Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
A carat character is used to denote superscription: a single
character or bracketed group following the carat is superscripted
(examples: xviij^o S^{te}).
Images of the original plates are available through Internet Archive. See
https://archive.org/details/illuminatedmanu00midd
* * * * *
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
IN CLASSICAL
AND MEDIAEVAL TIMES,
THEIR ART AND THEIR TECHNIQUE
BY
J. HENRY MIDDLETON,
SLADE PROFESSOR OF FINE ART, DIRECTOR OF THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM,
AND FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE;
AUTHOR OF "ANCIENT ROME IN 1888",
"THE ENGRAVED GEMS OF CLASSICAL TIMES" &c.
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS:
1892
[_All Rights reserved._]
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE AND LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Page xiii to xix.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page xxi to xxiv.
CHAPTER I. Page 1 to 10.
CLASSICAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITTEN WITH A STILUS.
Survival of classical methods in mediaeval times; epigraphy and
palaeography; manuscripts on metal plates; lead rolls; tin rolls; gold
amulets; Petelia tablet; waxed tablets and diptychs; tablets shown on gems
and coins; tablets found in tombs; tablets from Pompeii; Consular diptychs;
many-leaved tablets; the form of the waxed tablets; whitened boards used by
the Greeks; late survival of tablets; "bidding the beads;" lists of members
of guilds; wooden book in Norway; ivory tablets and diptychs; inscribed
Anglo-Saxon lead tablet; "horn-books."
CHAPTER II. Page 11 to 30.
CLASSICAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITTEN WITH PEN AND INK.
Two forms of manuscripts, the roll and the codex; Egyptian Books of the
Dead; Book of Ani; existing manuscripts on papyrus; the library of papyrus
rolls found at Herculaneum; Herodotus on manuscripts; use of parchment;
manuscripts on linen; inscribed potsherds or _ostraka_; manuscripts on
leaves of trees; Greek libraries; Roman libraries; a list of the public
libraries in Rome; Roman library fittings and decorations; recently
discovered library in Rome; authors' portraits; closed bookcases;
booksellers' quarter; cost of Roman books; slave scribes; librarii of Rome.
The technique of ancient manuscripts; parchment and vellum; palimpsests;
papyrus manuscripts; process of making papyrus paper; use of papyrus in
Greece and Rome; ancient papyrus manuscripts; the qualities of papyrus
paper; the form of papyrus rolls; the wooden roller; inscribed titles;
coloured inks; use of cedar oil; black carbon ink, its manufacture and
price; red inks and rubrics; purple ink; double inkstands; pens of reeds
and of metal; Egyptian scribes' palettes, pen-cases, and pens.
CHAPTER III. Page 31 to 44.
CLASSICAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.
Use of minium; Egyptian miniatures; illuminations in Roman manuscripts;
Greek illuminations; two sources of knowledge about classical
illuminations; the Ambrosian _Iliad_; the Vatican Virgil; the style of its
miniatures; later copies of lost originals; picture of Orpheus in a twelfth
century _Psalter_; another _Psalter_ with copies of classical paintings;
the value of these copied miniatures.
CHAPTER IV. Page 45 to 61.
BYZANTINE MANUSCRIPTS.
The very compound character of Byzantine art; love of splendour; _Gospels_
in purple and gold; monotony of the Byzantine style; hieratic rules; fifth
century manuscript of _Genesis_; the Dioscorides of the Princess Juliana;
the style of its miniatures; imitations of enamel designs; early picture of
the Crucifixion in the _Gospels_ of Rabula; the splendour of Byzantine
manuscripts of the _Gospels_; five chief pictures; illuminated "Canons";
Persian influence; the Altar-Textus used as a Pax; its magnificent gold
covers; the Durham Textus; Byzantine figure drawing, unreal but decorative;
Byzantine mosaics; the iconoclast schism, and the consequent decadence of
Byzantine art.
CHAPTER V. Page 62 to 79.
MANUSCRIPTS OF THE CAROLINGIAN PERIOD.
The age of Charles the Great; the school of Alcuin of York; the _Gospels_
of Alcuin; the _golden Gospels_ of Henry VIII.; the _Gospels_ of the scribe
Godesscalc; Persian influence; technical methods; the later Carolingian
manuscripts; continuance of the Northumbrian influence; beginning of
life-study; the _Gospels_ of Otho II.; period of decadence in the eleventh
century.
CHAPTER VI. Page 80 to 97.
THE CELTIC SCHOOL OF MANUSCRIPTS.
The Irish Church; Celtic goldsmiths; technical processes of the
metal-workers copied by illuminators of manuscripts; the _Book of Kells_,
its perfect workmanship and microscopic illuminations; copies of metal
spiral patterns; the "trumpet pattern;" Moslem influence; absence of gold
in the Irish manuscripts; the _Book of Durrow_; the monks of Iona; the
Celtic missionaries to Northumbria; the _Gospels_ of St Cuthbert; the
Viking pirates; the adventures of St Cuthbert's _Gospels_; the Anglo-Celtic
school; improved drawing and use of gold; Italian influence; the early
_Gospels_ in the Corpus library; the _Gospels_ of MacDurnan; the _Book of
Deer_; the _Gospels_ of St Chad; the Celtic school on the Continent; the
_Psalter_ of St Augustine; Scandinavian art; the _golden Gospels_ of
Stockholm and its adventures; the struggle between the Celtic and the Roman
Church; the Synod of Whitby; the Roman victory, and the growth of Italian
influence; the school of Baeda at Durham.
CHAPTER VII. Page 98 to 105.
THE ANGLO-SAXON SCHOOL OF MANUSCRIPTS.
The Danish invasions; revival of art under king Alfred; the _Benedictional_
of Aethelwold; signs of Carolingian influence; the Winchester school; St
Dunstan as an illuminator; Anglo-Saxon drawings in coloured ink; Roll of St
Guthlac; the great beauty of its drawings; Canute as a patron of art; the
Norman Conquest.
CHAPTER VIII. Page 106 to 125.
THE ANGLO-NORMAN SCHOOL.
The Norman invasion; development of architecture and other arts; creation
of the Anglo-Norman school; magnificent _Psalters_; the Angevin kingdom;
the highest development of English art in the thirteenth century; Henry
III. as an art patron; the rebuilding and decorating of the Church and
Palace of Westminster; paintings copied from manuscripts; the Painted
Chamber; English sculpture; the Fitz-Othos and William Torell; English
needlework (_opus Anglicanum_); the Lateran and Pienza copes; Anglo-Norman
manuscripts of the _Vulgate_; the style of their illuminations; manuscripts
produced in Benedictine monasteries; unity of style; various kinds of
background in miniatures; magnificent manuscripts of the _Psalter_; the
Tenison _Psalter_; manuscripts of the _Apocalypse_; their extraordinary
beauty; their contrast to machine-made art; English manuscripts of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; the results of the Black Death; the
Poyntz _Horae_; the _Lectionary_ of Lord Lovel; the characteristics of
English ornament; the introduction of portrait figures; the Shrewsbury
manuscript; "Queen Mary's Prayer-book;" the works of Dan Lydgate; specially
English subjects; manuscripts of _Chronicles_ and _Histories_.
CHAPTER IX. Page 126 to 146.
FRENCH MANUSCRIPTS.
The age of Saint Louis; archaism of costume in miniatures; French
manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; historiated Bibles;
the ivy-pattern; the _Horae_ of the Duc de Berri; the _treasure-book_ of
Origny Abbey; the Anjou _Horae_; costly and magnificent French _Horae_;
their beautiful decorations; their numerous miniatures; the Bedford
_Breviary_; the Bedford _Missal_; various styles in the same manuscript;
manuscripts in _Grisaille_; manuscripts of secular works; Cristina of Pisa;
_Chronicles_ and _Travels_; _Romances_ and _Poems_; Italian influence in
the south of France; the growth of secular illuminators; the inferiority of
their work; cheap and coarsely illuminated _Horae_; manuscripts of the
finest style; use of flowers and fruit in borders and initials; influence
of the Italian Renaissance; the _Horae_ of Jehan Foucquet of Tours.
CHAPTER X. Page 147 to 153.
PRINTED BOOKS WITH PAINTED ILLUMINATIONS.
_Horae_ printed on vellum in Paris; their woodcut decorations; the
productions of the earliest printers; the Mazarine Bible; the Mentz
_Psalter_; illuminators becoming printers; Italian printed books with rich
illuminations; the colophons of the early printers; the books of Aldus
Manutius; invention of Italic type; manuscripts illustrated with woodcuts;
block-books; the long union of the illuminators' and the printers' art.
CHAPTER XI. Page 154 to 182.
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS OF THE TEUTONIC SCHOOL AFTER THE TENTH CENTURY.
Revival of art in Germany in the eleventh century; the _Missal_ of the
Emperor Henry II.; the designs used for stained glass; the advance of
manuscript art under Frederic Barbarossa; grotesque monsters; examples of
fine German illuminations of the twelfth century; their resemblance to
mural paintings; the school of the Van Eycks; the Grimani _Breviary_;
Gérard David of Bruges; examples of Flemish miniatures; the use of gold;
grotesque figures; the influence of manuscript art on the painters of
altar-pieces; the school of Cologne; triptych by the elder Holbein; book
illuminated by Albert Dürer; Dutch fifteenth century manuscripts; their
decorative beauty; their realistic details; illumination in pen outlines in
blue and red.
CHAPTER XII. Page 183 to 205.
THE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS OF ITALY AND SPAIN.
Italian art slow to advance; its degraded state in the twelfth century;
illuminators mentioned by Dante; _Missal_ in the Chapter library of Saint
Peter's; the monk Don Silvestro in the middle of the fourteenth century;
his style of illumination; the monk Don Lorenzo; Fra Angelico as an
illuminator; Italian _Pontifical_ in the Fitzwilliam library; manuscripts
of the works of Dante and Petrarch; motives of decoration; Italian
manuscripts after 1453; introduction of the "Roman" hand; great perfection
of writing, and finest quality of vellum; the illuminators Attavante,
Girolamo dai Libri, and Liberale of Verona; manuscripts of northern Italy;
their influence on painting generally; Italian manuscripts of the sixteenth
century, a period of rapid decadence; Giulio Clovio a typical miniaturist
of his time; the library of the Vatican; its records of the cost of
illuminating manuscripts. The manuscripts of Spain and Portugal; the
manuscripts of Moslem countries, especially Persia.
CHAPTER XIII. Page 206 to 223.
THE WRITERS OF ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.
Monastic scribes; the great beauty of their work, and the reasons for it;
their quiet, monotonous life; examples of monastic humour; no long spells
of work in a monastery; care in the preparation of pigments; variety of the
schemes of decoration; the _scriptoria_ of Benedictine monasteries; their
arrangement in one alley of the cloister; the row of _armaria_; the row of
_carrels_; the _carrels_ in the Durham cloister described in _the Rites of
Durham_; the scribes of other regular Orders. Secular scribes; the growth
of the craft-guilds; the guilds of Bruges; their rules, and advantages to
both buyer and seller; the production of cheap _Horae_; wealthy patrons who
paid for costly manuscripts; women illuminators, such as the wife of Gérard
David; the high estimation of fine manuscripts. Extract from the fourteenth
century accounts of St George's at Windsor showing the cost of six
manuscripts. Similar extract from the Parish books of St Ewen's at Bristol
in the fifteenth century, giving the cost of a _Lectionary_.
CHAPTER XIV. Page 224 to 238.
THE MATERIALS AND TECHNICAL PROCESSES OF THE ILLUMINATOR.
The vellum used by scribes, its cost and various qualities; paper made of
cotton, of wool and of linen; the dates and places of its manufacture; its
fine quality. The metals and pigments used in illuminated manuscripts;
fluid gold and silver; leaf gold, silver and tin; the highly burnished
gold; leaf beaten out of gold coins; the goldsmith's art practised by many
great artists; the _mordant_ on which the gold leaf was laid; how it was
applied; a slow, difficult process; laborious use of the burnisher; old
receipts for the mordant: the _media_ or vehicles used with it; tooled and
stamped patterns on the gold leaf; the use of tin instead of silver; a
cheap method of applying gold described by Cennino Cennini.
CHAPTER XV. Page 239 to 256.
THE MATERIALS AND TECHNICAL PROCESSES OF THE ILLUMINATOR (_continued_).
The coloured pigments. The vehicles used; blue pigments, ultramarine; its
great value; story told by Pliny and Vasari; _smalto_ blues; "German blue;"
Indigo and other dye-colours; how they were made into pigments; green
pigments; terra verde, verdigris, smalt, leek-green; red pigments, _minium_
red lead, vermilion, red ochre (_rubrica_); _murex_ and _kermes_ crimson;
kermes extracted from scraps of red cloth by illuminators; madder-red;
lake-red; purples; yellow pigments, ochre, arsenic and litharge; white
pigments, pure lime (_Bianco di San Giovanni_), white lead, _biacca_ or
_cerusa_. Black inks, carbon ink and iron ink (_incaustum_ or _encaustum_
and _atramentum_); red and purple inks; writing in gold; the illuminator's
pens and pencils; the lead-point and silver-point; red chalk and
_amatista_. Pens made of reeds, and, in later times, of quills; brushes of
ermine, minever and other hair, mostly made by each illuminator for
himself; list of scribes' implements and tools. Miniatures representing
scribes; the various stages in the execution of an illuminated manuscript;
ruled lines; writing of the plain text; outline of ornament sketched in;
application of the gold leaf; the painting of the ornaments and miniatures;
preparation for the binder.
CHAPTER XVI. Page 257 to 264.
THE BINDINGS OF MANUSCRIPTS.
Costly covers of gold, enamel and ivory; the more usual forms of binding;
oak boards covered with parchment and strengthened by metal bosses and
corners; methods of placing the title on the cover; pictures on wood
covers; stamped patterns on leather; English stamped bindings; bag-like
bindings for portable manuscripts; bindings of velvet with metal mounts;
the costly covers of the Grimani _Breviary_ and other late manuscripts. The
present prices of mediaeval manuscripts; often sold for barely the value of
their vellum; modern want of appreciation of the finest manuscripts.
APPENDIX. Page 265 to 270.
Directions to scribes, from a thirteenth century manuscript at Bury St
Edmund's.
Note on Service-books by the late Henry Bradshaw. Extract from the
Cistercian _Consuetudines_.
[Illustration: Painting on panel by a fifteenth century artist of the
Prague school; it represents St Augustine as an Episcopal scribe. The
background and the ornaments of the dress are stamped in delicate relief on
the _gesso_ ground and then gilt. This picture, which is now in the Vienna
Gallery, was originally part of the painted wall-panelling in the Chapel of
the Castle of Karlstein.]
PREFACE.
The object of this book is to give a general account of the various methods
of writing, the different forms of manuscripts and the styles and systems
of decoration that were used from the earliest times down to the sixteenth
century A.D., when the invention of printing gradually put an end to the
ancient and beautiful art of manuscript illumination.
I have attempted to give a historical sketch of the growth and development
of the various styles of manuscript illumination, and also of the chief
technical processes which were employed in the preparation of pigments, the
application of gold leaf, and other details, to which the most unsparing
amount of time and labour was devoted by the scribes and illuminators of
many different countries and periods.
An important point with regard to this subject is the remarkable way in
which technical processes lasted, in many cases, almost without alteration
from classical times down to the latest mediaeval period, partly owing to
the existence of an unbroken chain of traditional practice, and partly on
account of the mediaeval custom of studying and obeying the precepts of
such classical writers as Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder.
To an English student the art-history of illuminated manuscripts should be
especially interesting, as there were two distinct periods when the
productions of English illuminators were of unrivalled beauty and
importance throughout the world[1].
In the latter part of this volume I have tried to describe the conditions
under which the illuminators of manuscripts did their work, whether they
were monks who laboured in the _scriptorium_ of a monastery, or members of
some secular guild, such as the great painters' guilds of Bruges or Paris.
The extraordinary beauty and marvellous technical perfection of certain
classes of manuscripts make it a matter of interest to learn who the
illuminators were, and under what daily conditions and for what reward they
laboured with such astonishing patience and skill.
The intense pleasure and refreshment that can be gained by the study of a
fine mediaeval illuminated manuscript depend largely on the fact that the
exquisite miniatures, borders and initial letters were the product of an
age which in almost every respect differed widely from the unhappy,
machine-driven nineteenth century in which we now live.
With regard to the illustrations, I have to thank Mr John Murray for his
kindness in lending me a _cliché_ of the excellent woodcut of the
_scriptorium_ walk in the cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of Gloucester,
which was originally prepared to illustrate one of Mr Murray's valuable
_Guides to the English Cathedrals_.
The rest of the illustrations I owe to the kindness of Mr Kegan Paul. They
have previously appeared in the English edition of Woltmann and Woermann's
valuable _History of Painting_, 1880-7.
I have to thank my friend and colleague Mr M. R. James for his kindness in
looking through the proofs of this book. He is not responsible for the
opinions expressed or for the errors that remain, but he has corrected some
of the grosser blunders.
J. HENRY MIDDLETON.
KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
BOOKS ON ILLUMINATED MSS.
The following are some of the most important works on this subject, and the
most useful for the purposes of a student. Many others, which deal with
smaller branches of the subject, are referred to in the following text.
Bastard, _Peintures et Ornemens des Manuscrits, classés dans un ordre
Chronologique_, Imper. folio, Paris, 1835, &c.; a very magnificent book,
with 163 plates, mostly coloured.
Birch and Jenner, _Early drawings and illuminations_, London, 1879; this is
a useful index of subjects which occur in manuscript miniatures.
Bradley, J. W., _Dictionary of Miniaturists and Illuminators_, 3 vols. 8vo.
London, 1887-1890.
Chassant, _Paléographie des Chartes et des Manuscrits du XIme au XVIIIme
Siècle_, 12mo.; a useful little handbook, together with the companion
volume, _Dictionnaire des Abbréviations Latines et Françaises_, Paris,
1876.
Denis, F., _Histoire de l'Ornementation des manuscrits_; 8vo. Paris, 1879.
Fleury, E., _Les Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque de Laon étudiés au point de
vue de leur illustration_, 2 vols., Laon, 1863. With 50 plates.
Humphreys, Noel, _Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages_, folio, London,
1849; a handsome, well-illustrated book.
Humphreys, Noel, _The Origin and Progress of the Art of Writing_; sm. 4to.,
with 28 plates; London, 1853.
Kopp, _Palaeographia Critica_, 4 vols. 4to., Manheim, 1817-1819; a book of
much historical value for the student of Palaeography.
Lamprecht, K., _Initial-Ornamentik des VIII.-XIII. Jahrh._, Leipzig, 1882.
Langlois, _Essai sur la Calligraphie des Manuscrits du Moyen Age et sur les
Ornements des premiers livres imprimés_, 8vo. Rouen, 1841.
Monte Cassino, _Paleografia artistica di Monte Cassino_, published by the
Benedictine Monks of Mte. Cassino, 1870, and still in progress. This work
contains a very valuable series of facsimiles and coloured reproductions of
selected pages from many of the most important manuscripts in this ancient
and famous library, that of the Mother-house of the whole Benedictine
Order.
Reiss, H., _Sammlung der schönsten Miniaturen des Mittelalters_, Vienna,
1863-5.
Riegl, A., _Die mittelalterl. Kalenderillustration_, Innsbruck, 1889.
Seghers, L., _Trésor calligraphique du Moyen Age_, Paris, 1884; with 46
coloured plates of illuminated initials.
Shaw, Henry, _Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages from the sixth to
the seventeenth century_; with descriptions by Sir Fred. Madden; 4to. with
60 coloured plates, London, 1833. A very fine and handsome work.
" " _The Art of Illumination_, 4to. London, 1870; with
well-executed coloured plates.
" " _Hand-book of Mediaeval Alphabets and Devices_, Imp. 8vo.
London, 1877; with 37 coloured plates.
Silvestre, _Paléographie Universelle_, 4 vols., Atlas folio, Paris,
1839-1841. This is the most magnificent and costly work on the subject that
has ever been produced.
The English Edition in 2 vols., Atlas folio, translated and edited by Sir
Fred. Madden, London, 1850, is very superior in point of accuracy and
judgment to the original French work. A smaller edition with 72 selected
plates has also been published, in 2 vols. 8vo. and one fol., London, 1850.
Waagen, G. F., _On the Importance of Manuscripts with Miniatures in the
history of Art_, 8vo. London (1850).
Westwood, J. O., _Palaeographia Sacra Pictoria_, royal 4to. London, 1843-5.
This is a very fine work, with 50 coloured plates of manuscript
illuminations selected from manuscripts of the Bible of various dates from
the fourth to the sixteenth century.
" " _Illuminated Illustrations of the Bible_, royal 4to.
London, 1846. This is a companion work to the last-mentioned book.
" " _Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish
Manuscripts_, fol., London, 1868; with 54 very finely executed coloured
plates of remarkable fidelity in drawing. The reproductions of pages from
the _Book of Kells_ and similar Celtic manuscripts are specially
remarkable.
Wyatt, M. Digby, _The Art of Illuminating as practised in Europe from the
earliest times_; 4to. London, 1860; with 100 plates in gold and colours.
The best work on the form of books in ancient times is Th. Birt, _Das
antike Buchwesen in seinem Verhältniss zur Literatur_, 8vo., 1882.
The publications of the Palaeographical Society, from the year 1873, and
still in progress, are of great value for their well-selected and
well-executed photographic reproductions of pages from the most important
manuscripts of all countries and periods.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Fig. 1, page 33. Part of the drawing engraved on the bronze _cista_ of
Ficoroni, dating from the early part of the fourth
century B.C. A beautiful example of Greek drawing.
" 2 " 37. Miniature of classical design from a twelfth century
_Psalter_ in the Vatican library.
" 3 " 39. Painting in the "House of Livia" on the Palatine Hill
in Rome.
" 4 " 41. A Pompeian painting of Hellenic style, as an example
of Greek drawing and composition.
" 5 " 43. The Prophet Ezechiel from a Byzantine manuscript of
the ninth century A.D.
" 6 " 49. Miniature from the Vienna manuscript of _Genesis_.
" 7 " 51. Miniature from the manuscript of the work on _Botany_
by Dioscorides, executed at Constantinople about
500 A.D. for the Princess Juliana.
" 8 " 58. Mosaic of the sixth century in the apse of the church
of SS. Cosmas and Damian in Rome.
" 9 " 60. Miniature from a Byzantine manuscript of the eleventh
century; a remarkable example of artistic decadence.
" 10 " 63. An initial P of the Celtic-Carolingian type, of the
school of Alcuin of York.
" 11 " 64. An initial B of the Celtic-Carolingian type.
" 12 " 66. Miniature of Christ in Majesty from a manuscript of
the school of Alcuin, written for Charles the Great.
" 13 " 68. A cope made of silk from the loom of an Oriental
weaver.
" 14 " 71. King Lothair enthroned; a miniature from a manuscript
about the year 845 A.D.
" 15 " 73. Illumination in pen outline, from a manuscript
written in the ninth century at St Gallen. It
represents David riding out against his enemies.
Figs. 16 and 17, pages 74 and 75. Subject countries doing homage to
the Emperor Otho II.; from a manuscript of the
_Gospels_.
Fig. 18, page 77. Miniature of the Evangelist Saint Mark; from a
manuscript of the _Gospels_.
" 19 " 78. Miniature of the Crucifixion from a German manuscript
of the eleventh century; showing extreme
artistic decadence.
" 20 " 91. Miniature from the _Gospels_ of MacDurnan of the
ninth century.
" 21 " 100. Miniature from the _Benedictional_ of Aethelwold;
written and illuminated by a monastic scribe at
Winchester.
" 22 " 127. A page from the _Psalter_ of Saint Louis,
written about the year 1260, by a French scribe.
" 23 " 130. Miniature representing King Conrad of Bohemia,
with an attendant, hawking.
" 24 " 132. Scene of the martyrdom of Saint Benedicta from a
_Martyrology_ of about 1312.
" 25 " 134. Miniature of the Birth of the Virgin painted by the
illuminator Jacquemart de Odin for the Duc de
Berri. The border is of the characteristic French
or Franco-Flemish style.
" 26 " 142. Miniature executed for King René of Anjou about
1475.
" 27 " 145. Miniature of the Marriage of the B. V. Mary from a
French manuscript of about 1480, with details in
the style of the Italian Renaissance.
" 28 " 146. Border illumination from a _Book of Hours_ by
Jacquemart de Odin which belonged to the Duc de
Berri; see fig. 25.
" 29 " 155. A page from the _Missal_ of the Emperor Henry II.
" 30 " 156. Figure of King David from a stained glass window
in the Cathedral of Augsburg, dating from 1065.
" 31 " 157. Miniature from an eleventh century manuscript of
the _Gospels_, by a German illuminator.
" 32 " 159. An initial S, illuminated with foliage of the
Northumbrian type, from a German manuscript of the
twelfth century.
" 33 " 160. Miniature of the Annunciation from a German
manuscript of the beginning of the thirteenth
century.
" 34 " 161. Page of a Kalendar from a German _Psalter_ of about
1200 A.D.
" 35 " 163. Initial Y from a German manuscript of the beginning
of the thirteenth century, with a most graceful
and fanciful combination of figures and foliage.
" 36 " 164. Paintings on the vault of the church of St Michael at
Hildesheim, closely resembling in style an
illuminated page in a manuscript.
" 37 " 166. Miniatures of Italian style from a German manuscript
of 1312, showing the influence of Florentine
art on the illuminators of southern France.
" 38 " 168. Miniature symbolizing the month of April from the
Kalendar of the Grimani _Breviary_, executed about
1496.
" 39 " 170. A page from the _Book of Hours_ of King René,
painted about 1480.
" 40 " 171. A page from a _Book of Hours_ at Vienna, of the
finest Flemish style.
" 41 " 173. Marginal illumination of very beautiful and refined
style from a manuscript executed for King Wenzel
of Bohemia about the year 1390.
" 42 " 174. Miniature of Duke Baldwin, painted about the year
1450 by an illuminator of the school of the Van
Eycks of Bruges.
" 43 " 176. Retable painted by Martin Schöngauer, in the style
of a manuscript illumination.
" 44 " 177. An altar-piece of the Cologne school, showing the
influence of manuscript illumination on the painters
of panel-pictures, especially retables.
" 45 " 179. Wing of a triptych, with a figure of St Elizabeth
of Hungary, painted by the elder Hans Holbein;
this illustrates the influence on painting of the
styles of manuscript illumination at the beginning
of the sixteenth century.
" 46 " 180. Illuminated border drawn by Albert Dürer in 1515.
" 47 " 185. Illumination from an Italian manuscript executed for
the Countess Matilda in the twelfth century; this
illustrates the extreme decadence of art in Italy
before the thirteenth century.
" 48 " 187. Miniature of Saint George and the Dragon from a
_Missal_, illuminated about 1330 to 1340 by a painter
of the school of Giotto.
" 49 " 196. An illuminated border from a manuscript by Attavante,
of characteristic north-Italian style.
" 50 " 198. A miniature from the Bible of Duke Borso d'Este,
painted between 1455 and 1461 by illuminators of
the school of Ferrara.
" 51 " 201. A Venetian retable by Giovanni and Antonio di
Murano, in the style of an illuminated manuscript.
" 52 " 208. Grotesque figure from a French manuscript of the
fourteenth century.
" 53 " 209. Miniature of a comic subject from a German manuscript
of the twelfth century, representing a monastic
scribe worried by a mouse.
" 54 " 213. View of the scriptorium alley of the cloisters at
Gloucester, showing the recesses to hold the wooden
_carrels_ for the scribes or readers of manuscripts.
" 55 " 219. Picture by Quentin Matsys of Antwerp, showing a
lady selling or pawning an illuminated manuscript.
Frontispiece. Painting on panel by a fifteenth century artist
of the Prague school; it represents Saint Augustine
as an Episcopal scribe. The background and the
ornaments of the dress are stamped in delicate
relief on the _gesso_ ground and then gilt. This
picture, which is now in the Vienna Gallery, was
originally part of the painted wall-panelling in the
Chapel of the Castle of Karlstein.
CHAPTER I.
CLASSICAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITTEN WITH A STILUS.
Before entering upon any discussion of the styles and methods of decoration
which are to be found in mediaeval manuscripts and of the various
processes, pigments and other materials which were employed by the
mediaeval illuminators it will be necessary to give some account of the
shapes and kinds of books which were produced among various races during
the classical period.
_Survival of methods._
The reason of this is that classical styles of decoration and technical
methods, in the preparation of paper, parchment, pigments and the like,
both survived to greater extent and to a very much later period than is
usually supposed to have been the case, and, indeed, continued to influence
both the artistic qualities and the mechanical processes of the mediaeval
illuminator almost down to the time when the production of illuminated
manuscripts was gradually put an end to by the invention of printing.
_The pen and the stilus._
The word _manuscript_ is usually taken to imply writing with a pen, brush
or _stilus_ to the exclusion of inscriptions cut with the chisel or the
graver in stone, marble, bronze or other hard substance. The science of
_palaeography_ deals with the former, while _epigraphy_ is concerned with
the latter. The inscribed clay tablets of Assyria and Babylon might be
considered a sort of link between the two, on account of the cuneiform
writing on them having been executed with a stilus in soft, plastic clay,
which subsequently was hardened by baking in the potter's kiln, but it will
be needless to describe them here.
_Writing on metal._
_Manuscripts on metal plates._ Another form of writing especially used by
the ancient Greeks, which falls more definitely under the head of
manuscripts, consists of characters scratched with a sharp iron or bronze
_stilus_ on plates of soft tin, lead or pewter, which, when not in use,
could be rolled up into a compact and conveniently portable cylinder.
A considerable number of these inscribed lead rolls have been found in the
tombs of Cyprus; but none of them unfortunately have as yet been found to
contain matter of any great interest.
_Lead rolls._
_Tin rolls._
For the most part they consist either of monetary accounts, or else of
formulae of imprecations, curses devoting some enemy to punishment at the
hands of the gods. We know however from the evidence of classical writers
that famous poems and other important literary works were occasionally
preserved in the form of these inscribed tin or lead rolls. Pausanias, for
example, tells us that during his visit to Helicon in Boeotia he was shown
the original manuscript of Hesiod's _Works and Days_ written on plates of
lead; see Paus. IX. 31. Again at IV. 26, Pausanias records the discovery at
Ithome in Messenia of a bronze urn (_hydria_) which contained a manuscript
of the "Mysteries of the Great Deities" written on "a thinly beaten plate
of tin, which was rolled up like a book," [Greek: kassiteron elêlasmenon es
to leptotaton, epeilikto de hôsper ta biblia]. This method of writing
would be quite different from the laborious method of cutting inscriptions
on bronze plates with a chisel and hammer, or with a graver.
A scribe could write on the soft white metal with a sharp stilus almost as
easily and rapidly as if he were using pen and ink on paper, and the
manuscript thus produced would have the advantage of extreme durability.
We may indeed hope that even now some priceless lost work of early Greece
may be recovered by the discovery of similar lead rolls to those which
Cesnola found in Cyprus.
_Gold amulets._
Some very beautiful little Greek manuscripts, written on thin plates of
gold, have also been discovered at various places. The most remarkable of
these were intended for amulets, and were rolled up in little gold or
silver cylinders and worn round the neck during life. After death they were
placed with the body in the tomb. Several of these, discovered in tombs in
the district of Sybaris in Magna Graecia, are inscribed with fragments from
the mystic Orphic hymns, and give directions to the soul as to what he will
find and what he must do in the spirit-world.
_Petelia tablet._
The most complete of these little gold manuscripts, usually known as the
Petelia tablet, is preserved in the gem-room in the British Museum. The
manuscript consists of thirteen hexameter lines written on a thin plate of
pure gold measuring 1½ inches by 2-5/8 inches in width; it dates from the
third century B.C.[2]
In classical times, manuscripts were of two different forms; first, the
_book_ form, [Greek: pinax], [Greek: pinakion] or [Greek: deltion], in
Latin _codex_ (older spelling _caudex_); and secondly the roll, [Greek:
kylindros], [Greek: biblos] or [Greek: biblion], Latin _volumen_[3].
_Waxed tablets._
_Manuscripts on tablets._ Both the Greeks and the Romans used very largely
tablets ([Greek: pinakes], Lat. _tabulae_ or _cerae_) of wood covered with
a thin coating of coloured wax, on which the writing was formed with a
sharp-pointed _stilus_ ([Greek: graphis]) of wood, ivory or bronze. The wax
was coloured either black or red in order that the writing scratched upon
it might be clearly visible. The reverse end of the stilus was made flat or
in the shape of a small ball so that it could be used to make corrections
by smoothing out words or letters which had been erroneously scratched in
the soft wax.
_Waxed diptychs._
These tablets were commonly about ten to fourteen inches in length by about
half that in width. The main surface of each tablet was sunk from 1/8 to
1/10 of an inch in depth to receive the wax layer, leaving a rim all round
about the size of that round a modern school-boy's slate. The object of
this was that two of these tablets might be placed together face to face
without danger of rubbing and obliterating the writing on the wax, which
was applied in a very thin coat, not more than 1/16 of an inch in
thickness. As a rule these tablets were fastened together in pairs by stout
loops of leather or cord. These double tablets were called by the Greeks
[Greek: pinakes ptyktoi] or [Greek: diptycha] (from [Greek: dis] and
[Greek: ptyssô]) and by the Romans _pugillares_ or _codicilli_. Homer
(_Il._ VI. 168) mentions a letter written on folding tablets--
[Greek: poren d' ho ge sêmata lygra]
[Greek: Grapsas en pinaki ptyktô.]
_Tablets on coins and gems._
Representations of these folding tablets occur frequently both in Greek and
in Roman art, as, for example on various Sicilian coins, where the artist's
name is placed in minute letters on a double tablet, which in some cases,
as on a _tetradrachm_ of Himera, is held open by a flying figure of
Victory.
A gem of about 400 B.C., a large scarabaeoid in chalcedony, recently
acquired by the British Museum, is engraved with a seated figure of a lady
holding a book consisting of four leaves; she is writing lengthwise on one
leaf, while the other three hang down from their hinge.
Some of the beautiful terra-cotta statuettes from the tombs of the Boeotian
Tanagra represent a girl reading from a somewhat similar double folding
tablet.
On Greek vases and in Roman mural paintings the _pugillares_ are frequently
shown, though the roll form of manuscript is on the whole more usual.
_Tablets from tombs._
Some examples of these tablets have been found in a good state of
preservation in Graeco-Egyptian tombs and during recent excavations in
Pompeii.
Part of a poem in Greek written in large uncial characters is still legible
on the single leaf of a pair of tablets from Memphis in Egypt, which is now
in the British Museum. Though the coating of wax has nearly all perished,
the sharp stilus has marked through on to the wood behind the wax, so that
the writing is still legible. Its date appears to be shortly before the
Christian era[4].
_Pompeian tablets._
Some well preserved _pugillares_ found in Pompeii are now in the Museum in
Naples; the writing on them is of less interest, consisting merely of
accounts of expenditure. Though the wood is blackened and the wax
destroyed, the writing is still perfectly visible on the charred surface.
A more costly form of _pugillares_ was made of bone or ivory[5]; in some
cases the back of each ivory leaf was decorated with carving in low relief.
_Consular diptychs._
A good many examples of these tablets, dating from the third to the sixth
century A.D., still exist. These late highly decorated _pugillares_ are
usually known as _Consular diptychs_, because, as a rule, they have on the
carved back the name of a Consul, and very frequently a representation of
the Consul in his _pulvinar_ or state box presiding over the Games in the
Circus. It is supposed that these ivory diptychs were inscribed with
complimentary addresses and were sent as presents to newly appointed
officials in the time of the later Empire.
_Many-leaved tablets._
In some cases the ancient writing-tablets consisted of three or more leaves
hinged together ([Greek: triptycha], [Greek: pentaptycha] &c.); this was
the earliest form of the _codex_ or _book_ in the modern sense of the word.
The inner leaves of these _codices_ had sinkings to receive the wax on both
sides; only the backs of the two outer leaves being left plain or carved in
relief to form the covers.
_Waxed tablets._
When the written matter on these tablets was no longer wanted, a fresh
surface for writing was prepared either by smoothing down the wax with the
handle of the stilus, or else by scraping it off and pouring in a fresh
supply. This is mentioned by Ovid (_Ar. Am._ I. 437); "cera ... rasis
infusa tabellis[6]." These tablets were sometimes called briefly _cerae_;
the phrases _prima cera_, _altera cera_, meaning the first page, the second
page. The best sorts of wooden writing-tablets were made of box-wood, and
hence they are sometimes called [Greek: pyxion]. In addition to the holes
along one edge of each tablet through which the cord or wire was passed to
hold the leaves together and to form the hinge, additional holes were often
made along the opposite edge in order that the letter or other writing on
the _tabulae_ might be kept private by tying a thread through these holes
and then impressing a seal on the knot. Plautus (_Bacch._ IV. iv. 64)
alludes to this in mentioning the various things required to write a
letter,
_Effer cito stilum, ceram, et tabellas et linum._
In some cases wooden tablets of this kind were used without a coating of
wax, but had simply a smooth surface to receive writing with ink and a reed
pen. Many examples of these have been found in Egypt. The writing could be
obliterated and a new surface prepared by sponging and rubbing with
pumice-stone.
_Whitened boards._
Among the Greeks wooden boards, whitened with chalk or gypsum, were often
used for writing that was intended to be of temporary use only. Charcoal
was used to write on these boards, which were called [Greek: leukômata] or
[Greek: grammateia leleukômena][7]. Public advertisements and official
announcements were frequently written in this way and then hung up in a
conspicuous place in the _agora_ or market-place of the city.
_Sacred accounts._
Thus some of the inscriptions of the fourth century B.C., found at Delos
mention that every month a [Greek: leukôma] was suspended in the _agora_,
on which was written a statement of the financial management and all the
expenses of the Temple of the Delian Apollo during the past month. Finally,
at the end of the year, an abstract of the accounts of the Temple was
engraved as a permanent record on a marble _stele_. This was also the
custom with regard to the financial records of the Athenian Parthenon, and
probably most of the important Greek temples. In connection with the sacred
records, the Delian inscriptions mention, in addition to the [Greek:
leukômata], other forms of tablets, the [Greek: deltos] and the [Greek:
pinax], and also [Greek: chartai] or writings on _papyrus_; manuscripts of
this last kind will be discussed in a subsequent section[8].
_Late survivals._
_Late survivals of writing on tablets._ Before passing on to describe other
forms of classical manuscripts, it may be interesting to note that the
ancient waxed tablets or _pugillares_ continued to be used for certain
purposes throughout the whole mediaeval period, down to the sixteenth
century or even later. Many of the principal churches, especially in Italy,
but also in other countries, possessed one or more diptychs on which were
inscribed the names of all those who had in any way been benefactors either
to the ecclesiastical foundation or to the building. In early times, during
the daily celebration of Mass, the list of names was read out from the
_diptych_ by the Deacon standing in the gospel ambon; and the congregation
was requested or "bid" to pray for the souls of those whose names they had
just heard.
"_Bidding the beads._"
The "bidding prayer" before University sermon at Oxford and Cambridge is a
survival of this custom, which in the fifteenth century was termed "bidding
the beads," that is "praying for the prayers" of the congregation. In some
cases fine specimens of the old ivory _Consular diptychs_ were used for
this purpose in Italian churches till comparatively late times, but as a
rule they fell into disuse before the eleventh or twelfth century, as the
list of names became too long for the waxed leaves of a diptych, and so by
degrees vellum rolls or else _codices_, often beautifully written in gold
and silver letters, were substituted. One of the most splendid of these
lists, the _Liber vitae_ of Durham, is now preserved in the British Museum;
_Cotton manuscripts_, Domit. 7. 2.
For many other purposes, both ecclesiastical and secular, the classical
waxed tablets were used in England and on the Continent, especially for
lists of names, as for example in great Cathedral or Abbey churches the
list for the week of the various priests who were appointed to celebrate
each mass at each of the numerous altars.
_List of guild-members._
The British Museum possesses a very interesting late example of a waxed
tablet which in shape, size and general appearance is exactly like the
Roman _pugillares_. This is an oak tablet, about 20 inches long by 10
inches wide, covered with a thin layer of wax protected by the usual
slightly raised margin about half an inch wide. Along one edge are three
holes with leather loops to form the hinges; the other leaf is lost. On the
wax is inscribed a list of the names of the members of a Flemish guild;
each name is still as sharp and legible as the day it was written. The form
of the writing shows that it belongs to the end of the fifteenth century.
Such tablets were used both by the trade guilds of the middle ages and by
the religious guilds formed for the cult of some special Saint.
_Wooden Book._
The most interesting mediaeval example of the classical form of manuscript
made up of several leaves of waxed tablets was found a few years ago in a
blocked-up recess in the old wooden church at Hopperstad in Norway. It was
enclosed in a casket of wood covered with leather, and thus it still
remains in a very perfect state of preservation; it is now in the
University Museum at Christiania. The book consists of six tablets of
box-wood, coated with wax within the usual raised margin, and hinged with
leather thongs. The outer leaves are decorated on the back with carving
mixed with inlay of different coloured woods.
_Bestiary._
The manuscript itself which is written on the wax is a _Bestiary_, dating,
as its style shows, from the latter part of the thirteenth century, though
the book itself is probably older. It contains lists of animals in Latin
with a Norwegian translation, and it is copiously illustrated with drawings
of scenes from agricultural and domestic life, executed in fine outline on
the wax with a sharply pointed stilus. In every detail, except of course in
the character of the writing and drawings, this book exactly resembles an
ancient Greek or Roman many-leaved wooden book, [Greek: polyptychon], a
very striking example of the unaltered survival of ancient methods for an
extraordinarily long period.
_Ivory tablets._
During the mediaeval period, sets of ivory tablets hinged together were
frequently made for devotional purposes. This form of manuscript has no
layer of wax, but the writing is executed with a pen on the thin smooth
leaf of ivory. Each leaf has its margin raised, like the ancient
_pugillares_, to prevent the two adjacent surfaces from rubbing together.
These ivory tablets usually contain a set of short prayers, and they are
frequently illustrated with painted miniatures of sacred subjects exactly
like those in the vellum manuscripts of the same date.
_Tablet with eight leaves._
The South Kensington Museum possesses a very beautiful example of these
ivory books; it is of Northern French workmanship dating from about the
middle of the fourteenth century. It consists of eight leaves of ivory,
measuring 4-1/8 inches by 2-3/8 inches in width. The six inner pages are
extremely thin, no thicker than stout paper, and have paintings on both
sides, the two covers are of thicker substance, about a quarter of an inch,
and are decorated on the outside with beautiful carved reliefs.
This remarkable work of art has on the inner leaves fourteen very
delicately executed miniatures of sacred subjects, single figures of Saints
and scenes from Christ's Passion, painted in gold and colours in the finest
style of French fourteenth century art, evidently executed by some very
skilful illuminator.
_Ivory diptychs._
Tablets like this with as many as eight ivory leaves are rare, but a very
large number of beautiful ivory diptychs still exist, with carved reliefs
on the outside of very graceful style and delicate execution. Most of these
diptychs date from the fourteenth century, and are of French workmanship,
but they were also produced in England at the same time and of quite equal
merit in design and execution.
_Inscribed lead tablet._
_Manuscripts on lead plates_, like those of the ancient Greeks, were
occasionally used in mediaeval times.
A single lead leaf of an Anglo-Saxon manuscript from Lord Londesborough's
collection is illustrated in _Archaeologia_, Vol. XXXIV, Plate 36, page
438. This leaf measures 6½ inches by 5 inches in width. On it is incised
with a stilus in fine bold semi-uncial writing the beginning of Aelfric's
preface to his first collection of _Homilies_, which in modern English runs
thus:--"I, Aelfric, monk and mass-priest, was sent in King Aethelred's time
from Aelfeage the Bishop, the successor of Aethelwold, to a certain minster
which is called Cernel, &c." At the top of the page there is a heading in
large Runic characters. Aelfric was sent by Aelfeage Bishop of Winchester
to be Abbot of Cerne in 988 or 989, and this interesting page appears to be
of contemporary date. It was found by a labourer while digging in the
precincts of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Along one edge of the leaden
page there are three holes to receive the loops which hinged the plates
together, but the other leaves were not found.
_Horn-books._
_Horn-books._ One form of wooden tablet continued in use, especially in
boys' schools, till the sixteenth century. This was a wooden board, rather
smaller than an ordinary school-boy's slate, with a long handle at the
bottom; on it was fixed a sheet of vellum or paper on which was written or
(in the latest examples) printed _the Alphabet_, _the Creed_, _the Lord's
Prayer_ or such like. Over this a thin sheet of transparent horn was
nailed, whence these tablets were often called "horn-books." A good example
dating from the sixteenth century is now preserved in the Bodleian library
at Oxford.