Not altogether French--The home of Anne +of Bohemia, Richard II.'s queen--Court of Charles IV. at Prag--Bohemian +Art--John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia--The Golden Bull of Charles +IV.--Marriage of Richard II.--The transformation of English work owing +to this marriage and the arrival of Bohemian artists in +England--Influence of Queen Anne on English Art and +Literature--Depression caused by her death--Examination of Roy. MS. 1 E. +9, and 2 A. 18--The Grandison Hours--Other MSS.--Introduction of Flemish +work by Edward IV. + + +It has been suggested by a high authority that the immediate sources of +the third period of English illumination were Netherlandish, but +probable as this seems at first sight, there is another explanation +which seems to the present writer to be a better one. As already pointed +out, the influence on English work before 1377, notwithstanding +political conditions, are distinctly French. After this date, though the +artistic relation with France is not broken off, yet long before 1390 we +find this new influence which is not French, and for which we have no +special evidence that it is Netherlandish. If we go, however, a little +farther afield, we shall find it. In the new work is a softer kind of +foliage and a greater variety of sweet colour, and both these +characteristics are found in a school of illumination that was being +formed under the auspices of the Emperor Charles IV. at Prag in Bohemia. +The artists in that capital who executed the famous Golden Bull and +commenced the grand Wenzel Bible were a select band of Frenchmen and +Italians; the combined result of whose designs and labours was this very +mixture of Gothic ivy leaf and thorn with the softer Othonian and Roman +foliages and a new scheme of colour. Charles IV., son of that famous +John of Luxembourg, the blind king of Bohemia, who perished at Crécy, +was himself King of Bohemia as well as Emperor, and a man of brilliant +personal accomplishments and cultivated tastes in literature and art. + +Becoming Emperor the very next year after his succession to the throne +of Bohemia, he fixed his residence at Prag, where he began the building +of the new city, and founded a university on the model of that of Paris, +where he had studied, and whence he had married his first wife, Blanche, +daughter of Charles, Count of Valois. His university soon attracted some +thousands of students, and with them no small crowd of literary men and +artists, both from France and Italy. The great fact, however, to +remember about Charles IV. is the Golden Bull, the masterly scheme by +which all matters concerning the election to the Empire were in future +to be settled. All the Constitutions were written in a book called, from +the _bulla_ or seal of gold which was appended to it, the Golden Bull, +of which the text was drawn up either at Metz or Nuremberg in 1356, and +many copies distributed throughout the Empire. It is further affirmed +that the absolute original is at Frankfort. But the splendid copy made +by order of the Emperor Wenzel in 1400 is still preserved in the +Imperial Library at Vienna. And as it is ah example of the style of +illumination practised in Prag during the reign of Charles IV., we may +call it Bohemian. It is true that the foliages are a little more +luxuriant in this Wenzel-book than in the earliest examples of the style +seen in England, but the twenty years which had elapsed would easily +account for this difference. As compared, however, with either French or +Netherlandish, the new English style shows a much greater similarity to +the work then being done in Lower Bavaria. In these soft curling +foliages and the fresh carnations of the flesh-tints of the Prag and +Nuremberg illuminators we may trace the actual source of the remarkable +transformation seen in English illumination after the marriage of +Richard II. + +Charles IV. was four times married. His successor, Wenzel, whose ghastly +dissipations can only be regarded as the terrible proofs of insanity, +was the child of his third wife. His fourth wife, the beautiful daughter +of the Duke of Pomerania and Stettin, had four children, of whom +Sigismund, the eldest, afterwards succeeded Wenzel as emperor, and Anne, +the third, came to England as the wife of Richard II. The magnificence +of her equipage and the crowd of persons who formed her retinue are +noticed by contemporary writers, and the effect upon English manners was +instantaneous. Her beauty, sweetness of manners, and culture rendered +her at once not merely the idol of her husband, who, says Walsingham, +"could scarcely bear her to be out of his sight," but universally +beloved by all the English nation. + +To her the first English writer on heraldry, John of Guildford dedicated +his book, and the artists who came with her from her luxurious home at +Prag would naturally become the leaders of taste in their adopted +country. After a while, indeed, the numbers of countrymen of the Queen +were looked upon as the cause of extortions practised on the English +people in order to supply the money lavished on these foreigners. More +than once is this grievance referred to. In an old MS. in the Harley +Library (2261), containing a fifteenth-century translation of Higden's +Polychronicon, these foreigners are made responsible for at least one +fashionable extravagance: "Anne qwene of Ynglonde dyede in this year +(1393) at Schene the viith day of the monethe of Janius, on the day of +Pentecoste: the dethe of whom the Kynge sorowede insomoche that he +causede the maner there to be pullede downe, and wolde not comme in eny +place by oon yere folowynge where sche hade be, the churche excepte; +whiche was beryede in the churche of Westmonastery, in the feste of +seynte Anne nexte folowynge, with grete honoure and solennite. That +qwene Anne purchased of the pope that the feste of Seynte Anne scholde +be solenniysed in Ynglonde. The dethe of this qwene Anne induced grete +hevynesse to noble men and to commune peple also, for sche causede noo +lytelle profite to the realme. But mony abusions comme from Boemia into +Englonde with this qwene, and specially schoone with longe pykes, +insomoche that they cowthe not go untylle that thei were tyede to theire +legges, usenge that tyme cheynes of silvyr at the pykes of theire +schoone." + +It is a fact that the Bohemian manner of illumination, with its +three-lobed and vari-coloured foliages, became the fashion in every +English centre of illumination. In the preceding remarks we have +endeavoured to account for it. That the same style went from Prag to +Nuremberg may be only the natural _result_ of its being carried in the +marriage and retinue of the Princess Margaret, Anne's half-sister, who +became the wife of the Burggrave John. + +Quite a similar MS. to those executed in the reign of Richard II. in +England and those of Bohemia is the Wilhelm van Oransse of Wolfram v. +Eschenbach, now in the Imperial Library at Vienna. A similar, but +inferior, work exists in the Prayer-book written by Josse de Weronar in +the British Museum (Add. 15690). The English foliages never show quite +all the varieties of colour seen in the continental examples, but the +golden diapers and pounced gold patterns are quite as elaborate. See +this work, however, in Arundel 83. It appears also in the mural +paintings of the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth +centuries. No doubt the English art of the fourteenth century is of +French origin--so mainly is that of Bohemia--for Charles IV. was brought +up at the Court of France. Further than this, we think we are justified +in tracing the new elements in Bohemian to Italy, and those in English +to Bohemia. The most striking proof is not only the foliages, but the +change from the long, colourless faces of French miniatures to the plump +and ruddy countenances seen, for example, in the Lancastrian MSS. in the +Record Office and in Harl. 7026[39] of the British Museum. Of course, +this suggestion of source is not put forward as a dead certainty, but it +affords this probability that as the style suddenly arose during the +lifetime of Anne of Bohemia--and she was the acknowledged leader of +fashion--so her tastes in respect of illuminated books and heraldic +decoration would become those of her new subjects. Let us examine this +fifteenth-century English work, and for this purpose let us take the +great illuminated Bible in the Royal Library, 1 E. 9. It is an enormous +folio, and rather unwieldly, but a most interesting example of the new +style. Its initials are large, richly illuminated in gold and attractive +colours. It has well-executed histories within the initials, and boldly +designed border frames, elegantly adorned with foliages and conventional +or idealised flowers. Perhaps the most noticeable feature is the +beautiful, decorative foliage work in the limbs of the letters--itself a +South German peculiarity--then the alternation of colours without +interrupting the design, the profusion of foliage modelling in the +backgrounds of the letter panels outside the historiations. The next +thing is the bold use of minium side by side even with pure rose-petal +colour, pale bright cerulean blue, and bright gold. Lastly, the immense +variety of leaf-forms, based on the three, five, and seven-lobed +groupings of the typical form. The coil and spiral are freely used as +the groundwork, and the colours alternated as the coils or spirals +change from front to back of the leaf. + +[39] The Lovell Psalter. + +[Illustration: +MISSALE (SARUM USE) +14TH CENT. (LATE) +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2785, fol. 194 v._] + +[Illustration: +HORÆ E. MAR. VIESIS. +15TH CENT. (EARLY) +_Brit. Mus. Roy. Ms. 2, A. xviii, fol. 55_] + +Backgrounds of miniature histories are treated as in the Bohemian +MSS.--Wilhelm v. Oransse, for example--that is, with fine golden +tracery-patterns on deep, rich colours. The figure-painting is vastly +improved--the features now being actually painted and modelled as in +modern portrait painting, not merely indicated by pen strokes. The +flesh-tints as previously noticed are bright and ruddy. The principal +colours used on the foliages are blue, crimson, of various depths, and +bright vermilion, with occasional admission of bright green and paled +red ochre. Very similar to 1 E. 9 is Harl. 1892, and among other MSS. +that may be studied with this one is 2 A. 18--a book of Offices, very +sweetly illuminated, and full of typical examples of treatment both of +architectural design and treillages of foliage. + +The Gothic pilasters are filled with the same kind of coiling and spiral +leaves and ribbons that are used in 1 E. 9 and Harl. 1892, the +backgrounds of the miniatures enriched with fine gold patterns. The +furniture and costumes indicate the later years of the reign of Richard +II., being similar to those shown in the miniatures of Harl. 1319, which +relates the story of Richard's misfortunes. A few miniatures of saints +accompany the prayers to them. One of the saints is peculiar, being the +Prior of Bridlington, perhaps the "Robertus scriba" who copied certain +theological treatises for the library, and who lived in the time of +Stephen or Henry II. + +In the beautiful initial D is the figure of a lady praying, the first +few words of the prayer being written on a floating ribbon above her +head. A fine panelling of black and gold forms the background. The +lady's costume is that of the end of the fourteenth century, her +head-dress being somewhat lower than that worn in the time of Isabella +of Bavaria; in other respects she recalls the figure of Christine de +Pisan in Harl. 4431--one of the fine MSS. of the French school. As the +psalter or offices was once the property of the Grandison family, as is +shown by the numerous entries respecting them in the calendar, no doubt +this lady was the first owner of the MS., and probably the same as shown +in the beautiful miniature of the Annunciation previously given. Many +charming initials follow this one, and brightly coloured bracket +treillages and borders are given in profusion, introducing every variety +of coloured ideal leaf-form known to the art of the time. It seems +probable from its style and the costumes that the MS. was executed for +the Lady Margaret, widow of Thomas, the last Lord Grandison, who died in +1376, and given to her by Sir John Tuddenham, her second husband. A +better model for the modern illuminator could not easily be found. Other +examples may be briefly enumerated, in 2 B. 8, 2 B. 10, 2 B. 1, 2 B. 12 +and 13, 18 A. 12, 18 C. 26, Harl. 1719, 1892, etc. The Psalter 2 B. 8 +has the good fortune to be dated, and its purpose and other particulars +clearly set forth in a statement at the beginning of the volume. The +gist of this is that it was composed at the instance of the Lady Joan +Princess of Wales, mother of Richard II., and that it was executed by +Brother John Somour (Seymour), a Franciscan, in 1380. Thus the +illumination of it would probably be done about the time, of the young +Queen's arrival in England. The Princess Joan died July 8th, 1385. The +work corresponds with this date. The Grandison Psalter is perhaps +somewhat later than Roy. 2 B. 1, and the rest are later still. + +[Illustration: +VEGETIUS FOUR BOOKS OF KNIGHTHOOD +(DE RE MILITARI) +15TH CENT. +_Brit. Mus. Roy. MS. 18 A. xii, f. 1_] + +[Illustration: +PSALTERIUM +C. 1470 +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 1719, fol. 73 v._] + +One rather fine example is seen in Arund. MS. 109, a folio called the +Melreth Missal, because given by William Melreth, Alderman of London, to +the church of St. Lawrence, Old Jewry. He died in 1446. + +For topographical miniature a good example occurs in Roy. 16 F. 2, which +contains a grand view of London, including the Tower, but this MS. is +probably not of genuine English production. Nor is Roy. 19 C. 8, though +a very interesting example as regards costume and local usages. The +genuine English work of which Arund. 109 is a type has received the name +of Lancastrian, as falling to the reigns of the three Lancastrian +kings--Henry IV., V., and VI. + +In the reign of Edward IV. we meet with the introduction of Flemish +illumination, which gradually supersedes the native style, and by the +time of Henry VII. the latter has almost disappeared. Its final +extinction, however, was left for the sixteenth century, when either +Flemish or Italian renaissance work entirely took its place. By the time +of Queen Elizabeth English illumination was a thing of the past. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ITALIAN ILLUMINATION + +Barbaric character of Italian illumination in the twelfth +century--Ravenna and Pavia the earliest centres of revival--The +"Exultet"--La Cava and Monte Cassino--The writers of early Italian MSS. +not Italians--In the early fourteenth century the art is +French--Peculiarities of Italian foliages--The Law Books--Poems of +Convenevole da Prato, the tutor of Petrarch--Celebrated patrons--The +Laon Boethius--The Decretals, Institutes, etc.--"Decretum Gratiani," +other collections and MSS.--Statuts du Saint-Esprit--Method of +painting--Don Silvestro--The Rationale of Durandus--Nicolas of Bologna, +etc.--Triumphs of Petrarch--Books at San Marco, Florence--The Brera +Graduals at Milan--Other Italian collections--Examples of different +localities in the British Museum--Places where the best work was +done--Fine Neapolitan MSS. in the British Museum--The white-vine style +superseded by the classical renaissance. + + +Considering the position occupied by the Roman Empire as the civiliser +of Europe, it is not a little curious and somewhat surprising to find +that in the twelfth century, when German and French artists were doing +such good and even admirable work, that of Italy was almost barbaric. A +MS. in the Vatican (4922) is shown as a proof of this. It is not an +obscure sort of book that might have been written by a merely devout but +untrained monk for his own use, but a work of importance executed for no +less a personage than the celebrated Countess Matilda. The scribe was +Donizo, a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Canossa. It is of the early +or præ-Carolingian type, rather inclined to Byzantine, but with the big +hands and aimless expression of all semi-barbaric work. Yet it has a +certain delicacy and carefulness. In Rome itself during the ninth +century barbarism was at its very lowest point. Only the sea-port towns +had any notion of what was being done in other places. Painting was +practised, it is true, so was mosaic, but the worst of Oriental carpets +would be a masterpiece of elegance beside anything done in Italy. +Whatever gleams of artistic intelligence appear, they certainly emanated +from Ravenna or Pavia. But as there were no wealthy and peaceful courts, +no indolent, high-bred, luxurious courtiers during that dark and +troublous period, miniature or illumination had no call for existence. +In the twelfth century book-illustration consisted simply of +pen-sketching of the most elementary kind. The Lombards alone produced +anything like illumination. A sort of roll containing pictures of the +various scenes of the Old and New Testaments which represented the +leading doctrines of the Church, and which used to hang over the pulpit +as the preacher discoursed upon them, is the only representative of the +time. Such a roll was called an "Exultet" from its first word, which is +the beginning of the line "Exultet jam Angelica turba cælorum" of the +hymn for the benediction of the paschal wax tapers on Easter Eve. +Several of these "Exultets" are still kept in the Cathedral at Pisa, and +in the Barberini and Minerva Libraries in Rome.[40] Of course the +pictures are upside down to the reader, so as to be right for the +congregation. + +[40] See one in British Mus., Add. MS. 30337, and description of it in +_Journ. of the Archæol. Assoc._ vol. 34, p. 321. + +Very little progress was made, as we may imagine, until after the great +revival movement begun by Cimabue, Giotto, and their contemporaries, +about the middle of the thirteenth century. But before taking up any +inquiry into Italian work generally we must not omit reference to the +remarkable MSS. produced at La Cava and Monte Cassino during the +Franco-Lombard period. Some idea has already been furnished in dealing +with Celtic MSS. and the foundations begun by Columbanus and his +scholars. Indeed, the general character of these Lombard MSS. is seen in +the Franco-Celtic. The distinguishing feature, if there be one, is the +frequent recurrence among the interlacements of the _white dog_. The La +Cava Library, which was one of the finest in Italy, has been transferred +to Naples. Monte Cassino still continues and maintains not only a +library but a printing press, from which the learned fathers have issued +at least one great work on the subject of Cassinese palæography. Of all +the præ-Carolingian hands, Lombardic or Lombardesque was certainly the +most peculiar, and is perhaps the most difficult to read. One evidence +of this is the diversity of opinion on the true reading of certain +proper names in the original MS. containing the oldest text of Tacitus +which happens to be a Lombard MS. The characters and other examples of +the eleventh to the thirteenth century that have been published at Monte +Cassino, however, fully illustrate the peculiarities of the handwriting, +and give besides several splendid examples of calligraphy.[41] + +[41] The La Cava MSS. have been described by P. Gillaume in an essay +published at Naples, 1877, and those of Monte Cassino by A. Caravita, +Monte Cassino, 1860-71. + +One of the earliest illuminated Italian MS. which bears a date is a +Volume of Letters of St. Bernard, now in the Library of Laon. It is very +seldom that the earlier scribes and illuminators who produced Italian +MSS. or worked in Italy were Italians. They were usually foreigners and +mostly Frenchmen, and the art was looked upon at the beginning of the +fourteenth century as a French art. This very decided example of Italian +work is already different from the French work of the same period. The +profile foliages have already acquired that peculiar trick of sudden +change and reversion of curve, showing the other side of a leaf with +change of colour, which is a marked characteristic of all +fourteenth-century Italian illumination. For examples of it, the +Bolognese Law Books, Decretals, and such-like, afford frequent +illustration. Before leaving this first-quoted MS., we may say that it +points to France rather than to Germany or Lombardy for its general form +of design, but the foliages are quite of another kind. Another Laon MS. +(352) shows the same treatment of foliage, but in effect more like what +may be considered as the typical Italian style seen in the famous +Avignon Bible of the anti-pope, Clement VII. (Robert of Geneva), which +dates between 1378 and 1394.[42] + +[42] See Humphreys, _Illum. Books of the Middle Ages_, pl. 16; and +Silvestre, _Paléographie Universelle_, pl. 117. + +A further example still more powerful in expression and skilful in +manipulation is seen in a copy of the Poems of Convenevole da Prato, in +the British Museum (Roy. 6 E. 9), executed for King Robert of Naples, a +patron of Giotto (1276-1337), which, in comparison with the Laon Letters +of St. Bernard of about the same date, is even still more Italian. + +Cardinal Stefaneschi, another of Giotto's patrons, was also a promoter +of illumination. His Missal, now at Rome in the archives of the Canons +of St. Peter's, is a fine example of this style. It dates from 1327 to +1343. The MS. of Boethius at Laon is another. But one of the most +masterly, whether as to design or manipulation, is a law book in the +Library at Laon (No. 382). This grand folio contains "Glossa Ioannis +Andreæ in Clementinas"--"The Gloss or Explanation of Joannes Andreas on +the Clementines." + +By the way, as illuminated law books, civil and canonical, form so large +a section of Italian MSS., it may be well in this place to warn the +reader against random explanations sometimes offered in sale catalogues +concerning these books, their authors and commentators. For instance, +this commentator Joannes Andreas was not, as we have seen it confidently +stated (as if it were part of the actual contemporary title of the MS.), +Bishop of Aleria (Episcopus Aleriersis), but a jurist of Bologna. The +bishop lived a century or so after the jurist, who had completed his +long career as professor of law at Bologna extending over forty-five +years before the bishop was born. His chief works are Commentaries on +the Clementines (printed in folio at Mayence 1471, and again at Dijon in +1575), and Commentaries on Five Books of the Decretals (printed in folio +at Mayence in 1455, and at Venice in 1581). While on this topic of +Italian law MSS., it may be useful to state clearly what they are. By +way of contrast to the _Corpus Juris Canonici_, or Body of Canon Law, +the subject of books dealing with the so-called Decretals, the other +branch, including the Institutes Digest and Novellæ of Justinian, was +entitled _Corpus Juris Civilis_. + +The Decretals, then, which we so often meet with in public libraries +under various names, are the canons which mainly constitute the Canon +Law. Strictly speaking they are the papal epistolary decrees (decreta), +said to have existed from very early times. In the ninth century a +collection of them was formed, or manufactured, in the name of the +celebrated Isidore of Seville. But with the donation of Constantine to +Pope Sylvester and many others in the later compilation of Gratian, +these are usually looked upon as spurious and false. The great and +authorised collection was completed by a simple Benedictine monk of St. +Felix, in Bologna, a native of Chiusi, the ancient Clusium, in Tuscany, +a man so learned in the law as to have earned the title of "Magister." +This is the work often richly illuminated which goes by the name of the +"Decretum Gratiani."[43] When glancing over the lovely initials and +beautiful foliages or resplendent ornaments, we are apt to overlook the +work itself which is truly monumental; being a summary of the papal +epistolary decrees, the synodal canons of 150 councils, selections from +various regal codes, extracts from the Fathers, and comments of +Schoolmen; all methodically arranged and digested so as to facilitate +its use as a manual for the schools. It is said to have occupied the +compiler incessantly for twenty-five years. Immediately on its +completion in 1151 it was at once authorised by the Pope Eugenius III. +as the only text-book to be used in the public schools, and to govern +the decrees of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Hence its celebrity. Its +transcripts are very numerous, and it has been often printed. As to the +Sext and Clementines they are merely additional commentaries on +supplementary collections of decrees. Thus a new collection authorised +by Boniface VIII. is called the _sext_, _i.e._ the sixth book of the +Decretals. The Clementines were the constitutions of Clement V. Other +collections such as that of John XXII. are called Extravagantes. + +[43] See Add. 15274, British Museum. + +The most ancient MSS. of the Decretals bear the title of _Concordantia +discordantium Canonum_ (a "concordance of discordant decrees"); +afterwards The Book of Decrees; lastly, The Decretals. It was +considered, however, by some, jurists and others, to be not so much a +concordance of discordant canons as a subjugation of the ancient canons +to the decrees of the Papacy, and as already stated, many of its decrees +were found to be false and fictitious. Nevertheless, it is by no means +an uncommon volume among the illuminators. Let us now return to the Laon +example--one of four or five of the species in that collection. The +scene where the author is presenting his work to the pope--we now know +them both--is quite a painting. Except for the defect that kneeling +figures are somewhat mis-shapen or ill-proportioned in the lower limbs, +the work is quite comparable with contemporary mural painting, both for +composition and colour. It is almost modern. It is quite realistic. In +costume, expression, easy and appropriate attitude, it has quite outrun +French illumination altogether. + +Another dated MS. (1332) in the same Library (No. 357), "Rubrics of the +Decretals," is a most amusing example of the universal taste for irony +and satire in the initial figures and corner effigies. + +A much-lauded MS. among these fourteenth-century examples is one that +has been carefully and expensively reproduced by the late Cte. Horace de +Viel-Castel, namely, the "Statuts de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit au Droit +Désir ou du Nœud," an order instituted at Naples in 1352 by Louis I. +d'Anjou (called Louis of Taranto), King of Jerusalem, Naples, and +Sicily, cousin and husband of Queen Joanna of Naples. The style of the +illumination is precisely the same as those just mentioned belonging to +Laon, and as several MSS. in the British Museum. Its stem and foliage +ornament is very brightly coloured in fine green, scarlet, rose, +ultramarine, and gold. The miniatures which occasionally contain evident +attempts at portraiture, are painted in the manner of the school of +Cimabue and the earlier Italian painters, more particularly that of +Simone Memmi. It is substantially the Byzantine manner, but improved and +enlivened by attention to natural attitude and expression. The greenish +under-painting of the flesh-tints is often noticeable. The decorative +portions are very skilful and elaborate, as well as extremely neat and +symmetrical; the gold profuse and brilliant. Indeed, the whole +production may be studied as a typical example of its time. The text, +though good, is not so beautiful as the Bolognese hand usually found in +Italian MSS. of the following century. But perhaps this should add to +its value as a proof of its being absolutely contemporaneous with the +foundation of the Order, and therefore of its being the identical MS. +ordered by the magnificent founder, Louis of Taranto, second husband of +the too-celebrated Joanna of Naples. Their marriage took place in the +August of 1346, and on the 27th of May, 1352, being Whitsun Day, they +were crowned. In memory of this happy event, Joanna founded the Church +of the Virgin, Louis instituted the Order of the Holy Spirit, or of the +Knot, the symbols of which appear frequently in the illumination of the +MS. It was named in honour of the Day of Pentecost--"L'Ordre de la +Chevalerie du Saint-Esprit." The phrase "au droit désir" had reference +to the circumstances preceding the marriage. The knot was worn in token +of the "perfect amity" of the members of the Order.[44] + +[44] See reproduction, published at Paris by Englemann and Graf in 1853, +1. fol. + +Other works of the fourteenth century are enthusiastically praised by +Italian writers, as, _e.g._, those of Don Silvestro, a Camaldolese monk, +who flourished at the same time as the illuminator of this MS. of Louis +of Taranto, and who worked on the great choir books of the Monastery +"degli angeli," in Florence, so loudly commended by Vasari and others +who had seen them. They have long been broken up and dispersed, and it +is not improbable that cuttings from them were among those bought by +Ottley, Rogers, and other amateurs. A fragment of an Antiphonary of +Nocturnal Services, now in the Laurentian Library at Florence, finished +in 1370, shows the style of work to be of the kind just described. Other +great choir books of the earlier period are preserved in the Academy at +Pisa. But the number of MSS. to which reference might be made is legion. +Those of this date are chiefly civil law books; next to these come the +canon law, and divinity. Among the intermediate class are the copies of +the Rationale of Durandus, one of these being in the British Museum +(Add. 31032). Now and then a fine Missal, like the "Stefaneschi," or the +Munich Missal of 1374, which may be referred to as being one of the +models of the school of Prag. On the whole, perhaps, the law books are +more numerous than liturgical ones, and are referable generally to +Bologna or Padua. The name of Nicholaus of Bologna occurs more than once +in these books. A book of offices of the Virgin, by Nicholaus, is now at +Kremsmünster, and a New Testament, dated 1328, in the Vatican. Tommaso +di Modena, another distinguished Italian illuminator, also had much to +do with altering the style of the artists who worked for Charles IV. at +Prag. Some of his work, or work presumed to be his, is still to be seen +in the Bohemian capital. Next to these Bolognese MSS. we may place those +of Florence--copies of the Divina Commedia and the Triumphs and Sonnets +of Petrarch, which, with historians and copies or translations of the +classics, chiefly occupied the illuminators of Florence and Siena, with +one notable exception. Whoever has visited any of the North Italian +cities cannot fail to have noticed and admired the magnificent +choir-books still to be seen in the cathedrals and cathedral libraries. +At Siena the Piccolomini service-books are truly splendid; those in San +Marco, the Riccardi, the Laurentian, and other collections in Florence, +are no less admirable. Verona's best work is chiefly elsewhere, at +Florence, Siena, etc. At Milan the Brera Graduals--each of them a man's +load to carry--are simply gorgeous in the lavish richness of their +letters, miniatures, and decorations. Venice, again, has another grand +collection of MSS. of the highest class in her Attavantes and Gerard +Davids; Rome, in a crowd of princely libraries, has multitudes--literally +multitudes--of exquisitely illuminated volumes. Naples also has some +noble examples of the great craftsmen. We have not yet mentioned the +Ambrosian Library in Milan, nor, except the Vatican, a single library by +name in Rome. The mere names of the Corsini, Sciarra, Barberini +Libraries are enough to those who have ever explored their contents to +remind them of work that can nowhere else be seen so perfect, so +profuse, as in beautiful Italy. + +As specimens of local centres the British Museum offers many examples. +Thus Add. 15813, though ordered for Sta. Justina of Padua, was probably +illuminated at Venice; 15814 at Bologna; 15260 probably at Ferrara; +18000 at Venice; most of the fragments in 21412 in Rome; 20927 in Rome; +21591 at Naples; 28962 at Naples; 21413 at Milan; the majority of the +Ducali, of which the museum contains a large collection, in Venice. Some +of the Spanish-looking MSS. executed for Alphonse V. of Aragon were +actually produced in Naples. + +[Illustration: +MISSALE +C. 1530 +_Brit. Mus. Ada. MS. 15813, fol. 27_] + +[Illustration: +KATHOLISCHES GEBETHBUCH +1584 +_Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 17525, fol. 155_] + +It is not safe to assert that because a work is ordered for a monastery +or a prince that the copyists or illuminators always went to the +monastery or palace to do the work, though frequently they did so. Most +of the MSS. executed for Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, were +produced in Florence. There was more than one atelier of illuminators in +Florence. There were others in Bologna, others in Rome, and quite a +large establishment in Naples. Others resided in Milan, Ferrara, and +Verona. Those at Ferrara lived chiefly at the Ducal Palace. Those at +Verona were the guests of the great Ghibelline leader, Can della Scala, +and his immediate successors. Those at Naples, in the time of Alphonso +the Magnanimous, and especially of his son, Ferdinand I., were +maintained solely for the augmentation and embellishment of the Royal +Library.[45] A list of seventeen copyists, including the famous names of +Antonio Sinibaldo, Giovanni, Rinaldo, Mennio, and Hippolito Lunensis, +and of fourteen or fifteen illuminators, all of distinguished ability, +is given by Signer Riccio from the archives of the city. The splendid +work they achieved may still occasionally be met with. In the British +Museum (Add. 21120) there is a beautiful copy of the Ethics of +Aristotle, with very peculiar initials and ornaments; and in the +National Library, at Paris, many other very fine examples of Neapolitan +work. Of the handwriting of Mennius we have a fine example in Add. +11912, which is a quarto copy of Lucretius, written on 160 leaves of +vellum. Fol. 1 has a grand border on a gold ground, with a miniature +containing a handsome initial E suspended over the author's head, who is +seated at a desk writing. The first three lines of the text are in Roman +capitals, alternately gold and blue. The illumination is of a +transitional character, inclining rather towards the candelabra style of +the Milanese and Neapolitan Renaissance--the Heures d'Aragon, executed +for Frederick III., show a similar taste for candelabra, etc. On the +other hand, the initials are of the older white stem type, with coloured +grounds. The writing is a small and very neat Roman minuscule, and dates +probably about 1485, or between 1480 and 1490. The penmanship of +Hippolito Lunensis appears in Ficino's Translation of Plato; also in the +British Museum, Harl. 3481, and in Add. 15270, 15271. + +[45] Riccio, C.W., _Cenno Storico dell Accademia Alfonsina_. Naples, +1865. + +The Heures d'Aragon referred to above are a rich example of the +Neapolitan Renaissance preserved in the National Library at Paris. +Writers on Italian miniatures are very numerous, and a good deal of +interesting information about Italian MSS. may be found in M. Delisle's +_Cabinet des MSS._, etc. + +There is one style of Italian illumination made very popular by the +illuminators of the works of Petrarch, many of which are found in +various libraries. That is the one called the vine-stem style. It +consists of gracefully coiled stems, usually left uncoloured or softly +tinted with yellow, and bearing here and there peculiar ornamental +flowerets, while the grounds are picked out with various colours, on +which are fine white triads of dots or traceries in delicate white or +golden tendrils. A later variety of this style makes the stems of some +pale but bright tint, and the grounds of deep colour. The vine-stem +style seems to have prevailed throughout the whole of Italy just +previous to the classic revival brought about by the Medici in throwing +open their museums of sculptures, coins, and other antiquities, and by +the liberal patronage of the new classic work by Matthias Corvinus, King +of Hungary, and the Dukes of Urbino. After 1500 the vine-stem style +seems to have gradually died out, and thenceforward only varieties of +the revived antique became the fashion. + +To the Italian Renaissance we shall revert in a later chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GERMAN ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY + +Frederick II., _Stupor Mundi_, and his MS. on hunting--The Sicilian +school mainly Saracenic, but a mixture of Greek, Arabic, and Latin +tastes--The Franconian Emperors at Bamberg--Charles of Anjou--The House +of Luxembourg at Prag--MSS. in the University Library--The Collegium +Carolinum of the Emperor Charles IV.--MSS. at Vienna--The Wenzel +Bible--The Weltchronik of Rudolf v. Ems at Stuttgard--Wilhelm v. Oranse +at Vienna--The Golden Bull--Various schools--Hildesheimer Prayer-book at +Berlin--The Nuremberg school--The Glockendons--The Brethren of the Pen. + + +In a former chapter we brought up the story of German illumination to +the time of the Hohenstaufen emperors. We may now make a new start with +Frederick II., the eccentric, resolute, intractable, accomplished +_Stupor Mundi_ (1210-50). Not only was he a patron and encouraged art, +but also an author. The work which he composed is still extant, and is +preserved in the Vatican Library under the title _De arte venandi cum +avibus_. Paintings of birds and hunting scenes embellish its pages. The +art is not specially high class, and though in courtesy it may be called +German, seeing that he was the German Emperor, and in some respects is +like the Imperial MSS. of the Saxon period, in point of fact it is +Italian or Sicilian.[46] This Sicilian school is peculiar, and exhibits +very slight traits of relationship with the rest of Italy. After the +Arab conquest of the island in 827, whilst new ideas were imported, +still the old Greek cities kept their ancient traditions and methods in +art, especially in those branches we term industrial, and just as both +Greek and Arabic tongues existed as vernaculars beside the Latin, so the +arts and industries bore the features of three artistic tastes. + +[46] (Bibl. Vatican, Palatina, No. 1071). Notice in Kobell, _Kunstv. +Miniaturen_, p. 44. + +The silk-weaving of the Greek craftsmen was embellished with the designs +of embroidery from Damascus, and these were mingled with patterns in +which the foliages of Carolingian and German origin are distinctly +traceable. Examples of the kind of manufacture here referred to may be +seen in the robes of the Emperor Henry II., still preserved in the +Cathedral Treasury at Bamberg. Also the coronation mantle of St. Stephen +of Hungary, husband of Henry's sister Gisela--originally a closed +_casula_ covering the body, but now an open cloak richly embroidered +with figures of prophets, animals, and foliages, and even portraits of +the King and Queen. It has sometimes been thought, from the inscription +on its border, that, like the Bayeux tapestries of Queen Matilda, the +needlework was from the Queen's own hand; but no doubt both these +attributions are mistaken.[47] Still more Saracenic in taste are the +mantle and alb now in the Imperial Treasury at Vienna, of the twelfth +century, and executed at Palermo. Sicilian in some respects is +intermediate between Italian and German, hence we deem this a proper +place to speak of it, and rather as a transient phase than a style, for +it perished with the Hohenstaufen dynasty. + +[47] See description in Bock, _Die Kleinodien des heiligen Römisches +Reichs_, pl. 17. + +The cruel tyranny of the cold-blooded despot, remembered, but execrated, +in Sicily as Charles of Anjou, extinguished the last _scintilla_ of +native art, and when the Italian revival of the thirteenth century took +place, it was confined entirely to the North, except when such patrons +as Robert or Ferdinand or Alfonso encouraged Tuscan artists by inviting +them to Naples. Palermo was no longer of importance, though a capital, +and Sicily existed merely as a portion of the kingdom of Naples. + +Let us pass, then, to the great German capital. Changes here, too, have +taken place. It is not Bamberg but Prag, for the Imperial crown has +passed from the House of Suabia through the Hapsburgs to that of +Luxembourg, and among its territories is the picturesque old city with +its historic bridge and gate-towers, a Slavonic not a German city in its +origin. The ten German circles of Suabia and Franconia, Westphalia, +Bohemia, and the rest did not as yet exist--they were the later creation +of Maximilian; the Fatherland consisted of some two or three hundred +dukedoms, counts, marquisates, and lordships, all absolute +sovereignties, but all pledged to support the Holy Roman Empire. Very +thinly, perhaps, but still the Imperial sceptre meant a real supremacy, +and in the hands of such emperors as Henry of Luxembourg, a supremacy +maintained with real and becoming dignity. + +Prag, as we have said, is in a Slavonic country, and one sometimes +hostile to the Empire. It was the capital of Bohemia. In 1310 its King +was John, the restless son of the new Emperor Henry VII. of Luxembourg. +Hence we find it at the moment we begin the study of its art a nominally +German city. Shortly before this time were produced several examples of +German work; as, for instance, the "Minnelieder," with more than a +hundred miniatures of hunting scenes and similar outdoor amusements, +which are useful as studies of costume, but otherwise of little +interest. But it is not until 1312--the new King being then, for the +sake of acquiring the crown, though only, it is said, thirteen years of +age, already the husband of the Princess Elizabeth, the late King's +second daughter, yet neither a favourite with his wife nor with her +father's people--that the Abbess of St. George's in Prag, the Princess +Cunigunda, composed a Passionale, richly illustrated with interesting +miniatures. The saints, histories, and allegories are painted in tender +water-colours, the architectural details being in Gothic taste. It is +still preserved in the University Library at Prag, No. xiv., A. 17.[48] +The Emperor Charles IV., son of the valorous but impracticable John +(born 1316, died 1378), and who has already been spoken of in connection +with English illumination, was the founder of the Bohemian school, or, +rather, of the school of Prag. Owing probably his fine tastes and many +accomplishments rather to his mother than his father, he devoted himself +to art and literature, inviting painters and scholars from other +countries to reside in the Bohemian capital. For the Collegium +Carolinum, of which he was the founder, he caused many noble volumes to +be executed, and among the vast treasures and curiosities of his +celebrated Schloss Karlstein was a fine collection of illuminated MSS. +In the Museum at Prag and other local libraries are still kept some +relics of his library. The "Liber Viaticus" of Bishop John of +Newmarkt--the "Orationale" of Bishop Arnestus (under French +influence)--the "Pontificale of Bishop Albert von Sternberg" (in the +library of the Præmonstrant Monastery of Strahow)--the Missal of +Archbishop Ozko von Wlaschim (library of the Metropolitan Chapter in +Prag)--the Evangeliary of Canon John von Troppau (Johannes de Oppavia), +written and illuminated at Brunn, in Moravia, now in the Imperial +Library at Vienna. All these illuminated MSS. are examples of the great +variety of styles in which the Bohemian colony produced their work under +the auspices of their liberal patron, yet not without peculiarities +which mark the individuality of the artist. Thus while the Orationale of +Arnestus is almost French, the Passionale of Cunegunda is entirely free +from French influence. For costumes the Weltchronik of Rudolf von Ems, +1350-85, and now in the Royal Private Library at Stuttgard, is almost an +encyclopædia. Similar is the "Legenda Aurea" of 1362 in the Public +Library at Munich (Cod. Germ. 6). A very interesting MS. with miniatures +of costumes and curious usages is the "Bellifortis" of Conrad Kyeser +(Göttingen, Public Library, Philos., No. 63). The Evangeliary of Troppau +is most beautifully written; its text is a model of elegant and perfect +penmanship; its ornaments distinctly Bohemian. Three or four Prag MSS. +executed for Charles's son Wenzel (1378-1409) are, it may be said, +typical. Of these the grandest, though incomplete, is the illuminated +Bible, called the Wenzel Bible, executed by order of Martin Rotlöw for +presentation to the Emperor. The choice of illustrations in this +singular performance are rather more than on a par with the woodcuts of +the great English Bible of Cranmer. The "Wilhelm von Oranse" of 1387, +now in the Ambras Museum at Vienna (No. 7), affords splendid examples of +the fine embroidered and richly coloured backgrounds we so often see +towards 1400 in English MSS., and the Golden Bull of Charles IV., also +in the Imperial Library at Vienna (j. c. 338), has the softly curling +foliages variously coloured, which form the characteristic difference +between the French and English illumination of the fifteenth century. + +[48] Wocel, _Mittheil. der Central.-Commiss._, v., 1860, p. 75, with +illustrations. + +Another rich example of German as distinct from French or Italian work +of this period is the grand Salzburg Missal now at Munich (Lat. 15710). +When we reach the fifteenth century German illumination begins to grow +gaudy, especially in the revived taste for parti-coloured border-frames, +in which green and scarlet are often to be seen. The Kuttenberg Gradual +at Vienna (Imp. Lib., 15501) is of the Bohemian type. Now and then a MS. +will show the influence of Westphalian treatment of foliage--and, again, +of the school of Cologne or Nuremberg or Augsburg. These all differ, +whilst still keeping an unmistakable German character. The Hildesheimer +Prayer-book at Berlin points to Cologne. The Frankendorfer Evangeliary +at Nuremberg is characteristic of that city. The Choir-book of St. +Ulrich and Afra in their abbey at Augsburg is typical of its locality. +The Missal of Sbinco, Archbishop of Prag, inclines to Nuremberg rather +than Prag (Imp. Lib., Vienna, No. 1844). It is eighty years earlier than +the Augsburg and Hildesheim MSS. Passing actively onwards, we find +illumination still in vogue in the sixteenth century, notwithstanding +that Germany was the cradle of the printing press. + +In fact, it seems to wax more and more sumptuous--the books more +profusely ornamented than ever. The Missal and Prayer-book of Albert of +Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz, once at Aschaffenburg, executed about +1524 are among the finest productions of the illuminator's art. While +perhaps we may complain that design has given way to profusion and the +border flowers and insects--a contemporary characteristic of +Netherlandish art also--are neither more nor less than portraiture +applied to flowers, fruits, and the insect world. The larger miniatures +are modern paintings, including portraits, differing in nothing but +dimensions from the works of the greatest masters of the schools of +painting. In ignorance of the strict rules of the gilds, some writers +have gone so far as to say that miniatures also such as these were the +work of the Van Eycks, the Memlings, and the Lucas van Leydens of our +public galleries. This particular MS. was the work of a famous Nuremberg +miniaturist, one of a distinguished family of artists--Nicolas +Glockendon. + +A very similar, but perhaps still richer, MS., is the Prayer-book of +William of Bavaria, still kept in the Imperial Library at Vienna (No. +1880), painted by Albert Glockendon. It is one of the most exquisite +volumes possibly to be met with. A Prayer-book in the British Museum +(Add. 17525), though far inferior, may give some idea of the sumptuous +character of the Glockendon work. + +The first Archbishop of Prag, Arnestus or Ernest von Pardubitz, was an +industrious collector of MSS. and employed many scribes. Another of the +famous patrons in Prag was Gerhard Groot, who employed one of the best +penmen to copy St. John Chrysostom's _Commentary on St. Matthew_. In +1383 he founded at Deventer the famous House of the Brothers of the +Common Life, who made a business of transcribing books; and, indeed, so +profitably, that, for instance, Ian van Enkhuisen of Zwolle received +five hundred golden gulden for a Bible. On account of the goose-quill +which the brothers wore in their hats, they were familiarly known as the +Brethren of the Pen.[49] + +[49] Wattenbach, _Schriftwesen im Mittelalter_, p. 264. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +NETHERLANDISH ILLUMINATION + +What is meant by the Netherlands--Early realism and study of +nature--Combination of symbolism with imitation--Anachronism in +design--The value of the pictorial methods of the old illuminators--The +oldest Netherlandish MS.--Harlinda and Renilda--The nunnery at +Maas-Eyck--Description of the MS.--Thomas à Kempis--The school of +Zwolle--Character of the work--The use of green landscape +backgrounds--The Dukes of Burgundy--Netherlandish artists--No miniatures +of the Van Eycks or Memling known to exist--Schools of Bruges, Ghent, +Liége, etc.--Brussels Library--Splendid Netherlandish MSS. at +Vienna--Gerard David and the Grimani Breviary--British Museum--"Romance +of the Rose"--"Isabella" Breviary--Grisailles. + + +In speaking of the Netherlands we have to bear in mind that some +portions of what are now called the Netherlands were once parts of +Germany, while others were parts of France. In the thirteenth century +Netherlandish art was simply a variety either of Northern German or +Northern French. The earlier schools of Flanders and Hainaut, and +perhaps of Brabant, belong rather to France, while Holland, Limburg, +Luxembourg, and the Rhine districts were more inclined towards Germany. +But as soon as the schools of Ghent and Bruges and other Burgundian +centres began to assert their claims, it was speedily apparent that they +had an individuality of their own. In no country had the study of nature +a more direct influence on the character of illumination. The +allegorical method which so long had characterised both French and +German art was promptly abandoned, and direct realism both in figure and +landscape became the prevailing characteristic. Symbolism, it is true, +remained in the representation of cities and other generalities of +pictorial composition, but the details were in all cases direct +imitations of contemporary facts. Half a dozen soldiers or houses might +indicate an army or a city, and even some particular army or city named +in the text, but the individual soldiers, though representing the army +of Alexander or Roland, would wear the equipment or armour of the +artist's military acquaintances, or his overlord's own company. The +city, whether Ghent or Bagdad, would consist of the same sort of houses +peaked and parapeted, the same towers and pinnacles that the illuminator +saw before him in his daily walks. His conception of a scene from +Scripture history would probably be framed more or less upon the +traditions of the schools transmitted from the Sphigmenou Manual or the +master's portfolio of "schemes," but while a prophet, an angel, or a +divinity would wear ideal raiment, Abraham and Pharaoh would be arrayed +in the costume of a contemporary burgomaster, and an almost contemporary +French king. In one memorable instance, we are told, so realistic was +the scene that Isaac was about to be despatched with a horse-pistol; and +in another, representing the birth of Cain, Adam was bringing to the +French tester bedside a supply of hot water from the kitchen boiler in a +copper saucepan. This kind of anachronism, it is true, is to some degree +chargeable on all early work; we see it among the early Italian painters +no less frequently perhaps, but mostly accompanied with so much of +allegory or imagination that we scarcely notice it, or if we do, we wink +at it as part of the times of ignorance. It is really a mark of +over-haste to be truthful, or at least to be understood, and at the +worst it is no more than the natural rebound from the evil constraint of +the old Byzantine tyranny over scheme and costume and invention. It is +often truly diverting in its very _insouciance_. But its priceless value +to us--and here the same remark applies to all styles of pictorial art +before the fifteenth century--is the ocular record of dress, +architecture, implements of peace and war, incidents of daily life, +etc., for which no _Encyclopædia Britannica_ of verbal explanation could +ever be more than the poorest makeshift. As we say, this same happy +anachronism is common to other schools of illumination, and we cannot +fail to notice it from Byzantium to Britain, but it is the intense +realism of the Netherlands that forces it upon us so strongly that we +are bound to speak of it. + +The oldest notice of illuminated work in the Netherlands is in a +Benedictine chronicle of the ninth century, where mention is made of two +ladies, daughters of the Lord of Denain, named Harlinda and Renilda,[50] +who were educated in the convent of Valenciennes. "In 714 they left +their native province to found a monastery on the banks of the +Maas--among the meadows of Alden and Maas-Eyck. They there consecrated +their lives to the praise of God and the transcription of books, +adorning them with precious pictures."[51] About the year 1730 an +Evangeliary of great age was discovered in the sacristy of the church by +the Benedictine antiquary, Edmond Martène, which on good ground has been +attributed to the two sisters. The MS. is still in existence, and was +exhibited in Brussels in 1880. It is a small folio, and contains a great +number of miniatures in the Carolingian or, perhaps more strictly, +Franco-Saxon manner. On the first leaf is a Romanesque colonnade of +arches surmounted by a larger one. Under the smaller arches are the +figures of saints, demons, and monsters, and in the tympanum scrolls of +foliage and birds. Between the columns are the reference numbers to the +chapters. + +[50] Or Relinda. + +[51] Bradley, _Dict. of Miniaturists_, ii. 87. + +The evangelist portraits are dignified and saintly, recalling the +earliest work of the Byzantine school and that of the catacombs. +Draperies and other details are heavy, dull, and ill drawn. In short, +the work is of the same class as the early Carolingian. The blue, red, +green, and gold of the borders, etc., have all kept their brilliancy.[52] +It is somewhat curious that the Van Eycks, the founders of Flemish +painting, were natives of this little town--then, doubtless, pretty and +rural, now a busy place of breweries, oil-factories, tanneries, and +other fragrant nuisances. Some miles further northward lie Deventer and +Zwolle and Kempen, the land of the Brothers of the Pen, and of the +immortal Thomas à Kempis. There is a style of calligraphic ornament +deriving its origin from these Northern Hollandish foundations such as +Zwolle, which is confined almost entirely to the painting of the initial +letters and the decorating of the borders with flourished scrolls of +penwork very neatly drawn and terminating in equally neat but extremely +fanciful flowers finely painted. It seems to have been brought at some +time from the neighbourhood of Milan, where a similar kind of initial +and exceedingly neat penmanship also is found in the choir books. Many +South German choir books are similarly ornamented, so that it is not +easy to say at once where the work was done. The Dutch illuminators, +however, may usually be recognised by the Netherlandish character of the +miniatures combined with neat and sometimes rigidly careful penmanship +in the scrolls and tendrils and a hardness in the outline of the +flowers. Sometimes the large initials are entirely produced by the pen, +the labyrinthine patterns in blue or vermilion being filled in with +circlets, loops, and other designs with infinite patience and excellent +effect. Some of the border scrolls are exceedingly pretty, and the +borders differ from Flemish in mixing natural flowers painted in thin +water-colours with the more conventional flowers painted with a +different medium, not in the later Flemish manner where the flowers are +frankly direct imitations of nature, and painted in the same medium as +the rest of the illumination. + +[52] See _Messager des Sciences_, etc., 110, 1858, and Deshaines, _L'Art +Chrétien en Flandre_, 34 (Douai, 1860, 8°). + +After the Maas-Eyck Evangeliary the work of these northern foundations +may well reckon either with the French or German schools until the +fifteenth century. Where otherwise they are not distinguishable, the +Netherlandish miniatures are usually such as prefer plain burnished gold +backgrounds to diapered ones, or have a plain deep blue paled towards +the horizon, and lastly replace the background by a natural, or what was +intended to be a natural, landscape. As a test between French or German +influence generally, the use of green shows the latter, that of blue the +former. Not that this was any æsthetic point of difference in taste, but +somehow the Germans had the green paint when the French had not, and so +they used it. It is an open question whether Flanders or Italy first +introduced the landscape background, but Flemish artists were so +numerous, so ubiquitous, that we can hardly say where they were not at +work--in France, Italy, or Spain. Plenty of so-called Spanish +illumination is really the work of Flemish craftsmen. This was largely +owing to the political conditions of the times. The Dukes of Burgundy +and the Austrian Archdukes both ruled over Flemish municipalities, and +employed the gildmen as their household "enlumineurs." And, of course, +the success of the Van Eycks, Rogier van der Weide (de la Pasture), +Derrick Bonts, and Hans Memling, stirred up the spirit of rivalry among +the illuminators. They all worked in the same minutely, careful manner, +and one could almost take a corporal oath on the identity of +illuminations and panels which are really the work of different artists. +Even yet the illuminations of the Grimani Breviary are attributed in +part to Hans Memling--and no wonder! Only the best qualified judges can +distinguish them. It is known that Gerard David of Oudewater, in +Holland, a master painter, belonged also to the gild of miniaturists. +But no miniatures are known to be from the hands of either Ian, or +Hubert, or Marguerite van Eyck, or Hans Memling. The supposed +identifications are merely guesses. But while this is so there is still +no lack of illuminators, not to mention the illustrious few who were +employed by the brothers of Charles V., King of France; and when we come +to the days of his grandson, Philip of Burgundy (1419-67), we might name +quite a crowd of distinguished illuminators. From 1422 to 1425 Ian van +Eyck was "varlet de chamber" to Duke John of Bavaria, first bishop of +Liége, and Regent of Luxembourg, Holland, and Brabant. In 1425 he passed +into the service of Philip. He died in 1440. In court service there were +besides, Jean de Bruges, David Aubert, Jean Mielot, Jean Wanguelin, +Loyset Lyeder, and others connected more or less closely with the Maas +valley and the province of Limburg. This valley seems to have been the +cradle of Netherlandish miniature art. It is from this neighbourhood +that Paris was supplied with craftsmen in the days of the brilliant if +reckless administration of the uncles of Philip the Good. There were +schools of illuminating artists in Maestricht and Liége, and within a +very brief period the style of the Netherlander surpassed that of all +competitors for facility, clearness, and realism. A marked feature in +this mastery is the free use of architectural and sculptural design. All +Gothic draperies are in some degree sculpturesque, and in miniatures we +find sculpture to be the ruling principle. Perhaps it was the practice +of uniting the crafts of painter and "imagier" in one person that +fostered this peculiarity. But certain it is that Netherlandish +illumination, in its border foliages, after the taste for the larger +vine and acanthus leaf had superseded the ivy, the drawing is studiously +sculpturesque. Many of the Gantois borders are like undercut wood +carvings. Even as to colour we find either the gilded wood brown or the +stone grey, quite as frequently as gayer colours, and much more so than +any natural green. The after-fashion for grisailles or _camaieu gris_ +has reference probably rather to stained glass than to carving. Before +the fifteenth century we do not often meet with individual illuminators +by name, but in the Limburg Chronicle under 1380 is this entry: "There +was at this time in Cologne a celebrated painter (he was probably a +native of Herle in Limburg), the like of whom was not in the whole of +Christendom," and more to his praise. His name was Wilhelm. In the +municipal expense book, under 1370-90, page 12, is written, "To Master +Wilhelm for painting the Oath Book, 9 marks." The Oath Book still +exists, but unfortunately the miniature has been cut out.[53] + +[53] Woltmann, _Hist. of Painting_, Eng. transl., i. p. 412. + +Of course, it may be expected that some of the best examples of +Netherlandish illumination are to be found in the Royal Library at +Brussels. The _Bibliothéque de Bourgogne_, as it is called, contains, +indeed, a great number of them. Some, of course, may be classed as +Burgundian. There are, for instance, the grand "Chroniques de Hainaut" +in three immense folio volumes, written from 1446 to 1449 (Nos. 9242-4). +Also Jean Mansel's "Fleur des Histoires" in three grand folios (Nos. +9231-3), written about 1475. The frontispiece to the "Chroniques" shows +the Duke Philip with his son the Count of Charolais receiving the work +from the author, perhaps the best illumination in all three volumes. + +Another (9245), the Book of the Seven Sages of Rome, is an example of +the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Still another (9246), the +History of St. Graal, or of the Round Table, is dated 1480. A Missal and +Pontifical (9216, 9217) shows miniatures dating about 1475. + +But other public libraries also possess admirable examples. The Imperial +Library at Vienna possesses a most masterly production in the fragments +of a folio Chronicle of Jerusalem (No. 2533), in which both figures and +architectural details are most delicately and minutely finished, so that +the miniatures form a most valuable treasury of costumes, armour, and +architecture, correctly drawn and exquisitely painted. The figure of +Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, shows the pointed toes which Anne of Bohemia +is said to have introduced into England. At Vienna, also, is the richly +illuminated History of Gérard de Roussillon in French (No. 2549). At +Paris we find the "Champion des Dames" (No. 12476). Round the first +miniature in this MS. are splendidly emblazoned the armorials of the +various countries and cities of his dominions--Burgundy, Brabant, +Flanders, Franche-Comté, Holland, Namur, Lower Lorraine, Luxembourg, +Artois, Hainaut, Zealand, Friesland, Malines, and Salins. On either side +are scenes from the story, and beneath a symbolical crown is the motto +of Philip's grandfather, Philip le Hardi, _aultre n'aray_. The same +motto appears in the Chronicle of Jerusalem at Vienna, and on the velvet +of the daïs of Isabella of Portugal, Philip's third consort. + +It may be interesting to note, as a means of distinguishing these +Burgundian princes or their MSS., that the arms of Philip II. the Good +differ from those of his father, during the latter's lifetime, by having +in chief a label of three points, and from those of his grandfather, +Philip the Bold, by having an inescutcheon of pretence on the centre of +the arms of Margaret de Maele, first assumed by his father, John the +Fearless, that is, "or, a lion rpt. sa; for Flanders." As we have just +said, many of the MSS. claimed as Netherlandish may be classed as +Burgundian. The difference lies mainly in the miniatures. Where the +latter are manifestly French with the mixed Brugeois borders, they may +pass as Burgundian; but with similar borders yet distinguishably +Netherlandish, that is, broad-nosed, square-jawed, and excited faces as +compared with the finer features and placid expression of the French +artists, the work may still be Burgundian, but it will be also +Netherlandish. The individuality of Netherlandish illumination above +every other quality establishes its identity. Look at the expression of +the onlookers in a Crucifixion, or a Christ before Pilate, or a Stoning +of St. Stephen--the diabolical ferocity, the fiendish earnestness, the +downright intentional ugliness put on some of the characters are in +direct contrast to the sweet indifference, the calm complaisance, and +blank unconcern of a crowd as shown in similar scenes by French +illuminators. + +[Illustration: +HORÆ +15TH CENT. (LATE) +_Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 17280. fol. 21_] + +[Illustration: +VALERE MAXIME, TRAD. PAR SIMON DE HESDIN +15TH CENT. (LATE) +_Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 4375, fol. 68_] + +We have seen something of the earlier kind of Netherlandish MSS. in +those already referred to. It now remains to take a rapid glance at a +few of the later ones, and here the difficulty is that of selection. + +In 1484 Gerard David appears on the list of illuminators of Bruges,[54] +and it appears that he, and not Hans Memling, was the painter of those +marvellous miniatures in the Grimani Breviary at Venice usually +attributed to the latter, and therefore may be considered as one of the +founders of the school of Bruges, or at least of the later style that +may be referred to the Grimani Breviary as its most perfect example. +Executed in much the same manner is a Book of Offices in the British +Museum, containing portraits of Philip the Fair and his wife, the +unhappy Juana _la Loca_, son and daughter-in-law of the Emperor +Maximilian. Similar, again, are the "Offices of the Elector, Albert of +Brandenburg," possibly the work of the same artists who produced the +Grimani Breviary. There are also some fragments in a guard-book in the +British Museum (Add. 24098), which may compare with any of the preceding +examples. But perhaps to many book-lovers no better specimen of the +highest class of Netherlandish art could be more welcome or more +interesting than the celebrated copy of the "Roman de la Rose," also in +our great national collection (Harl. 4425). This justly famous MS. is a +real masterpiece in every department, whether we consider the expression +in its miniatures or the consummate technical skill displayed in the +drawing and colour of the borders. These secondary embellishments +consist of fruit, flowers, birds, beetles, and butterflies. But, of +course, the great interest of this book lies in its miniatures, scenes +from the poet's allegory, and in the little statuesque figures of the +various characters in the poem. + +[54] Cf. his "Judgement of Cambyses" in the museum at Bruges. + +Two marvellous little volumes there are in the National Museum at Munich +(861-2) which are surely unapproachable. One of the borders in 861 +consists of the eyes of peacock feathers so absolutely perfect that we +can only wonder at its rainbow hues and pearly sheen of colour. +Something similar to it exists in a fragment (No. 4461) in the Victoria +and Albert Museum at South Kensington. The "Isabella Breviary" of the +British Museum (Add. 18851) ought not to pass unmentioned, but space +forbids us to add more on this inexhaustible topic. There is, however, +the class of work alluded to early in the chapter, and in that on French +work, which must be at least mentioned. We refer to what the Italians +call _chiaroscuro_ and the French _grisaille_; _i.e._ painting executed +in tones of grey, in which the lights are given in white or gold and the +backgrounds in rich blue. Occasionally the draperies and ornaments also +are touched with gold, and the flesh tints as in life. Grisaille is not +limited to Netherlandish illuminations. We find it both in French and +Italian, but perhaps it is among the Netherlandish books we meet with it +most frequently. Several examples are to be seen in the Royal Library at +Brussels, and there is at least one in the British Museum (Add. 24189). + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE + +Communication with Italy--Renaissance not sudden--Origin of the schools +of France and Burgundy--Touraine and its art--Fouquet--Brentano +MSS.--"Versailles" Livy--Munich "Boccaccio," etc.--Perréal and +Bourdichon--"Hours of Anne of Brittany"--Poyet--The school of +Fontainebleau--Stained glass--Jean Cousin--Gouffier "Heures"--British +Museum Offices of Francis I.--Dinteville Offices--Paris "Heures de +Montmorency", "Heures de Dinteville," etc. + + +When the new ideas derived from the Italian revival first reached +France, it would be difficult to say. There must have been communication +with Italy going on the whole time that Cimabue and Giotto, Memmi and +the rest were astonishing their fellow-citizens with their divine +performances. The roads from Lyons, Poictiers, Dijon, and Paris were +well known, and frequently trodden by both artists and merchants as well +as by soldiers. The Renaissance, therefore, was no sudden convulsion. +Perhaps a very careful examination of some of our Burgundian MSS. might +reveal the presence of notions derived from Italian travel, for it is in +the details of ornament that we find the traces of a new movement, and +when the great change of style is clearly noticeable it is when the +habits of society themselves have been remodelled, and when the once +strange and foreign element has become a familiar guest. + +In the fixing of schools and centres much is owing, of course, to the +residential choice of princes, on whose patronage depends the very +existence of art. This explains the schools of Bruges and Dijon, of +Paris and Tours, for while the earlier dukes of Burgundy and the earlier +kings of France had lived at Bruges and Paris, the later dukes had +preferred Dijon, and Louis XI., Charles VIII., and Louis XII. lived +mostly at Tours. So that while Dijon became the new centre of Burgundian +illumination, Tours became to the new movement from Italy what Paris had +been at the commencement of the Gothic period. Tours, in fact, became +the centre of the Renaissance. The influence of Dijon was on the wane, +Burgundy itself was going down. Michel Coulombe, the great Breton +sculptor, who had been trained at Dijon, left it for Tours, and probably +illuminators and other artists followed his example. As we know from +examples, the Burgundian art of Dijon had the Flemish stamp strongly +marked--the Flemish artists had a way of making strong impressions. + +Tours, on the other hand, had had an entirely different training. The +artists of Touraine had no shadow of Flemish influence in their +practice. Their sculptures, enamels, colour-scheme were of another bias. +Their stamp came from Italy, and if not so deep as that of Flanders or +Dijon, it was equally inevitable and more permanent. + +The first name that we meet with among the illuminators of Touraine who +are expressly connected with the Renaissance is that of Jean Fouquet. Of +his origin or training nothing seems to be known, but he was born +probably about 1415. He must have acquired distinction even as a youth, +for some twenty-five years afterwards (1440-3) he was invited to Rome to +paint the portrait of Pope Eugenius IV., and he stayed in Italy until +1447. On his return to France he was made _valet de chambre_ and painter +to Charles VII. at Tours, and continued in the same office under Louis +XI. It was part of the business of the _paintre du roy_ to design and +provide decorations and costumes, banners and devices for all state +ceremonies, and this became Fouquet's duty at the funeral of Charles +VII., and when Louis instituted the Order of St. Michel in 1470, and the +last trace of him as an artist occurs about 1477. His sons, Louis and +Francis, were both painters, and, like himself, worked much at the +illumination of books. It is curious that this great master--one of the +greatest miniaturists of any school, and one of the founders of the +French school of painting--became entirely forgotten until the discovery +of some fragments of a Book of Hours painted for Estienne Chevalier, the +King's treasurer. + +Forty miniatures of the most masterly description came into the hands of +M. Louis Brentano-Laroche, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Their uncommon +excellence led to a most diligent search for information respecting the +artist, which resulted in the unearthing of many other examples of his +unequalled pencil. We now know of a dozen most precious examples. +Besides the Brentano miniatures, two other fragments of the same Book of +Hours have been found, and several large and important MSS. Among these +we may name the "Antiquities of the Jews," by Josephus, in the National +Library at Paris (MSS. Des. 6891), and a Book of Hours, executed for +Marie de Clève, widow of Charles Duke of Orleans, in 1472. Attributed to +him are the "Versailles" Livy (Nat. Lib., Paris, 6907); the "Sorbonne" +Livy (fds. de Sorb. 297). A Livy in the public library at Tours also +passes under his name, and the famous "Boccaccio" of Estienne Chevalier +at Munich, containing ninety miniatures, is also confidently assigned to +him. Other MSS. that are imputed to him are probably the work of his +sons or scholars. + +The Paris Josephus is generally considered his masterpiece. The volume +(which contains only the first fourteen books) is in folio, written most +beautifully in two columns, and is adorned with miniatures, vignettes, +and initials, but much of its interest lies in the note at the end, +placed there by Robortet, secretary to the Due de Bourbon: "En ce livre +a douze ystoires les troys premieres de l'enlumineur du duc Jehan de +Berry, et les neuf de la main du bon paintre et enlumineur du roy Loys +XIe Jehan Foucquet, natif de Tours." And we gather from another note +that the book had been entrusted to Fouquet for completion by Jacques +d'Armagnac duc de Nemours. A further note informs us that the book +belonged to the Duc de Bourbon. It seems to have been one of the rich +presents made by the Due de Berry to Jacques de Nemours. The first three +miniatures are by the illuminator of the Duc de Berry, and this artist +was probably Andrieu Beauneveu, though other illuminators did work for +him, as Jacques de Hesdin and Pol de Limbourg. The fourth miniature is +by Fouquet, and represents a battle; the rest to the seventh are either +not his best work or else the work of his pupils, but the seventh on +folio 135 gives us a good idea of Fouquet at his best. It represents +David receiving with his crown the news of the death of Saul. The +eighth, ninth, and tenth are very fine, but the eleventh M. Paulin Paris +(MSS. du Roy) thinks the most beautiful of all. Its subject is the +clemency of Cyrus towards the captive Jews in Babylon.[55] Of the other +MSS. space forbids us reluctantly to forego description. + +[55] See Mrs. Mark Pattison's (Lady Dilke) _The Renaissance in France_, +i. 273, etc.; Bradley, _Dict. of Miniaturists_ art. "Fouquet," i. 346. + +The characteristics of the school of Tours as seen in the work of the +greatest of its expositors is (1) The clearly marked influence of Italy +and the antique. (2) A masterly understanding of French landscape (see +fine instances of this understanding also in "Trésor des Histoires," now +in the British Museum, Cott., Aug. 5). (3) A complete freedom from +Gothic influence and from the domination of the school of Bruges. The +colours for which Fouquet seems to have a preference are, first, a clear +orange-vermilion, supported by golden brown and gold, clear blue and +green, lemon-yellow; and then, as a contrast, grey of various tones in +walls and buildings, soft landscape greens, and aërial tints of distance +and sky. Perhaps the technical skill of Fouquet has never been +surpassed. It is so perfect that some have tried to explain it by +supposing that he was trained in a Flemish studio. His sons and pupils +continued his methods, and thus while Paris remains under the influence +of Flemish masters, Tours was carrying forward a quite different type of +traditions. + +The Valerius Maximus (Harl. 4374) of the British Museum will give an +idea of the later Paris school. Its date is about the end of the +fifteenth century. + +We ought not in this place to forget the influence brought into French +art through the marriage of the murdered Duke of Orleans with Valentina +of Milan, not only directly through books and artists, but by the +hereditary transmission of that love of art and beautiful things for +which Valentina and her family were well known. It was in art, letters, +and books that the widowed princess sought such consolation as was +possible.[56] In her best days she had united in herself a seductive +grace of carriage, beauty of person, and dignity of rank, which made her +the ornament of the French Court. She was almost the only one about the +unfortunate Charles VI. who could influence him in his moments of mental +aberration. Coming from the luxury of the most splendid court in Italy, +she brought into France the most refined taste in matters connected with +the arts. The inventory of her jewels at the time of her marriage +includes three Books of Hours, three German MSS., and a volume called +_Mandavilla_. Like her husband she was an employer both of copyists and +illuminators, and before her death had collected at her Castle of Blois +a very fine collection of beautiful books. + +[56] She assumed as her impresa the _chantepleure_, with the sorrowful +motto: "Plus ne m'est rien: rien ne m'est plus." + +Her son Charles, the poet, inherited her tastes, and added to her +collections. We are not surprised, therefore, to find her grandson +Louis, afterwards Louis XII., supporting the great artistic movement +which he and his Queen Anne of Brittany helped so effectually to +identify with the Court of France. + +About the time that we hear the last of Fouquet we have the earliest +notices of another illuminator who plays an important part in the +illuminations executed for Anne of Brittany, the noble and gifted Queen +of France, and wife, first of Charles VIII. and then of his successor, +Louis XII. + +In 1472 Jean Perréal is entrusted with the glass paintings of the +Carmelite church at Tours. Lemaire, in his _Légende des Vénitiens_, +calls him a second Zeuxis or Apelles. During the reigns of Charles VIII. +and Louis XII. he is the chief artist of the time: In 1491, and perhaps +earlier, he is engaged in the usual duties of a _valet de chambre_, +_i.e._ designing and preparing the requisite devises, arms, and banners +for public functions. In 1502 he went to Italy. In 1509 his name occurs +in connection with that of Jean Bourdichon, of whom we shall hear more +when we come to the work done for the Queen. In 1523 in the household of +Francis I. he is still _valet de chambre_. Twenty-four years previously +it was as _valet de chambre_ that he prepared the decorations for Louis +XII.'s entry into Lyons. On the death of Anne of Brittany also he +performed similar duties, and again on that of Louis XII. He even came +to England in 1514, sent by Louis XII., to superintend the trousseau of +Mary Tudor, "pour aider à dresser le dict appareil à la mode de France," +previous to her wedding journey to Paris.[57] Four months afterwards he +was summoned to direct the funeral obsequies of Louis himself. No +illuminated work can be really identified as the work of Perréal, but +Mrs. Patteson (Lady Dilke) strongly urges the probability that he +painted the _Bible Historiée_ of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, +bequeathed by General Oglethorpe.[58] She considers it quite the sort of +work that would grow out of that of Fouquet, and dwells upon the fact of +his official duties as _valet de chambre_ giving him just that minute +facility in the decoration of armour and furniture in the miniatures +which the MS. displays. Whether this be so or not, it is certain that +the _Bible Historiée_ is a fine example of the school of Tours. + +[57] See Vespas, b. 2 (Brit. Mus.). + +[58] See her _Renaissance of Art in France_, i. 303. + +Another court painter and _valet de chambre_ to Louis XI. and his +successors was Jean Bourdichon, an artist born at Tours in 1457, and +therefore as a youth probably one of the scholars in the atelier of Jean +Fouquet. He is first noticed in the accounts in or about 1478: "A Jehan +Bourdichon, paintre, la somme de vingt livres dix sept solz ung denier +tournois pour avoir paint le tabernacle fait pour la chapelle du Plessis +du Pare, de fin or et d'azur."[59] Later on, after naming the painting of +a statute of St. Martin, for which he received twenty golden crowns, is +a note of his painting a MS., which we translate: "To the said +Bourdichon for having had written a book in parchment named the +Papalist--the same illuminated in gold and azure and made in the same 19 +rich histories (miniatures) and for getting it bound and covered, thirty +crowns of gold. For this by virtue of the said order of the King and by +quittance of the abovenamed written the 5th April One thousand four +hundred and eighty (milcccciiiixx) after Easter, here rendered the sum +of £19 1. 8." + +[59] Comptes de l'Hôtel de Louis XI., 1478-81. + +Another quittance shows him to have been employed on the decorations of +the château of Plessis les Tours. We may easily see how it is that these +artists, when they came to illuminate the books entrusted to them, had +such special knowledge of embroideries and decoration of armour when we +read in the accounts how they were constantly employed in designing +dresses for weddings, tournaments, and funeral obsequies, and making +"patterns for the dress and equipment of war." + +A notice in 1508 tells us that Anne of Brittany made an order of payment +to Bourdichon of 1,050 _livres tournois_ for having "richly and +sumptuously historiated and illuminated a great Book of Hours for our +use and service to which he has given and employed much time, and also +on behalf of other services which he has rendered hitherto." This refers +to the celebrated "Hours of Anne of Brittany," now in the National +Library at Paris. + +This volume, peerless of its kind, has been reproduced in colour +lithography by Curmer of Paris--the result, however, is disappointing +from the flat and faded look of the prints as compared with the +brilliancy of the original pages. The MS. is an invaluable monument of +French Renaissance illumination. It is French of Touraine rather than of +Paris, yet bearing traces in its flowers and fruit borders of Flemish +modes of ornament. It has also reminiscences of Italian painting. But +the French neatness and restraint from over-decoration have kept it in a +manner unique. It has not quite the softness of Italian, and is far from +the intensity of Flemish. Indeed, its fault, if it be faulty, is in its +want of force. With the exception of Anne's own portrait given with her +patrons, St. Anne, St. Helena, and St. Ursula. The Queen's gown is of +brown gold brocade trimmed with dark brown fur. Her hair is brown, like +the fur. She wears a necklace of gems set in gold. On her head is a +black hood edged with gold and jewels, beneath which and next her face +is a border of crimped white muslin, She has brown eyes and finely +pencilled eyebrows. As to nose and mouth, she and the two younger saints +are pretty much alike. With the allowance of blue for black, St. Anne +wears the dress of a Benedictine abbess. A dark crimson cloth covers a +table before which the Queen is kneeling, and on which lies open a +finely illuminated Service-book. The Calendar which follows this +portrait is for each month enclosed in a margin of ornament. To the +outer margin of every other page of the book is placed a broad tablet or +pilaster containing flowers, fruits, insects, etc., from five to six +inches high, each having the Latin name of the plant, etc., at top in +red, and the French one in red or blue at the bottom. These names may +have been put in later. It must be admitted that the fruits, flowers, +and insects are painted with the greatest care and neatness, though +sometimes a little assisted by the imagination of the painter. The text +and initials are rather heavy and commonplace. Now and then a border +surrounds the text completely, where flowers or fruits are +scattered--somewhat recklessly at times, but usually with good +design--over a ground of plain gold, on which the branches, etc., cast +heavy shadows. This part of the design is certainly Flemish. Where +"histories" occur the border is a plain brown gilt frame within a black +border. Undoubtedly the "Hours of Anne of Brittany" is a very precious +volume. The figure subjects are of various degrees of excellence. The +four evangelists are vivid, and recall the portraits of Ghirlandaio, and +it is to Italy also that the illuminator is indebted for his +architectural and sculptural details. Yet Bourdichon is inferior to +Fouquet in colouring, as the latter is to the Italians in design and +composition. Perhaps he is most successful in his flowers and insects. +"Nothing," said Muntz, "is less like the elegant foliages of Ghirlandaio +and Attavante, and nothing is more worthy of being put in comparison +with them."[60] + +[60] _La Renaissance en Italie, etc_., 547-8. + +An illuminator of the name of Jehan Poyet is said to have assisted in +the "Hours," thus while Bourdichon painted the miniatures, Poyet put in +the flowers and fruit, etc.; but this share of work is by some believed +to belong to a smaller Book of Hours executed for the Queen. Flowers and +fruit are said to have been Poyet's speciality, and it is quite possible +that he may have had the painting of the borders of the "Grandes +Heures," while Bourdichon did the rest. The writer of the MS. was +another native of Tours, named Jehan Riveron. During the reign of +Francis I. the school of Tours was removed to Paris because the Court +had settled there. Louis XII. had died in the Hôtel des Tournelles, and +Francis, though full of plans for _plaisances_ elsewhere, lived mostly +in Paris. Fontainebleau is the dream of the near future. Il Rosso, the +Italian architect, painter, poet, and musician, was busy there amid a +crowd of other artists from Florence and Rome--the refuse of a once +brilliant sodality. It was the frivolous, pretty, graceful side of +Italian art that came northward in that great migration--the graver and +more dignified elements were left behind. To see what Italian art became +in France, we have only to enter the Grand Gallery at Fontainebleau, and +we see it at its best in architecture, sculpture, and painting. And we +cannot help admiring it, for it is amazingly beautiful. Yet it is not +Italian--the Italian of the Medici and Farnese palaces. Il Rosso was +neither a Michelangelo nor a Carracci; but he set a fashion. He changed +the face of art for France. Nor was it in painting and sculpture only. +The Italian passion for devises, anagrams, emblems, and mottoes became +the rage in Paris. It first came in with the return of Charles VIII. +from his Neapolitan campaign. Louis XII. adopted the hedgehog or +porcupine, with the motto "Cominus et eminus." His Queen Claude's motto +was "Candida candidis." The Princess Marguerite's emblem was a marigold +or heliotrope; others assigned her the daisy. Her motto: "Non inferiora +secutus." The well-known emblem of Francis was a salamander--why, is a +mystery--with the motto, "Nutrisco et extinguo." All this entered into +the taste of the illuminator, and elegant cartouche frames--probably of +Dutch origin, as we see in the old map-books of Ortelius Cluverius and +Bleau, imported by Ortelius and his friends into Italy, and made use of +by Clovis, and thence transferred to France--were made into +border-frames for miniatures, varied with altar-forms, doorways, and +other fanciful frameworks from the new architecture decorated with +flowers, ribbons, panels, mottoes. Another new thing, too, no doubt +afforded plenty of suggestion to the illuminator. This was stained +glass. Jean Cousin was in his glory in glass-painting; Robert Pinagrier +also. But it was Cousin who adopted the new Italian ideas, and whose +works were models for the illuminator. In the backgrounds and details of +his glass-paintings at Sens, Fleurigny, Paris, and elsewhere, we may +trace his progress; and an excellent model, too, was Jean Cousin. He has +other claims to remembrance in sculpture, engraving, authorship, but it +is as the glass-painter that his influence is seen in illumination. +Indeed, Mr. A.F. Didot strongly urged the probability that Cousin was +himself the illuminator of the splendid Breviary or Hours of Claude +Gouffier.[61] The drawing is in his best manner, the frame-border of +_caryatides_ in camaieu is of a richness of ornamentation in keeping +with the rest of the volume. The arms and motto of Gouffier are painted +in it. It is objected that Cousin's name does not appear in the Gouffier +account-books, while those of other artists are given. But only a +portion of the accounts is extant. Cousin may, perhaps, only have +designed the book, and the other miniaturists carried out his designs. +At any rate, the accounts give us the names of three miniaturists which +we may here record--Jean Lemaire, of Paris (1555), Charles Jourdain, and +Geoffroy Ballin (1359). These "enlumineurs" are stated to have decorated +two Books of Hours for Gouffier's wedding. As a good example of the +style employed in the decoration of title-pages, we may quote the +chimney-piece of the Château d'Anet, executed for Diane de Poitiers, +where a sculptured marble frame surrounds a painted landscape. Many of +the books of the time of Francis I. and Henry II. are ornamented in this +style. + +[61] Now belonging to M. le Vicomte de Tanzé. + +In the British Museum are several fine MSS. illustrative of this period +of French illumination, viz. Add. 18853, 18854, and 18855. These three +MSS. formed part of the purchase which included the Bedford Offices. +18853 is a Book of Offices executed apparently for Francis I. In some of +the borders is a large F with the _Cordelière_ of the third Order of St. +Francis and a rayed crown, and on folio 97 v. a large monogram +consisting of the letter F, with two crossed sceptres and palm branches, +surmounted by the crown-royal of France. + +Nothing is known of the history of the MS. from 1547 to 1723, when it +was in possession of the Regent Philippe d'Orléans. Possibly it had +remained as an heirloom in the family. Philippe gave it to his natural +son the Abbé Rothelin, a great lover of rare books and a noted +collector, at whose death it was bought by Gaignat, another collector, +who sold it to the Duc de la Vallière, and so, step by step, it came at +length to Sir John Tobin, of Liverpool, and thence to the British +Museum. + +The partly sculpturesque character of the border-frames are of the kind +just referred to, with festoons and garlands of flowers, and drapery, +monograms, and emblems in full rich colours; the architecture and other +ornaments sometimes finished with pencillings of gold. The miniatures +are of excellent design and colour, finely modelled, and quite in the +manner of the paintings of Fontainebleau. The text is a combination of +Jarry-like Roman with italic. It may be compared with 18854, similar in +some respects, but the smaller miniatures and the frames look more like +the older school of Tours. This MS. is also a Book of Offices, and was +written for François de Dinteville, Bishop of Auxerre, in 1525, as +appears from an inscription in gold letters on fol. 26 v. + +[Illustration: +OFFICM. B. MARIÆ VIRGINES +C. 1530 +_Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 18853, fol. 52_] + +[Illustration: +OFFICM. MORTUORUM. +16TH CENT. (EARLY) +_Brit. Mus. Egert. MS. 2125, fol. 183_] + +Some of the border-frames are drawn in sepia, others in red-brown or +burnt siena, and highly finished with gold. The writing is a small Roman +hand. On the whole it is richer in illustration than 18853, but not so +perfect in drawing, yet it is a very fine MS. Sometimes it has a border +like those in the "Hours of Anne of Brittany." On fol. 26 v. is a +curious border of twisted ribbons covered with mottoes, such as +"Virtutis fortuna comes", "Ingrates servire nephas," etc. + +Some of the tiny miniatures of the saints in the _Memoriæ_ are very +charmingly painted: St. Mary Magdalene, for instance, on fol. 147 v. The +pillar architecture of some of the borders, with pendant festoons of +flowers, is also very handsome. + +18855, folio, is a Book of Offices written in a Gothic text. The +miniatures are large full-page paintings within architectural frames or +porches, with coloured pillars or pilasters with panels of rich blue, +covered with golden traceries, bronze gold pendants at side,--occasional +borders as in the "Hours of Anne of Brittany." The work is of the older +school of Tours, but loaded with ornamental details from North Italian +pilaster-work. Among the best miniatures are the Nativity (34 v.), the +Adoration of the Magi (42 v.), and the Bathsheba. The last perhaps a +little too open a scene for a lady's bathroom, but placed within a most +gorgeous architectural window or doorway (fol. 62 v). Compare also Harl. +5925, No. 574, for a title-page of French Renaissance style from a +printed book, which suggests Venice as the source of the style of 18853. + + +In the National Library at Paris are, of course, a number of this class +of MSS., such as the Offices (MS. Lat. 10563), "Officium Beatæ Mariæ +Virginis ad usum Romanor" (1531), or the exquisitely painted "Heures de +Henry 2d" (fds. Lat. 1429), or the magnificent "Epistres d'Ovide" of +Louisa of Savoy (fds. fr. 875), and others. + +By no means of less importance we may cite the beautiful volume +belonging to the late Comte d'Haussonville, now in the Musée Condé at +Chantilly, called the "Heures du Connétable Anne de Montmorency," and +the "Heures de Dinteville" (MS. Lat. 10558), the decoration of which is +quite on a par with the "Heures de Montmorency," or those of Henry II., +also the Psalter of Claude Gouffier (Arsenal Lib., 5095), containing the +Psalms of Marot. + +It is scarcely worth while to carry the subject further. What is done +later than Francis II. does not grow finer or better: it only becomes +more overloaded with ornament, too much gold, too much richness. Even +foliages are often variegated like pearls, or change gradually from +colour to colour on the same sweep of acanthus as in a MS. in the +British Museum attributed to Pierre Mignard ("Sol Gallicus," Add. +23745). Compare also the "Heures de Louis XIV." Now and then an +exceptional work, like that of D'Eaubonne at Rouen, belongs to no +particular school. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE ILLUMINATION + +Late period of Spanish illumination--Isidore of Seville--Archives at +Madrid--Barcelona--Toledo--Madrid--Choir-books of the Escorial--Philip +II.--Illuminators of the choir-books--The size and beauty of the +volumes--Fray Andrés de Leon and other artists--Italian +influence--Giovanni Battista Scorza of Genoa--Antonio de Holanda, +well-known Portuguese miniaturist in sixteenth century--His son +Francesco--The choir-books at Belem--French invasion--Missal of +Gonçalvez--Sandoval Genealogies--Portuguese Genealogies in British +Museum--The Stowe Missal of John III. + + +Since all the best and best-known work of Spanish or Portuguese +illuminators was executed in the sixteenth century, and is manifestly a +reflection with peculiar mannerisms of either Flemish or Italian +illumination of the same period, it may seem almost superfluous to +devote a separate chapter to the subject. Yet there is a goodly list of +both Spanish and Portuguese artists who practised the art of +illumination. + +So early as the time of Isidore of Seville we find notices of libraries, +copyists, and the like (see book iv. of his Encyclopædia), and an able +writer of the last century, Don José Maria de Eguren, published a work +on the MS. rarities of Spain.[62] The most important of the miniatures in +the famous Codex Vigilano are also reproduced in "El Museo Español de +antiguedades," most interesting respecting the calligraphy and miniature +art of the eleventh century. + +[62] _Memoria de los Codices notables conservados en los archivos +ecleseasticos de Espana_. Madrid, 1859, L. 8°. + +One of the earliest instances of royal patronage bestowed on painting in +Spain is a document in the Royal Library at Madrid, containing the +expenses of King Sanchez IV. in 1291-2. Thus "to Rodrigo Esteban, +painter of the king for many paintings done by the king's orders in the +bishop's palace 100 golden maravedis." Again, in the archives at +Barcelona we find that Juan Cesilles, painter of history, was engaged +16th March, 1382, to paint the "History of the twelve apostles for the +grand altar of the Church at Reps for 330 florins." In 1339 one Gonzalez +Ferran had some reputation both as a wood engraver and a painter. He was +probably a miniaturist. In 1340-81, Garcia Martinez, a Spanish +illuminator, worked at Avignon. A copy of the Decretals, dated 1381, in +the Cathedral Library of Seville is by his hand. + +In the fifteenth century we have many notices of painters, especially in +Toledo, whither the taste was in all likelihood brought from Naples +after the conquest of that kingdom by Alphonso V. of Aragon in 1441. + +It has been observed by those familiar with native Spanish art that its +chief characteristic is that it is gloomy. This may be so, but it is not +fairly chargeable to the artists but to the tyranny of the Spanish +Inquisidor, who laid the embargo on the illuminator that he should not +follow the wicked gaiety of the Italians, nor the sometimes too +realistic veracity of the Flemings. This accounts usually for +backgrounds of black where the Fleming would have had rich colour or +gold for the prevalence of black in the draperies and for the sombre +tone in general of Spanish painting. It is not always in evidence, as +may be seen in many of the miniatures of the famous choir-books in the +Escorial. The sombre period began under Ferdinand the Catholic, and it +has left its mark on the schools of the fifteenth century. The sixteenth +began a new era, and under Philip II. several, both Netherlandish and +Italian, miniaturists were invited to assist in the production of the +enormous choir-books ordered by the King for San Lorenzo of the +Escorial, between 1572 and 1589. The volumes are bound in wooden boards +covered with leather, stamped and bossed with ornaments of gilded +bronze. It is said that 5,500 lbs. of bronze and 40 lbs. of pure gold +were used in the bindings. The actual dimensions of the volumes are 115 +by 84 centimetres. Every volume has at least seventy folios, and every +folio is splendidly illuminated, thus affording more than 30,000 pages +covered with richly ornamented initials, miniatures, and borders. The +illuminators and copyists of these choir-books were Cristobal Ramirez, +who planned the work, fixed the size and other details of the volumes +and the character of the handwriting, Fray Andrés de Leon, Fray Julian +de Fuente del Saz, Ambrosio Salazar, Fray Martin de Palencia, Francisco +Hernandez, Pedro Salavarte, and Pedro Gomez. Ramirez was engaged at the +Escorial from 1566 to 1572. In the latter year he presented a Breviary +with musical notation to the King, and was then engaged for the great +undertaking mentioned above. + +Andrés Cristobal was also an illuminator of note at Seville, where he +worked from 1555 to 1559. Andrés de Leon worked at the Escorial from +1568, and is especially mentioned by Los Santos in his well-known +description of the monastery of San Lorenzo: "Son de gran numero y +excelencia las iluminaciones que tienen de mano nuestro Fray Andrés de +Leon, que fue otro Don Julio en el Arte."[63] The allusion is to the +celebrated Don Giulio Clovio, then in the height of his fame in Italy. +Fray Julian received similar praise for a _capitolario_ for the +principal festivals of the year, especially for the grand dimensions of +the miniatures, the like of which the writer says had never been seen +before, either in Spain or Italy. Andrés de Leon died at the Escorial in +1580. Salazar continued working on them till they were completed, and in +1590 went to Toledo, where he finished two Missals for the Cathedral, +which had been begun by the famous Juan Martinez de los Corrales. He was +still engaged on similar work until his death in 1604. Two other +illuminators, Esteban and Julian de Salazar, were working at the +Escorial in 1585. Bermudez[64] mentions Fray Martin de Palencia as having +executed a volume in a fine handwriting and with beautiful miniatures +for the monastery of Saso. Thus we see there were numerous miniaturists +in Spain in the latest years of the existence of the art that had been +imported chiefly from Italy. + +[63] Fr. Francisco de los Santos, _Description breve del Monasterio de S. +Lorenzo el Real del Escorial_, 24. + +[64] Diccionario, iv. 24. + +After most of these great choir-books had been finished there were still +others in progress. In 1583 Giovanni Battista Scorza of Genoa, who is +celebrated in the "Galleria" of the Cavaliero Marini, was invited by the +King to take part in his great choir-book scheme. Scorza was then +thirty-six years of age, and in the height of his reputation as a +painter of small animals and insects. After a little time he returned to +Genoa, where he lived to be ninety years old. He had a brother, +Sinibaldo, who was equally skilful in miniature, and especially in +scenes from history. The Scorzas were pupils of Luca Cambiaso. It may be +noticed that all this work in miniature, although so late in its own +history, is accomplished before the greatest names in Spanish painting +are known. Josefo Ribera was born in 1588; Zurbaran in 1598; Velasquez +in 1599; Alonzo Cano in 1601; Murillo in 1617. This, in a sense, is the +natural course of things, as, generally, illumination has preceded the +other kinds of painting. + +With regard to Portugal, very little is recorded that does not in some +way connect itself with Spain. So we find that Antonio and Francesco de +Holanda, seemingly of Netherlandish origin, are mentioned in relation to +the books illuminated for the Royal Monastery of Thomar; Francesco also +worked for the monastery of Belem. Francesco de Holanda was a great +admirer and imitator of Clovio, but he always insisted that his father +Antonio was the inventor of the method of "stippling," as the finishing +with minute points of colour is technically called, which was brought to +such perfection by Clovio and his scholars and imitators. + +Taken altogether, the work of the Spanish illuminators at the Escorial +and those of Toledo and Seville is really the same, with just the +variations we might expect from pupils and imitators, as that of their +masters in Genoa, Rome, Venice, or Bruges. Examples of it may be seen +occasionally in diplomas, such as are found in the British Museum and +other public libraries, as, _e.g._ Claud. B. x. Lansd. 189, Add. 12214, +18191, 27231, etc. + +In 1572, the same year in which Luiz de Camoens published his Lusiades, +an accomplished calligrapher, Miguel Barata, published an elaborate +treatise on his own art, then in high repute. + +In the fourteenth century the Cancioniero of Don Pedro Affonso Ct. de +Barcellos affords an example of the calligraphy (for which Spain and +Portugal have always been famous) and illumination which is precious for +the student. It is still in existence in the Palace of Ajuda. Its date +is 1320-40. And there are MSS. in the Torre do Tombo of Lisbon that are +richly illuminated. Again, in Seville there is the "Juego de las +Tablas," executed under Alphonso the Wise in 1283, with its Gothic +arcades and ornaments. M. Joaquin de Vasconcellas has made a study of +this MS. The miniatures of the Torre do Tombo of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries are mostly of the French school. + +About 1428 33 was executed a splendid MS. entitled "Leal Conselheiro," +which is attributed to a famous miniaturist in his time named Vasco. It +is, however, simply a monument of penmanship, as it contains no +miniatures. The MS. has been edited by L'Abbé Roquete in 1842. The +Portuguese MSS. of the fifteenth century betray a decided Flemish +influence, as well they may, for probably the producers of them were +Flemings. Constant intercourse with the Court of Burgundy had something +to do with this. + +The "Chronica do descobrimento e conquista de Guiné," now at Torre do +Tombo, is clearly a Flemish work. It was begun about 1440, and finished +in 1453. The portrait of the Enfante Don Henrique, called the Navigator, +is set in a border evidently by a pupil or imitator of J. Van Eyck. The +calligraphy of the MS. is most beautiful. This influence of the +Netherlands on Portuguese art is, indeed, confirmed by the political +diplomatic relations of the fifteenth century, and is of some importance +in the history of art. We shall refer again to this matter when dealing +with another MS. + +Among all the calligraphic monuments of Portugal it is claimed that the +most splendid is the "Bible of the Hieronymites." (See _Revista +universal Lisbonense_, 1848, pp. 24-8.) This work, it is said, was a +present from the Court of Rome to Emanuel, successor of John II., in +remembrance of the homage made to the Holy See, of the first gold +brought from the Indies, but the story is very doubtful. The King, in +bequeathing the seven volumes to the convent of Belem, says nothing +about such an origin. They are manifestly in great part the work of +foreign artists. One well-known miniaturist, Antonio de Holanda, the +father of the better-known Francesco, took part in the work, and having +a good conceit of his own abilities (we shall probably hear of him +again), reserved an entire volume to himself in order to give proof of +them. The seven volumes which then were covered with crimson velvet and +silver bosses and enamels, are now simply bound in red morocco. In the +middle of each cover are the arms of Emanuel King of Portugal. Vols. v. +and vii. have those of Dona Isabel, his Spanish wife. + +The initials and ornaments show that the art of Italy is freely mixed +with that of Portugal. Indeed, from the signatures in the volumes it is +seen that the work of the penman was Italian; vol. i. being written at +Ferrara by Sigismundo de Sigismundis, the well-known Italian +calligrapher, in 1495. The second volume, also finished in 1495, bears +the name of Alessandro Verazzano, another famous copyist, who wrote +several of the volumes illuminated by Attavante. Vol. iii. is dated +1496, and is unsigned. The next three volumes are also without +signature. Vol. vii. is the work of Antonio de Holanda, who from his +name appears to have been of Dutch descent. His work is certainly +excellent, and renders this volume a very precious monument of the art +of Portugal. He was the official herald of the King, and he and his son +Francesco gave their whole time to the practice of illumination. His +son's Memoirs give a most interesting account of his travels and +intercourse with Giulio Clovio and the other Italian artists whom he met +with in Rome.[65] For some years the Hieronymite Bible was in Paris, +having been brought thither by Marshal Junot, where it remained +unnoticed for several years. Being called for by the Portuguese +Government, Louis XVIII. paid 50,000 francs to the family of Junot, and +restored it to the monastery of Belem. A splendidly illuminated atlas by +an illuminator and cartographer named Fernando Vas Dourado was published +in the year of his death, 1571. + +[65] See my Life of Clovio. + +As an important example of what we may fairly call native art, we will +now briefly refer to the celebrated Missal of Estevam Gonçalvez Neto, +one of the productions of the busy second half of the sixteenth century. +The clever amateur who achieved this beautiful series of paintings, for +paintings they are, in addition to the writing and other ornamentation +of the MS., was descended from a noble family of Sêrem, in the parish of +Macinhata, forty-three leagues from Lisbon. He became Canon of Viseu, +and during his leisure, after this appointment, executed the Pontifical +Missal which bears his name. It is dedicated to Don Josè Manuel, of the +House of Tancos, Bishop of Viseu, afterwards of Coimbra, and lastly +Archbishop of Lisbon. This prelate gave the book to the Church of Viseu. +The original MS. was afterwards in the library of the Convent of Jesus, +and is now in the Academy of Sciences at Lisbon. Stephen Gonsalvez died +July 29th, 1627. The Missal is signed: "Steph. Glz. Abbas Sereicencis +fac. 1610." It has been very well reproduced in colours by Macia, of +Paris. + +The "Genealogies of the House of Sandoval," written and painted in +Lisbon in 1612, is now in Paris. It is called "Genealogia universal de +la Nobilissima casa de Sandoval Ramo del Generoso tronco de los +soberanos Reyes de Castilla y Leon. Por Don Melchior de Teves del +Conseio Real de Castilla del Rey D? Philippe III." + +At the foot of the page is written "Eduardus Caldiera Vlisspone +scripsit, Anno Dni MDCXII." This magnificent MS., which measures +forty-six by thirty centimetres, is numbered in the Catalogue of the +National Library as 10015. A grand frontispiece, formed of two columns +of the Composite Order, occupies the first page, representing a king in +royal robes and crown arresting the wheel of Fortune. Two lions +accompany the scene, and the motto of the picture is "Virtute duce non +comite Fortuna." Page 2 contains the various escutcheons of the family +of the Count of Lerma, for whom the book was written. It contains a +great number of portraits. A final instance of the influence, or rather +the inroad, of Flemish art in Portugal in the fifteenth century may be +shown in the MS. called the Portuguese Genealogies in the British +Museum. + +The work consists of eleven large folio sheets separately mounted and +measuring eighteen by ten inches. It commences with a prologue, with the +arms of Portugal supported by two savages, having clubs and shields. +Outside the inner frame are three scenes: (1) wild animals in combat; +(2) a sea-nymph being rescued; (3) a fight among sylvan savages. Next +comes a series of portraits painted in the most finished and life-like +style, beginning with Dom Garcia F° del rey Abarca and Dona Constancia +on a fruitful tree with foliage, fruits, and birds, a cat, and other +things. The tree is an oak, beside it are apple and cherry trees. On the +oak are green acorns. The birds are very beautiful, the cat simply +perfect. These details recall the highly finished and lovely work of +Georg Hoefnagel on the great Missal at Vienna. Gothic brown-gold +architecture and three battle scenes complete the page. + +Then follow the genealogical tables, and more portraits, the whole +showing the most patient and careful work. Letters on the borders of the +robes recall the same kind of ornament in the Grimani Breviary at +Venice. No one has been able to explain these curious inscriptions. In +the Grimani Breviary they were thought to be either Croatian or merely +ornament. Here they cannot well mean anything but decoration. The +portraits are fanciful but interesting mementoes of the period, and +include several personages noted in history. + +The last MS. to be mentioned in this hasty sketch is one in the British +Museum (Stowe 597). It is a "Missale Romanum," and is said to have been +illuminated for John III. in 1557. It was once the property of the Abbé +Gamier, chaplain for near thirty years, of the French factory at Lisbon. +The binding is red morocco, and once had silver clasps. + +It commences with a large mirror-like oval tablet, containing the title, +set between two pillars of pink-veined marble with bronze-gold capitals +and bases. The tablet is crimson with a violet-slate frame moulding of +egg and dart pattern. At foot are two Roman legionaries, one seated as +supporting the tablet, on each side. On folio 3 is the index in a +rose-wood panel and pale green frame. The peculiar forms of the frames +and the scroll-work on them are of the fantastic kind, differing from +Italian, which is characteristic both of Spanish and Portuguese +ornament. The chief colours are a bright emerald green and blue, with +ochre, gold, and crimson. The initials are still more fantastic--partly +human, partly plant or fish-form, sometimes sculptured ornament and +plant-forms combined--but all so sweetly painted and so delicately +finished as to be most attractive. The text is a fine and elegant Roman +minuscule interspersed with italic. + +Here and there are exquisite little drawings of ecclesiastical utensils, +etc., but the everlasting variety among the quaint and fanciful initials +provides an unwearying fund of interest. Tiny birds of the loveliest +plumage sit among and beneath the limbs of the letters, or elegant +scrolls of pencilled gold cover the little coloured panels on which the +plain gold Roman initials are placed. Some of the larger initials are +very finely executed and contain full-length figures of saints, bishops, +or queens. One lovely initial B has a graceful girl simply clad in blue +tunic and pale yellow skirt with a silken coil of pale rose forming the +upper loop of the letter, the lower being formed of the curved body of a +green dragon. Her left hand lifts the silk-work, her right, hanging by +her side, holds a little golden pitcher. The whole is painted on a panel +of bright gold. Another (L) shows a peasant rushing laughingly, with a +hare slung over his shoulder, past the figure of a guardian terminus of +bronze. But the Missal should be seen to be properly understood, for +though in a general way it has a look of Italian influence, its +originality is beyond question. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +ILLUMINATION SINCE THE INVENTION OF PRINTING + +The invention of printing--Its very slight effect on +illuminating--Preference by rich patrons for written books--Work +produced in various cities in the sixteenth century--Examples in German, +Italian, and other cities, and in various public libraries up to the +present time. + + +The art of printing, as the reading world has been frequently informed, +was invented in the fifteenth century, and undoubtedly had, to a +considerable extent, a destructive effect upon the craft of professional +copyists. But in the fifteenth century the art of the writer and that of +the illuminator had long been separate professions. There was no +particular reason, therefore, why the invention of printing should +interfere with the illuminator. As a matter of fact, it made little +difference. Nor, indeed, did printing entirely put a stop to the +professional career of the scribe. It was prophesied, before practical +experience of facts proved the contrary, that the invention of the +railway engine would abolish the horse. The printing-press did not +abolish the penman, but it certainly spoiled his trade. We have seen in +the course of the preceding chapters that it did not spoil the trade of +the illuminator. Nor was it quite owing to the fact that many printed +books were so adorned as to appear like illuminated MSS. More than one +wealthy patron absolutely declined to have anything to do with printed +books. The matter was too vulgar and too cheap. The last Duke of Urbino +was a prince of this lofty way of thinking, and scarcely a court in +Europe but continued to have MSS. produced as if no such thing as the +printing-press were known. How they were multiplied in Spain and France +we have seen in detail. We will now proceed to take a farewell look at +the German and Italian libraries, in order to see how the illustrious +presses of Mainz, Strassburg, Augsburg, Köln, Munich, Vienna, Venice, +Milan, Florence, and Rome affected the ateliers of the great schools of +illumination established in most of these cities. What do we find? In +point of fact, some of the richest, most magnificent books ever produced +by the illuminator, not only whilst the press was still a novelty, but +long after it had become perfectly familiar to everybody. For several of +the cities aforesaid we have the means of proof: thus for Mainz, at the +end of the superb copy of the Mazarine Bible, now at Paris, is the +following inscription: "Iste liber illuminatus, legatus and completus +est henricum Cremer vicari? ecclesie collegiate Sancti Stephani +Moguntini sub anno dni Melesimo quatring entesimo quinquagesimo Sexto, +festo assumptiois gloriose Virginis Marie. Deo gratias alleluya." This +was in 1456, the year before the first press was set up. In 1524 we have +two most splendidly illuminated MSS.--a Missal and a Prayer-book--executed by order of Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of +Mainz. Two richer examples of the German Renaissance cannot easily be +imagined. We cannot dilate upon them. We may, however, truly say that +together with very many other examples of illuminated work, both in +manuscripts and printed books, they show the art of the illuminator to be +no less splendid or elaborate after the invention of printing than it +was before. + +On the last page of the Missal is written: "Ich Niklas Glockendon zu +Nurenberg hab dieses Bhuch illuminiert ond vollent im jar 1524." + +The Prayer-book is similarly adorned with miniatures and brightly +coloured borders. On the cover is a copy of the Archbishop's portrait, +painted by Dürer, and on folio 1 is written by the Archbishop himself: +"Anno domini MDXXXI completum est presens opus, Sabbato post +'Invocavit.' Albertus Cardinalis moguntinus manu propria scripsit." + +Other Glockendon books exist in other libraries. Then there is the Beham +Prayer-book at Aschaffenburg and a Bible in the library at Wolfenbüttel +in two thick 4° volumes--a work well worth examination. At Nuremberg is +the Service-book executed by Conrad Frankendorfer, of Nuremberg, in +1498. + +In the British Museum is the fine German MS.--the Splendor Sous, a +sixteenth century MS. (Harl. 3469). + +In the National Library at Paris is the Prayer-book of William of Baden +(10567-8) executed at Strassburg by Frederic Brentel in 1647. + +Augsburg was producing illuminated Service-books ten years after Günther +Zainer had set up the press in that city. + +Munich, also, with the Penitential Psalms, etc., by Hans Mielich. +Vienna, too, can show a magnificent Missal by Georg Hoefnagel, bearing +the dates 1582 to 1590. Venice is represented in the work of Benedetto +Bordone and the Ducali. Florence in the splendid Missals, etc., of +Attavante and his contemporaries. + +Milan shows the gorgeous Graduals of the Brera belonging to the +sixteenth century and the Sforziadas of London and Paris. So we might +pass from city to city almost all over Western Europe. The great Spanish +choir-books were almost all produced under Philip II. Several Papal +Service-books are represented in the fifteenth-and sixteenth-century +examples of the scrap-book 21412 of the British Museum; and the works of +Clovio, the most noted of Italian illuminators, all belong to the +sixteenth century. + +These instances are amply sufficient to prove that in every city in +Europe where printing was in full practice the art of the illuminator +continued to flourish until the progress of modern inventions and +various processes, added to the general cheapening of books, led to its +disuse. Its present application seems to be almost solely to diplomas +and testimonials, and in point of quality, usually as poor and +spiritless as the incapacity of most of its professors can make it. + +There seems, however, no reason why the artistic skill and elaborate +methods of reproduction of the present day should not produce +magnificent books--indeed the "Imitation" of Thomas à Kempis, and other +continental examples prove that this is amply possible. + +The next few years will probably show that readers are still desirous of +possessing beautiful books, and that artists are still found capable of +producing them. + + + + +MANUSCRIPTS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED AS EXAMPLES + +(Partly taken by permission from the Victoria and Albert Museum +Handbook) + +CLASSICAL AND EARLY CHRISTIAN + +--+------------- +-------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Vergil |...... |Vatican Lib.,|3rd or |Doubtful which is the + |(fragment) | |Rome, Cod. |4th cent.|older + | | |Vat. 3225 | | + | | | | | + 2|Vergil |...... |Vat. Lib. |4th cent.|" + | | |3867 | | + | | | | | + 3|Rom. |...... |Imp. Lib., |" | + |Calend.(f.) | |Vienna | | + | | | | | + 4|Genesis (f.) |...... |" |5th cent.|Gold and silver text + | | | | |on purple vellum; 88 + | | | | |miniatures. + | | | | | + 5|Genesis (f.) |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Much burnt in 1731. + | | |Cott. Oth. B.| | + | | |6 | | + | | | | | + 6|Iliad (f.) |...... |Ambros. Lib.,|" |Fine handwriting and + | | |Milan | |clever pictures. + | | | | | + 7|Joshua (f. of|...... |Vat. Lib., |...... |15 leaves, 32 ft. + |Roll) | |Rome | |long, 11 in. wide. + | | | | |Contains from ch. + | | | | |222 to 1018, brush + | | | | |outlines to + | | | | |miniatures. Rivers, + | | | | |etc., personified in + | | | | |Byzantine manner. + | | | | | + 8|Dioscorides, |...... |Imp. Lib., |_c._ |Personifications of + |etc. | |Vienna |500-5 |abstract qualities. + | | | | | + 9|Bible of |...... |Laurent. |_c._ 540 |Valuable as a + |Montamiata | |Lib., | |theological document, + | | |Florence | |but poor work, and in + | | | | |bad condition. + | | | | | +10|Syriac |Monastery of|" |_c._ 586 |Brought to Florence + |Gospels |Zagba, in | | |in 1497. Remarkable + | |Mesopotamia | | |Crucifixion, see + | | | | |_Byzantine_, 1. + | | | | | +11|Terence |...... |Nat. Lib., |9th cent.|Copy of a 5th-cent. + | | |Paris | |MS. pen-drawings. + | | | | | +12|Pentateuch |Tours |Nat. Lib., |7th cent.|Called the Ashburnham + | | |Paris, Nouv. | |Pentateuch; 19 large + | | |acq. 2334 | |miniatures. + + +BYZANTINE + +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Syriac |Zagba, in |Laur. Lib., |_c._ 586 |Shows Byzantine + |Gospels |Mesopotamia |Florence | |influence. + | | | | | + 2|Gospel-book |Byzantium |Brit. Mus., |6th cent.|Lettering, etc., on + |(f.) | |Add. 5111 | |gold ground. + | | | | | + 3|Menologium |" |Vat. Lib., |9th cent.|A typical Byzantine + | | |Gr. 1613 | |MS. + | | | | | + 4|Gregory of |Byzantium |Nat. Lib., |9th cent.|Fine antique design + |Nazianzum | |Paris, Gr. | |and composition. + | | |510 | | + | | | | | + 5|" |" |Nat. Lib., |" |Good small figures. + | | |Paris, Gr. | | + | | |543 | | + | | | | | + 6|" |" |Nat. Lib., |" |Good small figures + | | |Paris, Gr. | |and headings. + | | |550 | | + | | | | | + 7|Evangeliary |...... |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Arund. 547 | | + | | | | | + 8|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Burney 19, | | + | | |20. | | + | | | | | + 9|Lectionary |...... |Brit. Mus., |10th |Fine initials. + | | |Harl. 5598 |cent., | + | | | |end | + | | | | | +10|Chrysostom |...... |Nat. Lib., |10th |Remarkable initials. + | | |Paris, Gr. |cent. | + | | |654 | | + | | | | | +11|Simeon |...... |Brit. Mus., |11th |Fine ornaments. + |Metaphrastes | |Add. 11870 |cent. | + | | | | | +12|Evangeliary |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Beautiful headings. + | | |Add. 11838 | | + | | | | | +13|Psalter |...... |Brit. Mus., |12th |Executed for + | | |Add. Egert. |cent. |Melisenda, daughter + | | |1139 | |of King of Jerusalem. + + +IRISH OR CELTIC + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Gospels of |...... |Trin. Coll., |7th cent.| + |St. Columba | |Dublin | | + | | | | | + 2|Gospels of |St. Arnoul's|Nuremberg |" | + |St. Arnoul, |Abbey, Metz |Museum | | + |of Metz | | | | + | | | | | + 3|Book of St. |...... |Roy. Lib., |" | + |Columbanus | |Naples | | + | | | | | + 4|Bible of St. |...... |Cath. Lib., |8th cent.|Curious Crucifixion. + |Kilian | |Wurzburg | | + | | | | | + 5|Gospels of |Monastery of|Pub. Lib., |" |Signed "Thomas + |"Thomas" |Hanow |Trèves | |scribsit." + | | | | | + 6|Psalter |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Anglo-Irish, with + | | |Cott. Vesp. | |arched frame-border. + | | |a. 1 | | + | | | | | + 7|Gospels of |...... |Bodl. Lib., |9th cent.|_See_ Westwood, + |MacRegol | |Oxford | |_Palæographia Sacra + | | | | |Pict._, pl. 16. + | | | | | + 8|Book of |...... |Roy. Irish |" |P. 103. Remarkable. + |Armagh | |Acad., Dublin| | + | | | | | + 9|St. Chad's |...... |Lichfield |" |Fine Anglo-Irish. + |Gospels | |Cath. Lib. | | + | | | | | +10|Lindisfarne |Lindisfarne |Brit. Mus., |7th cent.|Anglo-Celtic--a very + |Gospels |Monastery |Cott, Nero D.| |fine example. + | | |4 | | + + +CAROLINGIAN + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Sacramentary |Abbey of |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 750 |Symbolism. Given by + | |Gellone |Paris, MS. | |Ct. William of + | | |Lat. 12048 | |Toulouse. + | | | | | + 2|Ada-Codex |Abbey of St.|Municip. |_c._ 775 |Written for Ada, + | |Mesmin, of |Lib., Trèves | |sister of + | |Trèves | | |Charlemagne, Abbess + | | | | |of St. Mesmin. + | | | | | + 3|Psalter of |..... |Imp. Lib., |_c._ 780 |Written for Queen + |Dagolfus | |Vienna Theol.| |Hildegardis, wife of + | | |Lat. 1861 | |Charlemagne. + | | | | | + 4|Evangeliarium|Abbey of St.|Nat. Lib., |" |Written for + |of Godescale |Sernin, of |Paris, nouv. | |Charlemagne and + | |Toulouse |acq. 1203 | |Hildegardis. Has gold + | | | | |and silver letters on + | | | | |purple vellum. + | | | | | + 5|Sacramentary |Abbey of St.|Abb. St. |" |Franco-Saxon. + |of Gelasius |Gall |Gall, No. 348| | + | | | | | + 6|Evangeliarium|Abbey of St.|Town Lib., |_c._ 793 |On purple vellum. + |of St. |Riquier |Abbeville | | + |Angilbert | | | | + | | | | | + 7|Alcuin Bible |Abbey of |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 800 |Coronation gift to + | |Tours |Add. 10546 | |Charlemagne. Very + | | | | |fine example. + | | | | | + 8|Bible |Tours |Cantonal |" |Like 7. + | | |Lib., Zurich | | + | | | | | + 9|" |" |Bamberg Roy. |" |Said to be an exact + | | |Lib | |copy of 7. + | | | | | +10|Gospels of |" |Imp. Lib., |" |Found by Emperor Otho + |Charles the | |Vienna | |III. in tomb of + |Great | | | |Charlemagne. + |(Charlemagne)| | | | + | | | | | +11|Sacramentary |Abbey of |Nat. Lib. |_c._ 814 |The gift of + |of Drogo, |Metz, or |Paris, Theol.| |Charlemagne to his + |Abp. of Metz |Tours |Lat. 9428 | |natural son Drogo. + | | | | | +12|Golden |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 835 |A splendid example. + |Gospels of | |Harl. 2788 | | + |Athelstan | | | | + | | | | | +13|Golden |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 850 |Ditto, written in + |Gospels of | |Munich | |gold letters. + |Charles the | | | | + |Bald | | | | + | | | | | +14|Evangeliary |Abbey of St.|Nat. Lib., |" |Remarkably beautiful. + |of Lothaire |Martin's, |Paris, Theol.| | + | |Tours |Lat. 266 | | + | | | | | +15|Golden |Abbey of St.|Nat. Lib., |" |One of most beautiful + |Gospels |Médard, of |Paris, Theol.| |Carol. MSS. known. + | |Soissons |Lat 8850 | | + | | | | | +16|Bible of |Abbey of St.|Nat. Lib., |" |Presented to Charles + |Count Vivien |Martin, of |Paris, Theol.| |the Bald in 850. + | |Tours |Lat 1 | |Miniature of + | | | | |presentation. + | | | | | +17|Bible of St. |...... |Monastery of |_c._ 860 |Written for Charles + |Paul's | |St. Calixtus,| |the Bald by Ingobert. + | | |Rome | | + | | | | | +18|Prayer-book |...... |Nat Lib., |_c._ 866 |Written by Ingobert + |(or Hours) of| |Paris | |and presented to + |Charles the | | | |Charles the Bald in + |Bald | | | |866. + | | | | | +19|Golden |Abbey of St.|Lib. at St. |_c._ 870 |Written for Abbot + |Gospels of |Gall |Gall, No. 22 | |Grimwold, or Hartmut. + |St. Gall | | | | + | | | | | +20|Psalter of |" |Lib. at St. |" |Written for Abbot + |Folchard | |Gall, No. 23 | |Hartmut. Gold and + | | | | |silver initials. + | | | | | +21|Evangeliarium|St. Gall |Lib., St. |_c._ 920 |Written by Sintramn + |Longum | |Gall | |of the "Wondrous + | | | | |Hand." Profile +22|Evangeliary |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 925 |foliages in gold and + | | |Brussels, No.| |silver. + | | |16383 | | + | | | | | +23|" |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 940 |Large 4°, written + | | |Paris | |entirely in gold + | | | | |letters; 5 miniatures + | | | | |and 12 porticoes. + | | | | | +24|Psalter |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 995 |Transition to the + | | |Harl. 2904 | |style of the + | | | | |Benedictionals. + + +WINCHESTER WORK AND SIMILAR + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|King Edgar's |Hyde Abbey, |Brit. Mus., |966 |Style of the + |Charter |Winchester |Cott. Vesp. | |Benedictionals of + | | |A. 8 | |Æthelwold and Robert. + | | | | | + 2|Breviarium |Monte |Mazarine |...... |Tendency to same + |Cassinense |Cassino? |Lib., Paris, | |style colouring as in + | | |759 | |school of Metz. + | | | | | + 3|Æthelwold's |Hyde Abbey, |Lib. of Duke |_c._ 970 |Best example known. + |Benedictional|Winchester |of Devonshire| | + | | | | | + 4|Benedictional|" |Pub. Lib., |_c._ 980 |Drawing bold, but + |of Abp. | |Rouen | |colouring unequal to + |Robert | | | |3. + | | | | | + 5|Gospels |...... |Trin. Coll., |_c._ 900 |Borders like + | | |Camb | |Winchester work. + | | | | | + 6|Psalter |...... |Brit. Mus., |...... |Fol. frames similar. + | | |Harl. 2904 | | + | | | | | + 7|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1000|Init. D on f. 115. + | | |Tib. C. 7 | | + | | | | | + 8|" |Winchester |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Arund. 60 | | + | | | | | + 9|" |" |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Arund. 155 | | + | | | | | +10|Cnut's |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1017|Fine example. + |Gospels | |Roy. 1 D. 9 | | + | | | | | +11|Leofric |...... |Bodl. Lib., |10th |Byzantine influence. + |Missal | |Oxford No. |cent. | + | | |579 | | + + +MONASTIC STYLES + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Weissobrun |Weissobrun |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 814 |Netherlandish. + |Prayer-book | |Munich | | + | | | | | + 2|Gospels |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 975 |Medallions of + | | |Paris, 8851 | |Emperors Henry I. and + | | | | |Otho I and II. + | | | | | + 3|Egbert Codex |Reichenau |Pub. Lib. |977-93 |Beautiful initials. + | | |Trèves, No. | | + | | |24 | | + | | | | | + 4|Gospels |Echternach |Gotha Museum |_c._ 990 |Portrait of Otho III. + | | | | |and Theophanu. + | | | | |Jewelled covers. + | | | | | + 5|Otho Codex |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 998 |See p. 91. + | | |Munich Cimel.| | + | | |58 | | + | | | | | + 6|Gospels |...... |Brit. Mus., |10th |Branch-work initials. + | | |Egert. 608 |cent. | + | | | | | + 7|Bernward's |Hildesheim |Cath. Lib., |993-1022 | + |Gospels | |Hildesheim | | + | | | | | + 8|Ellinger's |Tegernsee |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1056| + |Gospels | |Munich No. 31| | + | | | | | + 9|Hortus |Landsberg |Formerly at |_c._ |Burnt in 1670. + |Deliciarum | |Strassburg |1175-80 | + | | | | | +10|Life of |Tegernsee |Roy. Lib., |1173-1200|Written, etc., for + |Virgin | |Berlin | |the Emperor Frederick + | | | | |I. by Werinher. + | | | | | +11|Plenarium |Quedlinburg |Town Lib., |1184-1203|Written for Abbess + | | |Quedlinburg | |Agnes. + | | | | | +12|Passionale |Arnstein, |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1194| + | |near Trèves |Harl. 2800-2 | | + | | | | | +13|Bible |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1190| + | | |Harl. 2803 | | + | | | | | +14|" |Floreffe |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1253|Chronological tables + | | |Add. 17737-8 | |in coloured inks. + | | | | | +15|Missal |St. Bavon of|Brit. Mus., |1150-1175| + | |Ghent |Add. 16949 | | + | | | | | +16|Chronicle of |...... |Roy. Lib., |...... |Fine miniatures-- + |Jerusalem | |Brussels, No.| |costumes. + | | |11142 | | + | | | | | +17|Psalter |...... |Brit. Mus., |12th |Transition from + | | |Arund. 157 |cent. |Winchester to + | | | | |Othonian. +18|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Lansd. 420 | | + | | | | | +19|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Lansd. 431 | | + | | | | | +20|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Roy. I D.X. | | + | | | | | +21|Bible |St. |Brit. Mus., |" |Typical 12th cent. + | |Nicholas, of|Harl. 2798 | |MS. + | |Arnstein | | | + | | | | | +22|Vauclere |...... |Pub. Lib., |...... |A perfect type of + |Psalter | |Laon, No. 29 | |12th cent. + | | | | |illumination. + | | | | | +23|Mater |Scheyern |Roy. Lib., |...... |By Conrad of + |Verborum | |Munich | |Scheyern, with all + | | | | |manner of diagrams, + | | | | |etc. + + +FRENCH AND ANGLO-FRENCH GOTHIC + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Psalter of |..... |Musée Condé, |1193-1236|27 large miniatures + |Queen | |Ghantilly | |Transitional to + |Ingeburga | | | |Gothic + | | | | | + 2|Psalter of |..... |Arsenal Lib.,|_c._ 1220|Hieratic, and + |Queen | |Paris, Theol.| |transitional to + |Blanche, | |Lat. 165 B. | |Gothic. + |mother of | | | | + |Louis IX. | | | | + | | | | | + 3|Psalter of |..... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1250|Transitional to + |St. Louis | |Paris, No. | |Gothic. 78 delicate + |(IX.) | |10525 | |miniatures. + | | | | | + 4|Joinville's |..... |Nat. Lib., |1287 |Gothic portrait of + |Credo | |Paris | |St. Louis. + | | | | | + 5|Alfonso |Blackfriar's|Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1284|See article in _Fine + |Psalter |London |Add. 24686 | |Arts Qu. Rev._, i. + |(Tenison) | | | |77, and + | | | | |_Bibliographica_, pt. + | | | | |4. + | | | | | + 6|Bible |..... |Brit. Mus., |1225-52 |Richly illuminated. + | | |Burney 3 | | + | | | | | + 7|Somme le Roy |..... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1300|9 large + | | |Add. 28162 | |illuminations. + | | | | | + 8|Life of St. |..... |Nat. Lib., |1316-22 |Contains view of + |Denis | |Paris, fds. | |Paris, and portrait + | | |fr. 2090-2 | |of Philip V. + | | | | |Drolleries, coloured + | | | | |shading of draperies. + | | | | | + 9|Bible |..... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ |Typical work, + | | |Roy. 1 D. 1 |1310-15 |English. + | | | | | +10|Ormsby |Norwich |Bodl. Lib., |_c._ 1295|English work. + |Psalter | |Oxford, Douce| | + | | |366 | | + | | | | | +11|Bible |..... |Brit. Mus, |Late 13th|A typical MS. + | | |Add. 17341 |cent. | + | | | | | +12|Psalter |..... |Brit. Mus., |Early |Drolleries and + | | |Roy. 2 B. 7 |14th |interesting scenes. + | | | |cent. | + | | | | | +13|Miroir |..... |Arsen. Lib., |_c._ 1356|Large folio richly + |Historiale | |Paris | |illuminated. + | | | | | +14|Louterell |..... |Lulworth |_c._ 1340|Fine diapered + |Psalter | |Castle | |backgrounds. + | | | | | +15|Missal |..... |Westreenen |1366 |"Gouache" painting in + | | |Mus., The | |miniatures. + | | |Hague | | + | | | | | +16|Chronicle of |..... |Nat. Lib., |1375-80 |Miniature in gold and + |St. Denis | |Paris, 8395 | |grey. + | | | | | +17|Hours of |..... |Roy. Lib., |Finished |Illuminated by André + |John, Duke of| |Brussels, |1380 |Beauneveu and + |Berry | |11060 | |Jacquemart de Hesdin. + | | | | | +18|Epistle to |Paris |Brit. Mus., |1370-80 |Fine ivy-branch + |Richard II. | |Roy. 20 B. 6 | |style. + | | | | | +19|Offices |..... |Brit. Mus., |..... |Prayer-book of + |B.M.V. | |Harl. 2897 | |Margaret of Bavaria. + | | | | |A typical MS. + | | | | | +20|Little Hours |..... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1400|113 beautiful + |of Berry | |Paris, 18014 | |miniatures. + | | | | | +21|Psalter of |Paris |Nat. Lib., |1401 |Contains 24 fine + |the Duke of | |Paris, No. | |miniatures by André + |Berry | |13091 | |Beauneveu. + | | | | | +22|Grandes |" |Nat. Lib., |1409 |By Jacquemart de + |Heures de | |Paris, fds. | |Hesdin, André + |Berry | |Lat. 919 | |Beauneveu, and Pol de + | | | | |Limbourg. + | | | | | +23|Heures de |" |Musée Dondé, |1410 |Considered the finest + |Berry | |Chantilly | |example known. + | | | | | +24|Poems of |...... |Brit. Mus., |1400-6 |Fine miniatures-- + |Christine de | |Harl. 4431 | |costumes and + |Pisan | | | |portraits. + | | | | | +25|Talbot |...... |Brit. Mus., |1400 |Curious miniatures, + |Romances | |Roy. 15 E. 6 | |portraits of Henry + | | | | |VI., etc. + | | | | | +26|Bedford |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1435|Richly illuminated. + |Offices | |Add. 18850 | |Contains French, + | | | | |English, and + | | | | |Netherlandish work. + | | | | | +27|Bedford |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1430|Contains English and + |Breviary | |Paris, fds. | |French work. + | | |Lat. 17294 | | + | | | | | +28|Pontifical |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1450|Fine borders. + | | |Add. 16610 | | + | | | | | +29|Valerius |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Northern French and + |Maximus | |Harl. 4375 | |Netherlandish. + | | | | | +30|Girart de |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1470|Netherlandish-- + |Nevers | |Paris, fds. | |costumes, etc. + | | |fr. 4092 | | + + +GERMAN AND BOHEMIAN + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Minnelieder |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1300|Hunting scenes, + | | |Paris, fds. | |costumes. + | | |fr. 7266 | | + | | | | | + 2|Wilhelm von |...... |Pub. Lib., |1334 |Written for Henry + |Oranse | |Cassel | |Landgrave of Hesse. + | | | | |French influence. + 3|Picture Bible|...... |Lib. of |_c._ 1300| + | | |Prince | | + | | |Lobkowitz, | | + | | |Prag | | + | | | | | + 4|Passionale of|Prag |Univ. Lib., |1312 |Transparent + |Abbess | |Prag, xiv. A.| |water-colour. No + |Cunigunda | |17 | |French influence. + | | | | | + 5|Weltchronik |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1350|Old Cologne school. + |of Rudolf v. | |Stuttgart | | + |Hohen-Ems | | | | + | | | | | + 6|Liber |Prag |Bohem. Mus., |_c._ 1360|Written for John v. + |Viaticus | |Prag | |Neumarkt, Bishop of + | | | | |Leitomischl. + | | | | | + 7|Mariale |" |Bohem. Mus., |_c._ 1345|Written for Arnestus + | | |Prag | |v. Pardubitz, + | | | | |Archbishop of Prag + | | | | |(1344-64). Bohemian + | | | | |school. + | | | | | + 8|Orationale |" |Bohem. Mus., |_c._ 1345|Written for same + | | |Prag | |prelate, in French + | | | | |Gothic style. + | | | | | + 9|Bible of |" |Imp. Lib., |...... |Executed by order of + |Emperor | |Vienna, No. | |Martin Rotlöw for + |Wenzel | |2759 | |presentation to the + | | | | |Emperor. + | | | | | +10|Gospels of |" |Imp. Lib., |1368 |Beautiful penmanship + |John of | |Vienna | |and ornaments. + |Oppavia | | | | + | | | | | +11|Wilhelm von |" |Ambras |1387 |Fine diapered + |Oranse | |Museum, | |backgrounds, + | | |Vienna, No. 7| |costumes, and armour. + | | | | | +12|Salzburg |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1350|In 5 fol. vols. + |Missal | |Munich, Lat. | |Splendid colouring. + | | |15710 | | + | | | | | +13|Weltchronik |...... |15710 Pub. |_c._ 1383|Large folio. + |of Rudolf v. | |Lib., | |Westphalian school. + |Hohen-Ems | |Stuttgart | | + | | | | | +14|Durandus |...... |Imp. Lib., |1384 |Written for Albert + | | |Vienna, No. | |III., Duke of + | | |2765 | |Austria. Illuminated + | | | | |in later Bohemian. + | | | | | +15|Golden Bull |Prag |Imp. Lib., |_c._ 1399|Rich soft-leaved + |of Charles | |Vienna, jus. | |foliages. Ornament + |IV. | |c. 338 | |superior to + | | | | |miniatures. + | | | | | +16|Wurzburg |...... |Brit. Mus., |After |Large foliages, fine + |Bible | |Arund. 106 |1400 |initials, bright + | | | | |colours. + | | | | | +17|Missal of |...... |Imp. Lib., |1448 |German work. + |Emperor | |Vienna | | + |Frederick | | | | + |III. | | | | + | | | | | +18|Gospels |...... |Pub. Lib., |1498 |43 miniatures and + | | |Nuremberg | |splendid borders, + | | | | |etc., by Conrad + | | | | |Frankendorfer. + | | | | | +19|Choir-book of|Abbey of St.|Lib., |1489 |Written by L. Wagner, + |SS. Ulrich |Ulrich, |Augsburg | |and illuminated by G. + |and Afra, |Augsburg | | |Beck. + |Augsburg | | | | + | | | | | +20|Miniature of |Augsburg |Vict. and |_c._ 1489|Taken from 19. + |presentation | |Alb. Mus., | | + |of 19 | |South | | + | | |Kensington | | + | | | | | +21|Offices |Upper |Brit. Mus., |1513 | + |B.M.V. |Carinthia |Add. 15711 | | + | | | | | +22|Prayer-book |Nuremberg |Aschaffenburg|1524 |Illuminated by A. + |of Albert of | |Castle | |Glockendon. + |Brandenburg | |Library | | + | | | | | +23|Prayer-book |" |Imp. Lib., |1535 |Illuminated by Albert + |of William | |Vienna, No. | |Glockendon. + |IV. of | |1880 | | + |Bavaria | | | | + | | | | | +24|Prayer-book |" |Brit. Mus., |1584 |School of Glockendon. + | | |Add. 17525 | | + | | | | | +25|Splendor |...... |Harl. 3469 |Late 16th|Astrological + |Solis | | |cent. |diagrams, etc., + | | | | |scenes. + | | | | | +26|Penitential |Munich |Roy. Lib., |1570 |Painted by Hans + |Psalms | |Munich, | |Mielich. + | | |Cimel. Saal | | + | | | | | +27|Horæ |...... |Brit. Mus., |Late 16th|Fine foliages and + | | |Egert. 1146 |cent. |initials. + | | | | | +28|Prayer-book |Strassburg |Nat. Lib., |1647 |2 vols., 8°. + |of William of| |Paris, Nos. | |Renaissance by + |Baden | |10567-8 | |Frederic Brentel. + + +SICILIAN AND ITALIAN + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|De arte |Palermo |Vat. Lib., |_c._ 1225|Composed by Emperor + |venandi cum | |Rome, palat. | |Frederick II. + |avibus | |1071 | |(1212-50). Paintings + | | | | |of birds and hunting + | | | | |scenes. + | | | | | + 2|Offices, |Gubbio |Acad. Lib., |...... |Attributed to + |"ordo offic. | |Siena | |Oderigi. + |Senensis" | | | | + | | | | | + 3|Legends |Florence? |Canon. Lib., |_c._ |Attributed to Giotto. + | | | |1327-43 | + | | | | | + 4|Vergil |Florence? |Rome Ambros. |_c._ 1310|Attributed to Simone + | | |Lib., Milan | |Martini. + | | | | | + 5|Durandus |Siena? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1330|Fine work. + | | |Add. 31032 | | + | | | | | + 6|Aristotle |Bologna? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1335|Like the "Avignon" + | | |Harl. 6331 | |Decretals. + | | | | | + 7|Stefaneschi |Rome? |Canon. Lib., |1327-43 |In same vol. with 3, + |Missal | |Rome | |and attributed to + | | | | |Giotto. + | | | | | + 8|Poems of |Naples? |Brit. Mus., |1309-43 |Bold "gouache" + |Convenevole | |Roy. 6 E. 9 | |painting. Executed + |da Prato[66] | | | |for King Robert of + | | | | |Naples. + | | | | | + 9|Breviarium |Florence? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1400|Fine initials. + |Romanum | |Harl. 2903 | | + | | | | | +10|Concordantiæ |Bologna? |Nat. Mus., |_c._ 1350|Allegorical figures + |Canonicæ | |Naples | |and "gouache" + | | | | |painting. + | | | | | +11|Statuts de |Naples |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1354|Executed for Louis + |l'Ordre do | |Paris, fds. | |I., of House of + |St. Esprit | |fr. 4274 | |Anjou, King of Sicily + | | | | |and Jerusalem. + | | | | | +12|Romance of |Avignon? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1355|Executed for Louis + |Meliadus | |Add. 12228 | |II. of Naples. + | | | | | +13|Triumphs of |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1370|Small miniatures and + |Fr. Petrarch | |Harl. 3109 | |initials in older + | | | | |style. + | | | | | +14|" |...... |Nat. Lib., |...... |Miniatures of + | | |Paris | |triumphs. + | | | | | +15|Joannes |...... |Abp. of St. |_c._ 1370|Fine Bolognese + |Andreae, Lib.| |Florian | |miniatures. + |VI. | | | | + |Decretalium | | | | + | | | | | +16|Glossa |Bologna? |Laon, No. 382|_c._ |Very finely + |Joannis | | |1330-43 |illuminated. + |Andreae in | | | | + |Clementinas | | | | + | | | | | +17|Rubrics on |" |Laon, No. 357|1332 |Many grotesque + |the Decretals| | | |figures. + | | | | | +18|Decretum |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1375|Exquisitely + |Gratiani | |Add. 15274, | |illuminated. + | | |15275 | | + | | | | | +19|Missale |" |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1374|By Nicolaus de + |Romanum | |Munich, Lat. | |Bononia. + | | |10072 | | + | | | | | +20|" |" |St. Mark's, |_c._ 1370|" + | | |Venice, cl. | | + | | |iii. xcvii. | | + | | | | | +21|" |Florence? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ |Fine pen work diapers + | | |Add. 21973 |1380-1400|and initials. + | | | | | +22|Latin Bible |Bologna? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ |Sweet colouring and + | | |Add. 18720 |1375-1400|fine foliages. + | | | | | +23|Hymnarium |Sienese? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1400|Fine initials. + |Heremitarum | |Add. 30014 | | + | | | | | +24|Questions on |Naples |Brit. Mus., |_c._ |Written by Hippolytus + |4 Books of | |Add. 15270-3 |1458-94 |Lunensis for + |Sentences by | | | |Ferdinand I., King of + |Job. Scot, | | | |Naples, and finely + |Franciscan | | | |illuminated. + | | | | | +25|Platonis |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1470|Written for Ferdinand + |Opera | |Harl. 3481 | |I., King of Naples. + | | | | |Finely illuminated. + | | | | | +26|Cæsar | |Brit. Mus., |1462 |White stem-work. + | | |Add. 16982 | | + | | | | | +27|" |Rome? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1460|Executed for Pius II. + | | |Harl. 2683 | |Roman Renaissance + | | | | |(1458-64). + | | | | | +28|Petrarch |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1465|White stem-work. + |Sonnets, etc.| |Harl. 3411 | |Written by J. And. + | | | | |Mussolini. + | | | | | +29|Offices |Milan? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1475|A pretty little + | | |Add. 19417 | |volume of Milanese + | | | | |work. + | | | | | +30|Missale |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Like MSS. executed + |Romanum | |Add. 15260 | |for the Dukes of + | | | | |Ferrara. Very fine. + | | | | | +31|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1480|Of Florentine type. + | | |Harl. 2875 | | + | | | | | +32|Officium |Florence |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1475|A small volume, but + |B.M.V. | |Add. 15528 | |rich initials. + | | | | | +33|Missale |Bologna |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1495|Like 32, but finer. + |Romanum | |Add. 15814 | |Written by Jo. de + | | | | |Lyvonia for one of + | | | | |the Visconti. + | | | | | +34|Josephus |Rome |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1490|Roman Renaissance. + | | |Harl. 3699 | | + | | | | | +35|Herodean |Florence |Brit. Mus., |1487 |Written by Alexander + | | |Add. 23773 | |Verazzanus. + | | | | | +36|Scrapbook of |Rome and |Brit. Mus., |1480-1500|A very interesting + |cutting's |Florence |Add. 21412 | |collection. Roman and + | | | | |Florentine. + | | | | | +37|Grant of |Milan |Brit. Mus., |1494 |Illuminated by + |Ludovico | |Add. 21413 | |Antonio da Monza. + |Sforza (il | | | | + |Moro) | | | | + | | | | | +38|Offices |Naples |Brit. Mus., |1500 |Written and + | | |Add. 21591 | |illuminated for + | | | | |Frederick of Aragon, + | | | | |King of Naples. + | | | | | +39|Prayer-book |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1455|Finest Neapolitan + |of Alfonso I.| |Add. 28962 | |work. Portraits + | | | | |(1416-58). + | | | | | +40|Orations of |" |Imp. Lib., |_c._ 1490|Executed for + |Cicero | |Vienna | |Ferdinand I., King of + | | | | |Naples (1458-94). + | | | | |Very fine. + +[66] Petrarch's tutor. + + +RENAISSANCE ILLUMINATION + +ITALIAN + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Life of |Florence |Brit. Mus., |1506 |Neat in execution. + |Manetti | |Add. 9770 | | + | | | | | + 2|Life of St. |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1505|Very fine + |Francis | |Harl. 3229 | |illumination. + | | | | | + 3|Eusebius |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1515| + | | |Harl. 3308 | | + | | | | | + 4|Life of |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1525| + |Manetti | |Lansd. 842 | | + | | | | | + 5|Eusebius |Milan |Brit. Mus., |" | + | | |Roy | | + | | | | | + 6|Missale |Venice |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1530|Attributed to + | | |Add. 15813 | |Benedetto Bordone. + | | | | | + 7|Ethics of |Naples or |Imp. Lib., |_c._ |Fine Renaissance + |Aristotle |Calabria |Vienna |1490-1510|work. Elaborately + | | | | |designed frames, and + | | | | |fine miniatures + | | | | |painted in a strong + | | | | |"gouache," by Rinaldo + | | | | |Piramo, for And. + | | | | |Matt. Acquavira, 8th + | | | | |Duke of Atri. + | | | | | + 8|St. Jerome on|Florence |Imp. Lib., |_c._ |Illuminated by + |Ezechiel | |Vienna, No. |1490-1520|Attavante for Matt. + | | |654 | |Corvinus, King of + | | | | |Hungary (1443-90). + | | | | | + 9|Philostratus |" |Imp. Lib., |" |Illuminated probably + |(Latin) | |Vienna, No. | |by Attavante for + | | |25 | |Matt. Corvinus. + | | | | | +10|Missale |" |Roy. Lib., |" |Illuminated by + |Romanum of | |Brussels | |Attavante for + |Corvinus | | | |Corvinus. Used for + | | | | |admission oaths of + | | | | |Governors of + | | | | |Netherlands. + | | | | | +11|Augustine: |" |Imp. Lib., |_c._ 1495|Illuminated by + |Epistles | |Vienna | |Attavante for Matt. + | | | | |Corvinus. Signed + | | | | |"Attavantes pinsit." + | | | | | +12|Martianus |" |Lib. St. |_c._ 1500|Illuminated by + |Capella | |Mark's, | |Attavante for Matt. + | | |Venice | |Corvinus. Signed. + | | | | |Written by Al, + | | | | |Verazzanus + | | | | | +13|Psalter |" |Ducal Lib., |" |Illuminated by + | | |Wolfenbüttel | |Attavante. + | | | | | +14|Diurnale |" |Laurent. |" |Illuminated by + | | |Lib., | |Attavante or + | | |Florence | |Gherardo. + | | | | | +15|Missal of Bp.|" |Pub. Lib., |" |Illuminated by + |of Dôle | |Lyons | |Attavante. + | | | | | +16|St. Gregory |" |Estense Lib.,|" |Illuminated by + |on Ezechiel | |Modena | |Attavante. Signed. + | | | | | +17|Dionysii Opp.|" |Pub. Lib., |" |" + | | |Besançon | | + | | | | | +18|"Gran" |" |Nat. Lib., |" |Probably illuminated + |Breviary | |Paris, MS. | |by Boccardino il + | | |Lat. 8879 | |Vecchio, though + | | | | |attributed to + | | | | |Attavante. + | | | | | +19|Hieronymi |" |Nat. Lib., |1488-1500|Written for Matt. + |Breviar. in | |Paris, MS. | |Corvinus by Anton + |psalmos | |Lat. 16839 | |Sinibaldi, and + | | | | |illuminated by + | | | | |Attavante. + | | | | | +20|Poems of |Rome |Imp. Lib., |_c._ 1536|Illuminated by Giulio + |Eurialo | |Vienna | |Clovio (1498-1578). + |d'Ascoli | | | | + | | | | | +21|"Rothesay" |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1546|Illuminated by + |Offices | |Add. 20927 | |Clovio. + | | | | | +22|Commentary on|" |Soane Mus., |_c._ 1536|Executed for Cardinal + |St. Paul's | |London | |Grimani by Clovio. + |Epistles | | | | + | | | | | +23|Psalter of |" |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1542|Illuminated by + |Paul III. | |Paris, MS. | |Vincenzio Raimondi. + | | |Lat. 702. | | + | | | | | +24|Papal |" |Lenox Lib., |_c._ 1546|By Clovio and his + |Lectionary | |New York | |assistants. + |(Towneley | | | | + |Clovio) | | | | + | | | | | +25|Dante |" |Vat. Lib., |_c._ 1555|Illuminated in part + | | |No. 365 | |by Clovio. + | | | | | +26|Investiture |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1560|Very fine ornament. + |from Duke of | |Add. 22660 | | + |Urbino | | | | + | | | | | +27|Triumphs of |" |Lib. of Capt.|_c._ 1550|Fine miniatures. + |Petrarch | |Holford, | | + | | |London | | + | | | | | +28|Missal of |" |Rylands Lib.,|_c._ 1520|Fine miniatures. + |Card. Colonna| |Manchester | |Attributed, but + | | | | |without authority, to + | | | | |Raffaelle. + | | | | | +29|Prayer-book |Rome, or |Barberini |_c._ 1500|Many fine miniatures. + | |Florence |Lib., Rome, | | + | | |No. 324 | | + | | | | | +30|Missal of |Rome |Chigi Lib., |_c._ |Executed for Pius II. + |Pius II. | |Rome |1460-70 | + | | | | | +31|Missal of |" |Corsini Lib.,|_c._ 1530|Fine framed + |Card. Corsini| |Rome, No. | |miniatures. + | | |1015 | | + | | | | | +32|Missal of |" |Minerva Lib.,|_c._ 1520|Fine miniatures. + |Card. Cornaro| |Rome | | + | | | | | +33|"Pavia" |Milan |Brera Lib., |1530-80 |By several artists, + |Graduals | |Milan | |especially G. + | | | | |Berretta. Enormous + | | | | |folios. + | | | | | +34|Prayer-book |...... |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1574|Finest Roman + |of Albert IV.| |Munich, Cim. | |Renaissance, but + |of Bavaria | |Saal. 42 | |written by Hans + | | | | |Lenker, of Munich + | | | | |(not a Clovio). + | | | | | +35|Apologia di |Rome |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1510|Executed for Henry + |Colenuccio | |Roy. 12, c. | |VIII. of England. + | | |viii. | | + | | | | | +36|Prayer-book |Milan |Roy. Lib., |_c._ 1450|Illuminated by + |Bianca Maria | |Munich, No. | |Giovanni da Como. + |of Milan | |99A | |Contains Visconti and + | | | | |Sforza arms. + | | | | | +37|Hours of Bona|" |Brit Mus., |_c._ 1490|Finest Milanese + |Sforza of | |Add. 34294 | |Renaissance, with + |Milan | | | |some Flemish + | | | | |additions. + + +FRENCH + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|The |Tours |Nat. Lib., |...... |Attributed to Jehan + |"Versailles" | |Paris, 6907 | |Fouquet of Tours. + |Livy | | | | + | | | | | + 2|The |" |Nat. Lib., |...... |Attributed to Jehan + |"Sorbonne" | |Paris, fds. | |Fouquet of Tours. + |Livy | |Sorb. 297 | | + | | | | | + 3|Antiquities |" |Nat. Lib., |...... |Fouquet's + |of the Jews | |Paris, Resew.| |masterpiece. + | | |6891 | | + | | | | | + 4|Boccacio |" |Roy. Lib., |...... |Executed for Etienne + | | |Munich | |Chevalier. + | | | | | + 5|Trésor des |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1490|Fine aërial + |Histoires | |Cott. Aug. v.| |perspective and + | | | | |landscape. + | | | | | + 6|Valerius |Paris |Brit. Mus., |" |A very fine MS. + |Maximus | |Harl. 4374-5 | | + | | | | | + 7|Hours of Anne|" |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1508|A magnificent + |of Brittany | |Paris | |example, eclectic in + | | | | |style, with natural + | | | | |flowers and insects + | | | | |in borders, and fine + | | | | |figure-painting. + | | | | | + 8|Hours of |" |Vicomte de |_c._ 1550|Attributed to Jean + |Claude | |Janzé | |Cousin. Influence of + |Gouffier | | | |glass-painting. + | | | | | + 9|Offices |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1530|Probably executed for + | | |Add. 18853 | |Francis I. of France. + | | | | |Excellent work, + | | | | |eclectic in style. + | | | | | +9a|Hours of |" |Libr. of |1549 |Same style as 8 and + |Montmorency | |Count of | |9, and probably by J. + | | |Haussonville | |Cousin, + | | | | | +10|Offices |Tours? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1525|Architectural details + | | |Add. 18854 | |of School of Tours. + | | | | |Written for Fr. de + | | | | |Dinteville, Bp. of + | | | | |Auxerre. + | | | | | +11|" |" |Brit. Mus., |" |Architectural frames + | | |Add. 18855 | |to miniatures as in + | | | | | +12|" |Paris |Nat. Lib., |1531 |10, but larger and + | | |Paris, Lat. | |more fanciful + | | |10563 | |details, somewhat + | | | | |like 7 in portions. + | | | | | +13|Epistres |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1500|Executed for Louise + |d'Ovide | |Paris, fds. | |de Savoie, mother of + | | |fr. 875 | |Francis I. + | | | | | +14|Boece |Paris |Nat. Lib., |" |Fine miniatures with + | | |Paris, u. | |Renaissance + | | |fds. Lat. | |architectural + | | |6643 | |details. + | | | | | +15|Epistres |" |Nat. Lib., |" |Translated by + | | |Paris, 6877 | |Octavien de d'Ovide + | | | | |St. Gelay. Beautiful + | | | | |miniatures. + | | | | | +16|Petrarch's |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1520|Very fine miniatures + |Triumphs | |Paris, f. fr.| |of triumphs. Italian + | | |7079 | |influence. + | | | | | +17|Chants royaux|...... |Nat. Lib., |" |Fine miniatures. + | | |Paris, 6987 | | + | | | | | +18|Chants Royaux|Paris |Nat. Lib., |" |Magnificent + | | |Paris, f. fr.| |miniatures under + | | |379 | |Italian influence of + | | | | |Andrea del Sarto. + | | | | | +19|Petrarch |" |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1503|Miniature of + | | |Paris, f. fr.| |presentation to Louis + | | |225 | |XII. Many full-page + | | | | |miniatures. + | | | | | +20|Fleur des |" |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1505|Executed for Cardinal + |Histoires | |Paris, f. fr.| |d'Amboise. + | | |54 | | + | | | | | +21|Chron. de |" |Nat. Lib., |" |Three large folio + |Monstrelet | |Paris, | |vols. Vol. i. + | | |20360-2 | |contains five + | | | | |equestrian portraits + | | | | |of Louis XII. + | | | | | +22|Les Echecs |" |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1500|Executed for use of + |amoreux | |Paris, f. fr.| |Francis, d. of + | | |143 | |Angoulème, and his + | | | | |sister Marguerite. + | | | | | +23|Boccace de |" |Nat. Lib., |" |By same illuminator + |claris et | |Paris, f. fr.| |as 22. Executed for + |nobilibus | |599 | |Louise de Savoie. + |mulieribus | | | | + | | | | | +24|Reception de |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1514|"Avec belles + |Marie | |Vesp. B. 2 | |peintures." + |d'Angleterre | | | | + |à Paris | | | | + | | | | | +25|Chants Royaux|" |Nat. Lib., |1515 |Presented in 1515 to + | | |Paris, f. fr.| |Louise de Savoie by + | | |145 | |the City of Amiens. + | | | | |The miniatures + | | | | |painted in grisaille + | | | | |by J. Plastel, and + | | | | |coloured by J. + | | | | |Pinchon. Contains + | | | | |portrait of Louise. + | | | | | +26|Commentaires |" |Brit. Mus. |_c._ 1519|Attributed to + |de César, | | | |Geoffroy Tory. Part + |Vol. i. | | | |grisaille. Written in + | | | | |Roman text. See + | | | | |_Dict. Miniat._ iii. + | | | | |312. + | | | | | + |Commentaires |" |Nat. Lib., |" |" + |de César, | |Paris, 13429 | | + |Vol. ii. | | | | + | | | | | + |Commentaires |" |Lib. of Duc |" |" + |de César, | |d'Aumale | | + |Vol. iii. | | | | + | | | | | +27|Dutillet, |...... |Nat. Lib., |...... |Presented to Charles + |French Kings,| |Paris, 2848 | |IX. + |etc. | | | | + | | | | | +28|Hours of |...... |Nat. Lib., |_c._ 1595|Peculiar style and + |Henry IV. | |Paris, Lat. | |colouring. + | | |1171 | | + | | | | | +29|Gospel of St.|Boisleduc |Brit. Mus., |...... |Finely written, but + |John | |Roy., E. 5 | |not illuminated by + | | | | |Pet. Meghen. + | | | | | +30|"Sol |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1682|Painted by Pierre + |Gallicus" | |Add. 23745 | |Mignard. + | | | | | +31|Psalter |London |Brit. Mus., |1565 |Written by Petrucco + | | |Roy. 2 B. 9 | |Ubaldini, a + | | | | |Florentine. + | | | | | +32|Book of |English? |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1600|Very elegant borders. + |Sentences for|London? |Roy. 17 A. 23| | + |Lady Sumley | | | | + + +ENGLISH ILLUMINATION + +FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Offices and |Westminster |Brit. Mus., |1240 |Imitation of stained + |Prayers | |Roy. 2 A. 22 | |glass. Typical MS. + | | | | | + 2|Bible in |Canterbury |Brit. Mus., |1245 | + |Latin | |Burney 3 | | + | | | | | + 3|" |Salisbury |Brit. Mus., |1254 |Written by Will de + | | |Roy. 1 B. 12 | |Hales. + | | | | | + 4|Tenison |London |Brit. Mus., |1294 |Written and + |Psalter | |Add. 24686 | |illuminated by order + | | | | |of Edward I. + | | | | | + 5|Bible in |...... |Brit. Mus., |13th |Written by Will of + |Latin | |Roy. 1 D 1 |cent. |Devon. + | | | | | + 6|Apocalypse in|...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1330|See _Bibliographica_, + |French | |Roy. 19 B. 15| |pt. v. pl. 1. + | | | | | + 7|Arundel |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |See _Bibliographica_, + |Psalter | |Arund. 83 | |pt. v. pl. 2 + | | | | | + 8|Psalter of |...... |Brit. Mus., |1380 |Transition from + |Joan of Kent | |Roy. 2 B. 8 | |French Gothic to + | | | | |Lancastrian. + | | | | | + 9|Pontifical |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1400|Early Lancastrian. + | | |Lansd. 451 | | + | | | | | +10|Bible in |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Large folio. See + |Latin | |Roy. 1 E. ix.| |_Bibliographica_, pt. + | | | | |v. pl. 4. + | | | | | +11|Breviary |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Something like 7. + | | |Harl. 2975 | | + | | | | | +12|Offices |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ | + | | |Add. 16968 |1390-1400| + | | | | | +13|" |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1410|Executed for Anne + | | |Add. 16998 | |Mauleverer. + | | | | | +14|Liber Albus |London |Guildhall |" |Bracket borders. + | | |Lib., London | | + | | | | | +15|Liber de Hyda|Winchester |Shirburn |" |Richly illuminated + | | |Castle Lib. | |borders, some + | | | | |unfinished. See Rolls + | | | | |Series. 1866. + | | | | | +16|Offices |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ |Early Lancastrian. + | | |Roy. 2 B. 1 |1400-1410| + | | | | | +17|Grandison |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1410|Fine initials with + |Offices | |Roy. 2 A. 18 | |Lancastrian brackets. + | | | | |See _Bibliographica_, + | | | | |v. pl. 5. + | | | | | +18|Occleve de |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1415|Traceried backgrounds + |Regim. | |Ar. 38 | |in Bohemian manner. + |Principum | | | |Cf. Will. v. Orange + | | | | |MS. + | | | | | +19|Ormonde |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1420|Similar to 17. Called + |Offices | |Roy. 2 B. 15 | |by Humphreys (_Books + | | | | |of Middle Ages_) + | | | | |_Queen Mary's + | | | | |Breviary_. + | | | | | +20|Gower's |...... |Brit. Mus., |" |Lancastrian style. + |Confessio | |Harl. 3490 | | + |Amantis | | | | + | | | | | +21|Psalter of |St. Alban's |Brit. Mus., |1460 |Fine English work. + |Queen Mary | |Roy. 2 B. 7 | |Presented in 1553 to + | | | | |Queen Mary + | | | | | +22|Horæ |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1460|Many mediocre + | | |Harl. 2884 | |illuminations. + | | | | | +23|Gospels and |London |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1508|Given by Stephen and + |Epistles, | |Roy. 2 B. 12,| |Margaret Jenyns to + |etc. | |13 | |the church at + | | | | |Aldermanbury, London. + | | | | | +24|Bourchier |" |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1458|Contains Bourchier + |Psalter | |Roy. 2 B. 14 | |obituaries. + | | | | | +25|Psalter and |...... |Brit. Mus., |_c._ 1470|Good text and many + |Canticles, | |Harl. 1719 | |illuminated letters + |etc. | | | |and borders. + + +SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE + +--+-------------+--------------------------+---------+--------------------- +No| Name. | Where | Where Kept. | Date. | Remarks. + | | Produced. | | | +--+-------------+------------+-------------+---------+--------------------- + 1|Hours, etc., |...... |Brit. Mus., |...... |Netherlandish + |Lat. and | |Add. 18193 | |influence. + |Catalan. | | | | + | | | | | + 2|Offices |...... |Brit. Mus., |...... |Italian influence. + |B.M.V. | |Add. 28271 | | + | | | | | + 3|Hidalguia |...... |Brit. Mus., |1604 |In Genoese manner. + | | |Add. 12214 | | + | | | | | + 4|Diploma of |...... |Brit. Mus., |17th |" + |Philip III. | |Roy. Claud. |cent. | + | | |B. x. | | + | | | | | + 5|Patent to |...... |Brit. Mus., |1797 |Allegorical designs. + |Princ. de la | |Add. 1706 | | + |Paz | | | | + | | | | | + 6|Ordo Miss. |...... |Brit. Mus., |17th |Roman text, good + |Pontificales | |Add. 30857 |cent. |initials. + | | | | | + 7|Portuguese |...... |Brit. Mus., |...... |Written for John + |Missal | |Stowe 597 | |III., King of + | | | | |Portugal. + | | | | | + 8|Hidalguia de |Spain |Brit. Mus., |1578 |Granted by Philip + |Gonsalo de | |Add. 22143 | |II., with his + |Castro Cepeda| | | |portrait. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +Abrahams, N.C.L. _Description des MSS. françaises du Moyen Age de la +Bibliothèque Royale de Copenhague._ 4to. Copenhagen. 1844. + +Alt, H. _Die Heiligenbilder oder die bildende Kunst u. die Theologie._ +8vo. Berlin, 1845. + +Astle, Thomas. _The Origin and Progress of Writing._ 4to. London, 1784, +1803. + + +Barrois, J. _Bibliothèque Protypographique ou librairies du roi Jean._ +4to, Paris, 1830. 6 plates. + +Bastard, Aug. _Librairie de Jean de France duc de Berry...illustrée des +plus belles miniatures de ses MSS., etc._ Folio. Paris, 1834. 32 plates. + +Beissel, Stephan. _Des heiligen Bernward Evangelienbuch im Dome zu +Hildesheim. Mit Hdschr. des 10. und 11. Jahrh., etc._ Third edition. 26 +photo-lithographs (12 x 9). Hildesheim, 1894. + +Beissel, Stephan. _Vaticanische Miniaturen._ Folio. Freiburg im +Breisgau, 1893. Many lithographed plates. + +Birch, W. de G. History, _Art, and Palæography of the MS. commonly +styled the Utrecht Psalter._ 8vo. 3 facsimile plates in autotype. B, +Quaritch, London, 1876. + +Birch, W. de G., and Jenner, H. _Early Drawings and Illuminations_ (in +MSS., chiefly in the British Museum). 12mo. London, 1879. + +Biscionii, A.M. _Catal. bibl. Medico-Laurentiana._ Folio. Florentine, +1752-7. (Valuable plates of facsimiles, etc.) + +Bradley, J.W. _Life and Works of G.G. Clovio, Miniaturist, etc._ 8vo. +London, 1891. 18 plates. + +Bradley, J.W. _Dictionary of Miniaturists, Calligraphers, etc._ 8vo. 3 +vols. Quaritch, London, 1887-90. + +Bradley, J.W. _Venetian Ducali, in Bibliographica_, II. 257. 4 +phototypes. + +Bucher, B. _Geschichte des Technischen Künste, etc.,_ vol. i. Miniatur, +etc. 8vo. Stuttgart, 1875. + + +Cahier and Martin. _Nouveaux Mélanges d'Archéologie, etc._ Large 4to. +Paris, 1874-77, etc. Many fine plates of miniatures, etc., mostly +without colour. + +Campori, G. _Gli artisti Italiani, etc., nelle Stati Estensi._ 8vo. +Modena, 1855. + +Campori, G. _Racconti artistici italiani._ 8vo. Firenze, 1858. + +Caravita, A. _I codici e le Arti a Monte Cassino._ 8vo. Montec., +1869-71. + +Carta, F. _Codici, corali e libri a stampa miniati della Biblioteca +nazionale di Milano._ Folio. Roma, 1895. With 25 phototype facsimiles. + +Chassant, Alph. _Paléographie des chartes et des MSS. du 11e au 17e +Siècle._ 8vo. Paris, 1867, and companion vols. + +Curmer, L. _Les Evangiles des Dimanches et Fêtes._ Large 8vo. Paris, +1864. Many facsimiles in gold and colours from illuminated MSS. + + +Delisle, L. _Mém. sur l'École calligraphique de Tours au IXe Siècle._ +Paris, 1885. 5 heliograv. + +Delisle, L. _L'Évangéliaire d'Arras et la Calligraphie Franco-Saxonne du +neuvième Siècle._ 4to. Paris, 1888. Large heliogravure facsimiles. + +Delaunay (l'Abbé H.). _Le livre d'Heures de la reine Anne de Bretagne._ +With facsimile of the whole MS. Large 8vo. Paris, 1861. + +Delia Valle, G. _Lettere Senese, Sopra le Belle Arti._ 3 vols. 8vo. +Venezia, 1782-86. (Relating to Sienese miniaturists.) + +Delisle, L. _Le cabinet des manuscrits de la bibliothèque impériale (in +Hist. gén. de Paris)._ 4to. Paris, 1868. + +Denis, Ferd. _Histoire de l'ornementation des manuscrits._ 8vo. Paris, +1858. (143 pp., with illustrations.) + +Deshaines, C. _Histoire de l'Art dans la Flandre, d'Artois, et le +Hainaut._ 8vo. Lille, 1886. + +Dibdin, T.F. _The Bibliographical Decameron._ 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1817. + +Didron (edit.). _Annales Archéologiques._ Periodical 4to. 1844, etc. +(P.P. 1931, d. a. Brit. Mus.) + +Derange, A. _Cat. descr. et raisonné des manuscr. de la bibl. de Tours._ +4to. Tours, 1875. + +Durieux, A. _Les Artistes Cambrésiens du IXe a XIXe Siècle, etc._ 8vo. +Cambray, 1874. (With plates in folio.) + +Durieux, A. _Miniatures des manuscr. de la bibl. de Cambrai._ 8vo. +Cambrai, 1861. 18 plates. + +Du Sommerard, Andr. _Les Arts du Moyen-âge._ 6 vols. Folio. Paris, +1838-46. + + +Fleury, E. _Les MSS. à miniatures de la bibliothèque de Soissons._ 4to. +Paris, 1865. Lithograph facsimiles. + +Fleury, E. _Les manuscrits à miniatures de la bibl. de Laon._ 4to. Laon, +1863. 50 plates (good). + + +Gabelentz, H. von der. _Zur Geschichte der oberdeutschen Miniaturmalerei +im 16ten Jahrhundert._ Large 8vo. Strassburg, 1899. 12 phototypes. + +Gamier, J. _Catalogue descriptif et raisonné des MSS. de la bibl. de la +ville d'Amiens._ 8vo. Amiens, 1843. + +Girardot, B. de. _Cat. des manuscrits de la bibl. de Bourges._ Folio. +Paris, 1859. + +Gualandi, M.A. _Memorie originate Italiane risguardante le Belle Arti._ +8vo. Bologna, 1840-45. + + +Hardy, Sir Thomas D. _The Athanasian Creed in Connection with the +Utrecht Psalter: being a Report, etc._ With autotype facsimiles. Folio. +Spottiswoode and Co., 1872. + +Hendrie, R. _Encyclopædia of the Arts of the Middle Ages by the monk +Theophilus._ Translated, with notes. 8vo. London, 1847. One of the best +collections of mediæval methods and recipes relating to illumination. + +Humphreys, H. Noel. _The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages._ Folio. +London, 1849. 39 plates. + +Husenbeth, F.C. _Emblems of Saints by which they are Distinguished in +Works of Art._ 8vo. London, 1850. Second edition, 1860. Third edition, +1882. + + +Jäck, J.J. _Viele Alphabete und ganze Schriftmuster vom 8, bis zum 16, +Jahrh. aus den Handschr. der öffentl. Bibl. zu Bamberg._ Folio. Bamberg, +1833-35. + +James, M.R. _Descriptive Catalogue of the Illuminated MSS. in the +Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge._ (Fine phototype facsimiles, and an +excellent text.) Large 8vo. Cambridge University Press, 1895. + +Jorand, J.B.J. _Grammatographie du neuvième siècle._ 4to. Paris, 1837. +65 plates, folio. + + +Kirchoff, Albr. _Handschriftenhändler des Mittelalters._ Second edition. +8vo. Leipzig, 1853. + +Kondakov. _Hist. de l'Art Byzantin consideréré...dans les miniatures._ +2 vols. Small folio. Paris, 1891. Plates and woodcuts. + +Kugler. _Kleine Schriften._ 3 vols. 8vo. Stuttgart. 1853-54. (German +illumination.) + + +Labarte, Jules. _Historie des Arts industriels au Moyen-âge._ (Vol. +iii.) 8vo. Paris, 1865. + +Laborde, L. _La renaissance des arts à la cour de France._ 2 vols. 8vo. +Paris, 1855-56. + +Lacroix, P. _Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages._ 8vo. +London, 1874. + +Lacroix, P. _The Arts of the Middle Ages._ 4to. London, 1870. + +Lacroix, P. Manners, _Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages._ 4to. +London, 1874. + +Lacroix, Paul, and Séré Ferd. _Le Moyen-âge et la Renaissance._ 5 vols. +4to. Paris, 1848-52, 1874. + +Lacroix, P., Fournier, Ed., and Séré, F. _Livre d'or des métiers._ 8vo. +Paris, 1852. + +Lambecius, P. _Commentar. de Bibliotheca Cæsarea Vindobonensi._ Folio. +Vindobona (Vienna). 1670. Plates. + +Langlois, E.H. _Mémoire sur la calligraphic les MSS. du Moyen-âge._ 8vo. +Paris, 1841. 17 plates. + +Le Arti. _Various Articles on Illuminated MSS., by Frizzoni, Venturi, +etc._ (Italian Periodical. Roma, v. 7. From 1898.) + +Lecoy de la Marche, A. _Les MSS. et la Miniature._ 12mo. Paris, 1884. +Woodcuts. + +Leitschuh, F.F. _Geschichte der Karolingischen Malerei, etc._ Berlin, +1894. Many prototype facsimiles. + +Libri, Gul. _Monumens inédits._ Folio. London, 1864. 65 plates. + + +Madden, Sir Fred. _Universal Palæography._ 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1850. + +Marchal, J. _Cat. des MSS. de la bibl. royale des dues de Bourgogne._ 3 +vols. 4to. Brussels, 1842. + +Middleton, J.H. _Illuminated MSS. in Classical and Mediæval Times: their +Art and their Technique._ Large 8vo. Cambridge University Press, 1892. + +Milanesi, G. _Documenti per la Storia dell' arte Senese,_ etc. 8vo. +Siena, 1854-56. + +Molinier, A. _Les MSS. et les Miniatures._ 12mo. Paris, 1892. Woodcuts. + +Monte Cassino. _Paleografia artistica._ Monte Cassino, 1877. Folio. +Facsimiles in gold and colours, etc., from Gothic and Lombardic MSS. + +Montfaucon. _Palæographia Græca._ Small folio. Parisiis, 1708. + +Mugnier, Fr. _Les MSS. à miniatures de la Maison de Savoie, etc._ 8vo. +Moutiers-Tarantaise, 1894. 17 phototypes. + + +Ottley, W.Y. _History of Engraving._ 4to. London, 1816. + + +Peignot, Gabr. _Essai sur l'histoire du parchemin et du vélin._ 8vo. +Paris, 1812. + +Pinchart, A. _Miniaturistes, Enlumineurs, et Calligraphes Employés par +Philippe le Bon, etc._ 8vo. Bruxelles, 1865. + +_Publications of the Palæographical Society of London._ Folio. Vol. +vii., etc. Very useful. + + +Quaritch, B. _Examples of the Art of Book-illumination during the Middle +Ages._ 4to. London, 1899. Fine facsimiles in gold and colours. + + +Raczynski, A. (Cte.). _Les arts en Portugal._ 8vo. Paris, 1846. + +Rahn, J.R. _Das Psalterium Aureum v. Sanct Gallen._ Folio. St. Gallen, +1878. u chromolithogr. in colours and gold. 7 lithogr. and many +woodcuts. (A capital account of Carolingian and Irish MSS.) + + +Sacken, Ed. Frh. von. _Die Ambraser Sammlung._ 8vo. 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London, 1845. Plates. + +Shaw, H. _Alphabets, Numerals, and Devices of the Middle Ages._ Folio. +London, W. Pickering, 1845. Many plates, some in gold and colours. + +Silvestre, J.B. _Paléographie universelle._ 4 vols. Folio. Paris, 1841. +600 plates. (Plates very good.) + +Smet, J.J. de. _Quelques recherches sur nos anciens enlumineurs, etc._ +In _Bulletin de l'Académie de Belgique,_ t. xiv., pt. 2, p. 78, and +_Bullet. du Bibliophile Belge_, t. iii., p. 376, t. iv., p. 176. + +Stokes, M. _Early Christian Art in Ireland._ 12mo. London, 1887. +Woodcuts. (Victoria and Albert M. Handbook.) + +Swarzenski, G. _Die Regensburger Buchmalerei des X. und XI. +Jahrhunderts._ Large 8vo. Leipzig, 1901. 35 phototypes. + + +Tambroni, G. _Cennino Cennini: Trattato della Pittura._ 8vo. Roma, 1821. +Later edition (Milanesi), Firenze, 1859. (Contains many practical +directions and recipes.) + +Thompson, Sir Edward M. _English Illuminated MSS._ In _Bibliographica_, +vol. i. pp. 129, 385, etc. Large 8vo. London, 1895. + + +Venturi, Ad. _La miniatura ferrarese nel secolo XV., etc._ Folio. Roma, +1899. 4 chromolithographs and 7 phototypes. In _Le Gallerie Nazionale +Italiane._ Vol. iv., 187. + +Viel-Castel, Cte. _Horace de. Statuts de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit, etc. +MS. du 14e Siècle avec une notice sur la peinture des MSS._ Large +folio. Paris, 1853. 17 very fine facsimiles in gold and colours. + +Vogelsang, W. _Holländische Miniaturen des späteren Mittelalters._ Large +8vo. Strassburg, 1899. Many phototype facsimiles. + + +Wailly, J.N. de. _Élémens de Paléographie._ 2 thick vols. 4to. Paris, +1838. Many plates of writing, seals, etc. + +Wallther, J.L. _Lexicon diplomaticum._ Folio. 1751. Many examples of +writings. + +Waagen, G.F. _On the Importance of MSS. with Miniatures in the History +of Art._ 8vo. Philobiblon Society. Vol. i. London, 1854. + +Waagen, G.F. _Die Vornehmsten Künstler in Wien._ 8vo. Wien, 1866. (MSS. +in Imperial Library, etc., in Vienna.) + +Warner, G.F. _Miniatures and Borders from the Hours of Bona Sforza, +Duchess of Milan._ Small 4to. London, 1894. 65 sepia facsimiles. + +Warner, G.F. _Illuminated MSS. in the British Museum._ 4to. London, +1899, etc. Many coloured facsimiles. + +Wattenbach, W. _Das Schriftwesen im Mittelalter._ 8vo. Leipzig, 1871. + +Westwood, J.O. _Palæographia Sacra Pictoria._ 4to. London, 1845. 50 +facsimile plates, mostly in colours and gold. + +Westwood, J.O. _Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish MSS._ +Folio. Oxford, 1868. Many fine facsimiles in colours. + +Wyatt, M.D., and Tymms. _The Art of Illuminating._ Large 8vo. London, +1860. Many facsimiles in gold and colours. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Illuminated Manuscripts, by John W. 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