Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique
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Title: Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique
Author: J. H. Middleton
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Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
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* * * * *
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.
CHAPTER II.
CLASSICAL MANUSCRIPTS WRITTEN WITH PEN AND INK.
To return now to classical forms of manuscripts, it appears to have been a
long time before the _book_ or _codex_ form of manuscript was extended from
the wood and ivory tablets to writings on parchment or paper.
_The roll form of MS._
_The codex form._
It seems probable that throughout the Greek period manuscripts on paper or
vellum were usually, if not always, in the shape of a long roll; and that
it was not till about the beginning of the Roman Empire that leaves of
parchment or paper were sometimes cut up into pages and bound together in
the form of the older tablets. During the first two or three centuries of
the Empire, manuscripts were produced in both of these forms--the _codex_
and the _volumen_; but the _roll_ form was by far the commoner, almost till
the transference of the seat of government to Byzantium.
The roll form of book is the one shown in many of the wall paintings of
Pompeii; but on some sarcophagi reliefs of the second century A.D. books
both of the _roll_ and the _codex_ shape are represented[9].
_Writing with a pen._
Having given some account of the various classical forms of manuscript in
which the writing is incised with a sharp _stilus_, we will now pass on to
the other chief forms of manuscript which were written with a pen and with
ink or other pigment.
_Books of the dead._
_Manuscripts on papyrus_; the oldest existing examples of this class are
the so-called _Rituals of the Dead_ found in the tombs of Egypt, especially
in those of the Theban dynasties; the oldest of these date as far back as
the sixteenth or fifteenth century B.C.[10]
They are executed with a reed pen in hieroglyphic writing on long rolls of
papyrus, and are copiously illuminated with painted miniatures illustrating
the subject of the text, drawn with much spirit and coloured in a very
finely decorative way. Immense numbers of these Egyptian illuminated
manuscripts still exist in a more or less fragmentary condition. One of the
most perfect of these is the _Book of the Dead of Ani_, a royal scribe,
dating from the fourteenth century B.C., now in the British Museum. An
excellent facsimile of the whole of this fine illuminated manuscript has
been edited by Dr Budge and published by the Trustees of the British Museum
in 1890.
_Egyptian psalter._
Manuscripts of this important class are not very accurately described as
_Rituals of the Dead_; as Dr Budge points out they really consist of
collections of _psalms_ or _sacred hymns_ which vary considerably in
different manuscripts.
They appear to have been written in large numbers and kept in stock by the
Egyptian undertakers ready for purchasers. Blank spaces were left for the
name and titles of the dead person for whom they were bought.
Thus we find that the names are often filled in carelessly by another hand
than that of the writer of the manuscript, and some examples exist in which
the spaces for the name are still left blank.
Another of the finest and most complete of the funereal _papyri_ is
preserved in the Museum in Turin; see Pierret, _Le livre des Morts des
anciens Egyptiens_, Paris, 1882.
_Use of papyrus._
_Existing Greek MSS._
Papyrus seems to have been used for manuscripts more than any other
substance both by the Greeks from the sixth century B.C. and by the Romans
down to the time of the later Empire. Some very valuable Greek manuscripts
on papyrus are preserved in the British Museum; among them the most
important for their early date are some fragments of Homer's _Iliad_ of the
third or second century B.C. Another papyrus manuscript in the same
collection dating from the first century B.C. contains four _Orations_ of
the Athenian Orator Hyperides, a contemporary and rival of Demosthenes. In
the last few years the important discovery has been made that in certain
late tombs in Egypt, dating from the Roman period, the mummied bodies are
packed in their coffins with large quantities of what was considered waste
paper. This packing in some cases has been found to consist of papyrus
manuscripts, some of which are of great importance. In this way the newly
discovered treatise by Aristotle on the _Political Constitution of Athens_,
and the _Mimes_ of Herondas were saved from destruction by being used as
inner wrappings for a coffin of about the year 100 A.D.[11]
Other important manuscripts may yet be found, now that careful search is
being made in this direction.
_Herculaneum library._
Unfortunately the large library of manuscripts, consisting of nearly 1800
papyrus rolls, which was discovered about the middle of the last century in
the lava-buried town of Herculaneum, has not as yet been found to contain
any works of much value or interest. These rolls are all charred by the
heat of the lava, which overwhelmed the town, and the work of unrolling and
deciphering the brittle carbonized paper necessarily goes on very slowly.
The owner of this library appears to have been an enthusiastic student of
the Epicurean philosophy in its later development, and his books are mainly
dull, pedantic treatises on the various sciences such as mathematics, music
and the like, treated from the Epicurean point of view, or rather from that
of the Graeco-Roman followers of Epicurus.
_Papyrus rolls._
All these manuscripts appear to be of about the same date, not many years
older, that is, than the year 79 A.D., when the eruption of Vesuvius
overwhelmed Herculaneum and Pompeii in the same catastrophe. They are
written in fine bold uncial characters without illumination or ornament of
any kind on rolls of papyrus nine or ten inches in breadth. In their
present burnt and shrunken condition the rolls average about two inches in
diameter, but they were probably larger than that in their original state;
see _Palaeo. Soc._ Pl. 151, 152; the other published 'facsimiles' of the
Herculaneum manuscripts are not perfectly trustworthy.
_Herodotus on MSS._
In the time of Herodotus (c. 460 B.C.) _papyrus paper_ ([Greek: biblia] or
[Greek: chartai])[12] appears to have been used by the Greeks almost to the
exclusion of parchment or other kinds of skin. In his interesting section
on the introduction of the art of writing into Greece by the Phoenicians,
Herodotus (v. 58) remarks that the Ionians in old times used to call
_papyrus rolls_ [Greek: diphtherai] or "_parchment_," because they had once
been in the habit of using skins of sheep or goats for manuscripts, at a
time when _papyrus_ paper was not to be had; and, Herodotus goes on to say,
"Barbarians even now are accustomed to write their manuscripts on
parchment."
_Use of parchment._
_Manuscripts on parchment_; this old use of parchment for manuscripts was
again introduced among the Greeks by Eumenes II., king of Pergamus from 197
to 159 B.C. At this time men had forgotten that parchment had ever been
used for books, and so Varro, quoted by Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ XIII. 70),
tells us that Eumenes _invented_ this use of parchment; the real fact being
that he re-introduced an old custom, and stimulated the careful preparation
of parchment for the sake of the great library which he was anxious to make
the most important collection of manuscripts in the world.
_Pergamena._
Varro tells us that he was driven to this use of parchment by the jealousy
of the Egyptian King Ptolemy Epiphanes, whose enormous library at
Alexandria was the only existing rival to the Pergamene collection. One of
the Greek names for parchment, _Pergamena_, was derived from the fact of
its being so largely made for the Pergamene Kings Eumenes and Attalus, both
of whom were not only great patrons of literature and collectors of ancient
manuscripts, but were also enthusiastic buyers of pictures, statues, rich
textiles and works of art of every class. The other word for parchment used
for manuscripts is _membrana_.
_Linen MSS._
_Manuscripts on linen_; in ancient Egypt hieroglyphic manuscripts with
sacred hymns and portions of the so-called _Ritual of the Dead_ were
frequently written with a reed pen on fine linen. These manuscripts, which
are often found among the mummy wrappings of burials under the Theban
Dynasties, are usually illustrated with pen drawings in outline, not
painted miniatures like those on the papyrus rolls. These drawings are
executed with much spirit and with a beautiful, clean, certain touch.
_Early MSS. in Italy._
The early Italian races, Latins, Samnites and others, appear to have used
linen very frequently for their manuscript records and sacred books. Among
the public records mentioned by Livy as having once been preserved with the
Archives in the Capitoline Temple of Juno Moneta were some of these early
linen manuscripts (_libri lintei_); see Liv. IV. 7, 13, 20. Livy also (X.
38) describes an ancient manuscript, containing an account of the ritual
customs of the Samnites, as a _liber vetus linteus_. In historic times,
however, _papyrus_ and _parchment_ appear to have superseded _linen_ in
ancient Rome.
_Inscribed potsherds._
_Ostraka Manuscripts._ For ephemeral purposes, such as tradesmen's accounts
and other business matters, writing was often done with a pen and ink on
broken fragments of pottery ([Greek: ostraka]). An enormous number of these
inscribed potsherds, mostly dating from the Ptolemaic period, have been
found in Egypt, and especially on the little island of Elephantine in the
Nile a short distance below the first cataract.
Among the Greeks too, writing on potsherds was very common; especially when
the Athenian tribes met in the Agora to record their votes for the exile of
some unpopular citizen, whence is derived the term _ostracism_ ([Greek:
ostrakismos]).
The word _liber_ as meaning a _book_ is supposed to be derived from a
primitive custom of writing on the smooth inner bark of some tree, such as
the birch, which supplies a fine silky substance, not at all unsuited for
manuscripts.
_MSS. on leaves._
The large broad leaves of some varieties of the palm tree have also been
used for manuscript purposes, more especially among the inhabitants of
India and Ceylon. In early times the questions asked of the Oracle of the
Pythian Apollo at Delphi were said to have been written on leaves of the
laurel plant. Pali manuscripts in Ceylon are even now frequently written on
palm-leaves; and we have the evidence of Pliny that this custom once
existed among some of the ancient classical races: see _Hist. Nat._ XIII.
69, "Ante non fuisse chartarum usum, in palmarum foliis primo scriptitatum;
deinde quarundam arborum libris. Postea publica monumenta plumbeis
voluminibus, mox et privata linteis confici coepta aut ceris. Pugillarium
enim usum fuisse etiam ante Trojana tempora invenimus apud Homerum." In
this passage Pliny gives a list of all the chief materials that had been
used for manuscripts in ancient times, the _leaves_ and _bark of trees_,
_plates of lead_, _linen cloth_ and _waxed tablets_, he then goes on to
describe at considerable length the methods of making paper from the pith
of the papyrus plant; see page 22.
_Greek libraries._
_Ancient libraries_; among the Greeks and Romans of the historic period
books do not appear to have been either rare or costly as they were during
the greater part of the mediaeval period.
In the time of Alexander, the latter part of the fourth century B.C., large
libraries had already been formed by wealthy lovers of literature, and in
the second century B.C. the rival libraries of Ptolemy Epiphanes at
Alexandria and of King Eumenes II. at Pergamus were said to have contained
between them nearly a million volumes.
_Roman libraries._
Among the Romans of the Empire books were no less common. The owner of the
above mentioned library at Herculaneum, consisting of nearly 1800 rolls or
volumes, does not appear to have been a man of exceptional wealth; his
house was small and his surroundings simple in character.
_The great libraries of Rome._
As early as the reign of Augustus, Rome possessed several large public
libraries (_bibliothecae_). The first of these was instituted in 37 B.C. by
Asinius Pollio both for Greek and Latin manuscripts. The second was the
_Bibliotheca Octaviae_ founded by Augustus in the Campus Martius in honour
of his sister. The third was the magnificent double _library of Apollo
Palatinus_, which Augustus built on the Palatine Hill. The fourth, also on
the Palatine, the _Bibliotheca Tiberiana_ was founded by Tiberius. The
fifth was built by Vespasian as part of the group of buildings in his new
_Forum Pacis_. The sixth and largest of all was the double library, for
Greek and Latin books built by Trajan in his Forum close to the _Basilica
Ulpia_. To some extent a classification of subjects was adopted in these
great public libraries, one being mainly legal, another for ancient
history, a third for state papers and modern records, but this
classification appears to have been only partially adhered to.
_Parish libraries._
In addition to these state libraries, Rome also possessed a large number of
smaller "parish libraries" in the separate _vici_, and the total number,
given in the _Regionary catalogues_ as existing in the time of Constantine,
is enormous; see Séraud, _Les livres dans l'antiquité_.
_Library fittings._
With regard to the arrangement and fittings of Roman libraries, the usual
method appears to have been this. Cupboards (_armaria_), fitted with
shelves to receive the rolls or _codices_ and closed by doors, were placed
against the walls all round the room. These _armaria_ were usually rather
low, not more than from four to five feet in height, and on them were
placed busts of famous authors; while the wall-space above the bookcases
was decorated with similar portrait reliefs or paintings designed to fill
panels or circular medallions.
_Library decorations._
Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ XXXV. 9), speaks of it being a new fashion in his time
to adorn the walls of libraries with ideal portraits of ancient writers,
such as Homer, executed in gold, silver or bronze relief.
The public library of Asinius Pollio was, Pliny says, decorated with
portraits, but whether the great libraries of Pergamus and Alexandria were
ornamented in this way, Pliny is unable to say. Magnificent medallion
portraits in gold and silver were fixed round the walls of the two great
libraries of Apollo on the Palatine Hill, and probably in the other still
larger public libraries which were founded by subsequent Emperors.
_Recent discovery._
_Authors' busts._
The ordinary private libraries of Rome were decorated in a similar way, but
with reliefs of less costly materials. A very interesting example of this
has recently been discovered and then destroyed on the Esquiline hill in
Rome. The house in which this library was discovered was one of no very
exceptional size or splendour. The _bibliotheca_ itself consisted of a
handsome room; the lower part of its walls, against which the _armaria_
fitted, was left quite plain. Above that the walls were divided into square
panels by small fluted pilasters, and in the centre of each space there
was, or had been, a medallion relief-portrait about two feet in diameter
enclosed in a moulded frame. All this was executed in fine, hard
marble-dust stucco (_opus albarium_ or _marmoreum_).
The names of the authors whose portraits had filled the medallions were
written in red upon the frames. Only one was legible--APOLLONIVS THYAN....
No doubt the works of Apollonius of Thyana were kept in the _armarium_
below the bust.
The library at Herculaneum, which contained the famous papyrus rolls, was a
much smaller room. Besides the bookcases all round the walls, it had also
an isolated _armarium_ in the centre of the room; and this, no doubt, was a
usual arrangement.
The room at Herculaneum was so small that there can only have been just
enough space to walk between the central bookcase and the _armaria_ ranged
all round against the wall.
_Closed bookcases._
As the Comm. Lanciani has pointed out (_Ancient Rome_, p. 195), it is
interesting to note that the ancient Roman method of arranging books in
low, closed cupboards is still preserved in the great library of the
Vatican in Rome; which is unlike most existing libraries in the fact that
on first entering no one would guess that it was a library, not a single
book being visible.
Of the ancient _armaria_ themselves no example now exists. They were of
wood, and therefore, of course, perishable. But we may, I think, argue from
analogy, that the doors of the cupboards were richly ornamented with
painted decorations, thus forming an elaborate dado or _podium_ below the
row of portrait reliefs which occupied the upper part of the walls.
_Booksellers' quarter._
The principal quarter in Rome for the shops of booksellers (_bibliopolae_
or _librarii_) appears to have been the _Argiletum_, which (in Imperial
times) was an important street running into the Forum Romanum between the
Curia and the Basilica Aemilia; see Mart. I. 3, 117[13].
For ancient manuscripts or autograph works of famous authors large prices
were often paid. Aristotle is said to have given three talents (about £750)
for an autograph manuscript of Speusippus, and a manuscript of Virgil's
second book of the _Aeneid_, thought to be the author's own copy, sold for
twenty _aurei_, more than £20 in modern value; see Aul. Gell. III. 17, and
II. 3.
_Cost of new books._
_Slave scribes._
But ordinary copies of newly published works, even by popular authors,
appear to have been but little more expensive than books of this class are
at the present day. The publisher and bookseller Tryphon could sell
Martial's first book of _Epigrams_ at a profit for two _denarii_--barely
two shillings in modern value; see Mart. XIII. 3. It may seem strange that
written manuscripts should not have been much more costly than printed
books, but when one considers how they were produced the reason is evident.
Atticus, the Sosii and other chief publishers of Rome owned a large number
of slaves who were trained to be neat and rapid scribes. Fifty or a hundred
of these slaves could write from the dictation of one reader, and thus a
small edition of a new volume of Horace's _Odes_ or Martial's _Epigrams_
could be produced with great rapidity and at very small cost[14].
Little capital would be required for the education of the slave-scribes,
and when once they were taught, the cost of their labour would be little
more than the small amount of food which was necessary to keep them alive
and in working order.
Cicero (_Att._ II. 4) speaks of the publisher Atticus selling manuscripts
produced in this way by slave labour on a large scale.
_Librarii._
The name _librarius_ was given not only to the booksellers, but also to
slave librarians, and to scribes, the latter being sometimes distinguished
by the name _scriptores librarii_. _Librarii antiquarii_ were writers who
were specially skilled in copying ancient manuscripts. The word _scriba_
commonly denotes a _secretary_ rather than what we should now call a
_scribe_.
In Athens a class of booksellers, [Greek: bibliographoi], appears to have
existed as early as the fifth century B.C.; see Poll. VII. 211. The name
[Greek: bibliopôlai] was subsequently used, and adopted by the Romans.
THE TECHNIQUE OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS[15].
_Parchment and vellum._
_Erasures._
_Parchment._ With regard to the preparation of parchment and other kinds of
skin for writing on (_Pergamena_ and _Membrana_) there is little to be
said. The skins of many different animals have been used for this purpose
both in classical and mediaeval times, especially skins of calves, sheep,
goats and pigs. Unlike manuscripts on papyrus, parchment or vellum[16]
manuscripts were usually covered with writing on both sides, since the ink
does not show through from one side to the other, as it is liable to do on
the more absorbent and spongy papyrus paper. For this reason complete or
partial erasures were much easier to execute on vellum than on papyrus. The
writing was first sponged so as to remove the surface ink, and the traces
that still remained were got rid of by rubbing the surface of the vellum
with pumice stone. In some cases the manuscript was erased from the whole
of a vellum codex or roll, and the cleaned surface then used to receive
fresh writing.
_Palimpsests._
_Palimpsests_; manuscripts of this class, on twice-used vellum, were called
_palimpsests_ ([Greek: palimpsêstos]); see Cic. _Fam._ vii. 18. Several
important texts, such as the legal work of Gaius, have been recovered by
laboriously deciphering the not wholly obliterated writing on these
palimpsests. During the early mediaeval period, when classical learning was
little valued, many a dull treatise of the schoolmen or other theological
work of small interest was written over the obliterated text of some much
earlier and more valuable classical author.
_Papyrus MSS._
In some cases it appears that papyrus manuscripts were made into
palimpsests, but probably not very often, as it would be difficult to erase
the ink on a roll of papyrus without seriously injuring the surface of the
paper.
Moreover as papyrus manuscripts were only written on one side of the paper,
the back was free to receive new writing without any necessity to rub out
the original text. The recently discovered treatise by Aristotle on the
_Political Constitution of Athens_ has some monetary accounts written on
the back of the papyrus by some unphilosophical man of business not many
years later than the date of the original treatise.
_Papyrus paper._
_Papyrus paper._ The ancient methods employed in the preparation of papyrus
paper (_charta_) can be clearly made out by the evidence of existing
examples aided by the minute but not wholly accurate description given by
Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ XIII. 71 to 83.
_Papyrus plant._
The papyrus plant, the _Cyperus Papyrus_ of Linnaeus, (Greek [Greek:
byblos]) is a very tall, handsome variety of reed which grows in marshes
and shallows along the sides of streams of water. The plant has at the top
a very graceful tufted bunch of foliage; its stem averages from three to
four inches in diameter, and the total height of the plant is from ten to
twelve feet.
It grows in many places in Syria, in the Euphrates valley and in Nubia. In
Egypt itself it is now extinct, but it was abundant there in ancient times,
especially in the Delta of the Nile.
The only spot in Europe where the papyrus plant grows in a wild state is
near Syracuse in the little river Anapus, where it was probably introduced
by the Arab conquerors in the eighth or ninth century A.D.
It grows here in great abundance and sometimes nearly blocks up the stream
so that a boat can scarcely get along.
The stem of the papyrus consists of a soft, white, spongy or cellular pith
surrounded by a thin, smooth, green rind. Papyrus paper ([Greek: biblia] or
[Greek: chartês]) was wholly made from the cellular pith. The method of
manufacture was as follows.
_Process of manufacture._
The long stem of the plant was first cut up into convenient pieces of a
foot or more in length; the pith in each piece was then very carefully and
evenly cut with a sharp knife into thin slices. These slices were then laid
side by side, their edges touching but not overlapping, on the smooth
surface of a wooden table which was slightly inclined to let the
superfluous sap run off, as it was squeezed out of the slices of pith by
gentle blows from a smooth wooden mallet. When by repeated beating the
layer of pith had been hammered down to a thinner substance, and a great
deal of the sap had drained off, some fine paste made of wheat-flour was
carefully brushed over the whole surface of the pith. A second layer of
slices of pith, previously prepared by beating, was then laid crosswise on
the first layer made adhesive by the paste, so that the slices in the
second layer were at right angles to those of the first. The beating
process was then repeated, the workmen being careful to get rid of all
lumps or inequalities, and the beating was continued till the various
slices of pith in the two layers were thoroughly united and amalgamated
together.
_Use of many layers._
_Sizes of papyrus._
For the best sort of papyrus these processes were repeated a third and
sometimes even a fourth time, the separate slices in each layer being cut
much thinner than in the coarser sorts of paper which consisted of two
layers only. The next process was to dry and press the paper; after which
its surface was carefully smoothed and polished with an ivory
burnisher[17]; its rough edges were trimmed, and it was then ready to be
made up into sheets or rolls. There was nothing in the method of
manufacture to limit strictly the size of the papyrus sheets ([Greek:
selides], _paginae_) either in breadth or length; the workmen could lay
side by side as many slices of the pith as he liked, and slices of great
length might have been cut out of the long stem of the _papyrus_.
Practically, however, it was found convenient to make the paper in rather
small sheets; twelve to sixteen inches are the usual widths of papyrus
manuscripts.
_Union of the sheets._
_Long rolls._
The reason of this obviously was that it would have been impossible to cut
slices of great length to the requisite thinness and evenness of substance,
and so papyrus manuscripts are always made up of a large number of separate
sheets carefully pasted together. This was very skilfully done by workmen
who (in Pliny's time) were called _glutinatores_; cf. Cic. _Att._ IV. 4.
The two adjacent edges of the sheets, which were to be joined together by
lapping, were thinned down by careful rubbing to about half their original
substance. The two laps were then brushed over with paste, accurately
applied together, and the union was then completed by beating with the
wooden mallet. When the pasted joint was dry it was rubbed and polished
with the ivory burnisher till scarcely any mark of the joining remained. In
this way long rolls were formed, often fifty feet or more in length; as a
rule, however, excessive length for a single roll was inconvenient. Pliny
mentions 20 sheets as being an ordinary limit. Thus, for example, in such
works as Homer's _Iliad_ or Virgil's _Aeneid_, each _book_ would form a
separate _volumen_ or roll (Greek [Greek: kylindros] or [Greek: tomos]).
The invention of papyrus paper dates from an early period in the history of
Egypt. Examples still exist which are as early as 2300 B.C., and its
manufacture was probably known long before that.
_Papyrus used in Greece._
In later times Egyptian papyrus was an important article of export into
many countries. An Attic inscription of the year 407 B.C. tells us what the
cost of paper then was in Athens; two sheets ([Greek: chartai duo]) cost
two drachmae and four obols, equal in modern value to about four shillings;
see _C. I. A._ I. 324. The [Greek: chartai] in this case probably mean, not
a single page, but several sheets pasted together to form a roll.
_Papyrus made in Rome._
_Old MSS. on papyrus._
In Pliny's time paper was made not only in Egypt but also in Rome and at
other places in Italy[18]. The best kind was formerly called _Hieratica_,
because it was used in Egypt for sacred hieroglyphic writing only. In later
times this finest quality, in Rome at least, was called _Augusta_, and the
second quality _Liviana_, from Livia the wife of Augustus. A coarse variety
used for wrapping up parcels and the like was called "shop-paper,"
_emporetica_. Pliny also tells us that paper was manufactured of many
different breadths, varying from about four to eighteen inches. The
commonest width was about twelve inches; see Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ XIII. 71
to 83. In the last of these paragraphs Pliny mentions examples of old
papyrus manuscripts existing in his time, such as manuscripts in the
handwriting of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, which were nearly two centuries
old. Manuscripts written by Cicero, Augustus and Virgil are, he says, still
frequently to be seen.
With regard to the antiquity of paper Pliny's views are far from correct.
He thinks paper was first made in Egypt in the time of Alexander the Great
(_Hist. Nat._ XIII. 79), whereas, as is mentioned above, papyrus paper of
fine quality was certainly made in Egypt nearly 2000 years before the time
of Alexander, and probably much earlier.
_Paper of fine quality._
The best kinds of papyrus paper are close in texture, with a smooth
surface, very pleasant to write upon with a reed pen, and adapted to
receive miniature paintings of great refinement and delicacy of touch. To
prevent the ink spreading or soaking into the paper, it was as a final
process sometimes soaked in size made of fish-bones or gum and water,
exactly as modern linen paper is sized. The colour of the papyrus is a pale
brown, very pleasant to the eye, and excellent as a background to the
painted decorations.
_Fibrous texture._
When it was first made, papyrus paper must have been extremely durable and
tough owing to its compound structure with two or more fibrous layers
placed cross-wise. The parallel fibrous lines of the pith are very visible
on the surface of papyrus paper; and these regular lines served as a guide
to the scribe when writing, so that when papyrus was used it was not
necessary to cover the page with ruled lines to keep the writing even, as
had to be done when the manuscript was on vellum.
In a papyrus manuscript the pages of writing are set side by side, across
the roll, with a small margin between each page or column.
_Greek examples of papyrus rolls._
A small terra-cotta statuette[19] of about the fifth or fourth century B.C.
found at Salamis in Cyprus in 1890, shows a Greek scribe writing on a long
papyrus roll placed on a low table before which he is sitting.
Among Greek vase paintings of the same date a not uncommon subject is the
poetess Sappho reading from a papyrus roll. A fourth century vase with this
subject in the Central Museum in Athens shows Sappho holding a manuscript
on which the following words are inscribed (supplying missing letters and
correcting blunders)
[Greek: THEOI ÊERIÔN EPEÔN ERCHOMAI]
[Greek: ANGELOS NEÔN UMNÔN.]
By the figure of Sappho is inscribed the beginning of her name, [Greek:
SAP] in letters of archaistic form.
_Sappho reading._
A very similar design occurs on a beautiful gem in the British Museum (B.M.
_Cat. of gems_, No. 556), which appears to date from the latter part of the
fifth century B.C. A very graceful female figure, probably meant for
Sappho, is represented seated on a chair with high curved back. She is
reading from a manuscript roll which she holds by the two rolled up ends,
holding one in each hand.
This method of holding a papyrus manuscript is shown very clearly on a vase
in the British Museum on which the same motive is painted. The lady
(Sappho) holds the two rolled up portions of the manuscript, stretching
tight the intermediate portion on which is the column of writing which she
is reading.
_Umbilicus or roller._
As the reader progressed the paper was unrolled from the roll held in the
right hand, and the part just read was rolled up in the left-hand roll.
These Greek representations do not usually show any stick or roller for the
manuscript to be rolled round; but in Roman times a wooden or ivory roller
([Greek: omphalos], _umbilicus_) was used as the core of the roll; and the
end of the long strip of papyrus by the last page or column of text was
pasted on to it. The ends of the _umbilicus_ were often fitted with a round
knob or boss, which was decorated with gilding or colour. The edges of the
papyrus roll were smoothed with pumice-stone (_pumice mundus_), and the
whole manuscript was often provided with a vellum case, which was stained a
bright colour, red, purple or yellow. Tibullus (_El._ III. i. 9) alludes to
these ornamental methods,
_Lutea sed niveum involvat membrana libellum.
Pumex et canas tondeat ante comas;_
_Atque inter geminas pingantur cornua frontes._
The _frontes_ are the edges of the roll, and the _cornua_ are the
projecting portions of the two wooden rollers.
_Inscribed titles._
The title of the manuscript was written on a ticket or slip of vellum,
which hung down from the closed roll like the pendant seal of a mediaeval
document. Thus when a number of manuscripts were piled on the shelf of an
_armarium_ the pendants hanging down from the ends of the rolls indicated
plainly what the books were, without the necessity of pulling them from
their place.
Small numbers of rolls, especially manuscripts which had to be carried
about, were often kept in round drum-like boxes (_capsae_ or _scrinia_),
with loop handles to carry them by.
_Coloured inks._
Much of the beauty of an ancient manuscript depended on the use of red or
purple ink for _headings_, _indices_ and _marginal glosses_. As Pliny says
(_Hist. Nat._ XXXIII. 122) _minium in voluminum quoque scriptura
usurpatur_.
The use of purple ink for the _index_ is mentioned by Martial in his
epigram _Ad librum suum_ (III. 2) where he sums up the various methods of
decoration which in his time were applied to manuscripts,
_Cedro nunc licet ambules perunctus,
Et frontis gemino decens honore
Pictis luxurieris umbilicis;
Et te purpura delicata velet,
Et cocco rubeat superbus index._
_Use of oil._
The oil of cedar wood, mentioned in the first of these lines, was smeared
over the back of papyrus manuscripts to preserve them from book-worms.
The act of unrolling a manuscript to read it was called _explicare_, and
when the reader had come to the end it was _opus explicitum_. In mediaeval
times from the false analogy of the word (_hic_) _incipit_, a verb
_explicit_ was invented, and was often written at the end of _codices_ to
show that the manuscript was complete to the end, though, strictly speaking
the word is only applicable to a _roll_.
_Mediaeval use of papyrus._
The use of papyrus paper for manuscripts to some extent continued till
mediaeval times. Papyrus manuscripts of the sixth and seventh century A.D.
are not uncommon, and, long after vellum had superseded papyrus paper for
the writing of books, short documents, such as letters, Papal deeds and the
like, were still frequently written on papyrus. Papal _Briefs_ on papyrus
still exist which were written as late as the eleventh century.
_Black ink._
_Carbon ink._
The _black ink_ which was used for classical manuscripts was of the kind
now known as "Indian" or more correctly "Chinese ink," which cannot be kept
in a fluid state, but has to be rubbed up with water from day to day as it
is required. One of the menial offices which Aeschines when a boy had to
perform in his father's school was "rubbing the ink," [Greek: to melan
tribôn]; see Demos. _De Corona_, p. 313. This kind of ink ([Greek: melan]
or [Greek: melanion], _atramentum librarium_) simply consists of finely
divided particles of carbon, mixed with gum or with size made by boiling
down shreds of parchment. It was obtained by burning a resinous substance
and collecting the soot on a cold flat surface, from which it could
afterwards be scraped off. The soot had then to be very finely ground,
mixed with a gummy medium and then moulded into shape and dried. The
process is described by Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ XXXV. 41; and better still by
Vitruvius, VII. 10.
_Black pigment._
A variety of this carbon pigment used for pictures on stucco by
wall-painters was called _atramentum tectorium_, modern "lamp-black"; the
only difference between this and writing ink was in the kind of glutinous
medium used with it. Careful scribes probably prepared their own ink, as
the writers of mediaeval manuscripts usually did. The common commercial
black ink of about 300 A.D. was sold at a very cheap rate, as is recorded
in an inscription containing part of Diocletian's famous edict which was
found at Megalopolis and published by Mr Loring (_Jour. Hell. Stud._ Vol.
XI., 1890, p. 318, line 46). Under the heading "Pens and ink," [Greek: Peri
kalamôn kai melaniou], the price of ink, [Greek: melanion], is fixed at 12
small copper coins the pound.
Very great skill is required to prepare carbon ink of the finest quality.
Though it is now largely manufactured in Europe, none but the Chinese can
make ink of the best sort.
In some places sepia ink from the cuttle-fish was used in ancient times;
see Persius, _Sat._ III. 12; and cf. Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ XI. 8, and XXXII.
141.
_Red inks._
The _red ink_ used for ancient manuscripts was of three different kinds,
namely red lead, vermilion or sulphuret of mercury, and red ochre. The
ancient names for these red pigments were used very indiscriminately,
[Greek: miltos], _minium_, _cinnabaris_ and _rubrica_. In some cases
[Greek: miltos] certainly means the costly vermilion; and again the word is
also used both for red lead and for the much cheaper red ochre. The latter
appears to be always meant by the name [Greek: miltos Sinôpis]; see Choisy,
_Inscrip. Lebadeia_, p. 197. The Latin words _minium_ and _rubrica_ are
used in the same vague way; see Vitruv. VII. 9; and Pliny, _Hist. Nat._
XXXV. 31 to 35.
In mediaeval manuscripts red ink (_rubrica_) was largely used not only for
headings and glosses, but also in Service books for the ritual directions,
which have hence taken the name of _rubrics_.
_Purple ink._
The purple ink (_coccus_), which Martial mentions in the passage quoted
above at page 27, was made from the _kermes_ beetle, which lives on the
ilex trees of Greece and Asia Minor. This was one of the most important of
the ancient dyes for woven stuffs and it was also used as a pigment by
painters; see below, page 246.
_Double inkstands._
The inkstands of ancient scribes were commonly made double, to hold
both black and red ink. Many examples of these from Egypt and elsewhere
still exist, and they are shown in many of the Pompeian wall-paintings.
They usually are in the form of two bronze cylinders linked together, each
with a lid which is attached by a little chain. Other inkstands are single,
little round boxes of bronze, in shape like a large pill-box. Another
method, specially common in ancient Egypt, was for the scribe to carry
about his ink, both black and red, in a solid form; he then rubbed up with
water just as much as he needed at the time. The box and palette mentioned
below was made for this use of solid inks, except that the whole thing,
handle and all, is made out of one piece of metal.
_Reed pens._
The pens used by ancient writers of manuscripts were mainly some variety of
reed ([Greek: kalamos], _calamus_ or _canna_), cut diagonally to a point
like a modern quill pen. Great numbers of reed pens have been found in
Egyptian tombs and also in Pompeii; they exactly resemble those still used
in Egypt and in Oriental countries generally.
_Metal pens._
Metal pens were also used by Greek and Roman scribes. Examples both in
silver and bronze have been found in Greece and in Italy, shaped very much
like a modern steel pen[20].
_Scribes' palettes._
In some cases manuscripts were written with a fine brush instead of a pen,
especially the hieroglyphic manuscripts of ancient Egypt. Many combined
scribes' palettes and brush cases have been found in Egyptian tombs. These
are long slips of wood, partly hollowed to hold the brushes, and with two
cup-like sinkings at one end for the writer to rub up his cakes of black
and red ink.
In Egyptian manuscripts red ink is used much more copiously than either in
Greek or Latin manuscripts. Very often the scribe writes his columns
alternately in black and red for the sake of the decorative appearance of
the page.
_Pen-cases._
Egyptian pen-cases in the form of a bronze tube about ¾ inch in diameter
and 10 inches long with a tightly fitting cap have frequently been found.
The British Museum possesses good examples of these, and of the other
writing implements here described.
_Reed pens._
The above-mentioned passage in the _Edict of Diocletian_ (see page 28)
gives the prices of reed pens ([Greek: kalamoi]) of various qualities. The
difference is very great between the best and the inferior kinds of pens;
the best quality appears to have been made from the long single joint of a
reed.
There is no evidence that quill pens were used in classical times, but it
is difficult to believe that so natural an expedient never occurred to any
ancient scribe, especially when the use of vellum for manuscripts came in;
for papyrus paper the softer reed pen would be more convenient than a
quill, and indeed for all the earlier sort of Greek and Latin writing in
large _uncial_ characters. It is only for the smaller _cursive_ writing
that a quill would be as suitable as a reed pen.
The inscription mentioned at p. 24 as giving the cost of paper in Athens in
407 B.C. is part of a record of the expenses of building the Erechtheum. It
also mentions the purchase for 4 drachmae of 4 wooden writing-tablets,
[Greek: chartai eônêthêsan duo, es has ta antigrapha enegrapsamen]
|- |- | | | |
[Greek: Sanides tettares] |- |- |- |-
CHAPTER III.
CLASSICAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.
_Illumination._
The mediaeval phrase _illuminated manuscript_ means a manuscript which is
"lighted up" with coloured decoration in the form of ornamental
initial-letters or painted miniatures. Dante speaks of "The art which in
Paris is called illuminating,"
_... quell' arte
Che alluminare è chiamata in Parisi_; _Purg._ XI. 80.
_Use of minium._
The important use that was made of red paint (_minium_) in the decoration
of manuscripts led to the painter being called a _miniator_, whence the
pictures that he executed in manuscripts were called _miniature_ or
_miniatures_. Finally the word _miniature_ was extended in meaning to imply
any painting on a _minute_ scale[21]. Originally, however, it was only
applied to the painted decorations of manuscripts.
_Egyptian miniatures._
The Egyptian manuscript "Books of the Dead" are very copiously illuminated
with painted miniatures, both in the form of ornamental borders along the
edge of the papyrus, and also with larger compositions which occupy the
whole depth of the roll.
It is difficult to say to what extent illuminated manuscripts were known to
the ancient Greeks, but they were certainly not uncommon in Rome towards
the close of the Republic; and it may fairly be assumed that it was from
the Greeks that the very inartistic Romans derived the custom of decorating
manuscripts with painted miniatures.
_Illustrations in Roman MSS._
Pliny tells us (_Hist. Nat._ XXXV. 11) that a number of manuscripts in the
library of M. Varro in the first century B.C. contained no less than 700
portraits of illustrious personages.
That the original manuscript of Vitruvius' work on _Architecture_ was
illustrated with explanatory pictures is shown by the frequent reference in
the text to these lost illustrations which are mentioned as being at the
end of the work; _e.g._ see III., _Praef._, 4.
A manuscript written in letters of gold is mentioned by Suetonius (_Nero_,
10); this was a copy of Nero's own poem which was publicly read aloud to an
audience on the Capitol, and was then deposited in the Temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus.
_Writing in gold._
Again, two centuries later the mother of Maximus, who was titular Caesar
from 235 to 238 A.D., is said to have given him a manuscript of Homer's
poems written in gold letters on purple vellum; see Jul. Capit., _Max.
Vita_.
There is, in short, abundant evidence to show that illuminated manuscripts
were common among the Romans of the Imperial period; and there is a very
strong probability that manuscripts decorated with miniatures were no less
frequent in the great libraries of the Ptolemies and of the Attalid kings,
in fact throughout the Greek world from the time of Alexander the Great
downwards, if not earlier still.
_Greek miniatures._
Some notion of the great beauty of the illustrations in Greek manuscripts
may perhaps be gathered from an examination of the masterly and delicately
graceful drawings incised in outline which decorate the finest of the Greek
bronze _cistae_. Nothing could surpass the perfect beauty of the outline
engravings on the so-called _Ficoronian cista_, which is now preserved in
the Museo del Collegio Romano in Rome. Part of this series representing
scenes from the adventures of the Argonauts is shown on fig. 1.
_Two sources of knowledge._
With regard to the general scheme of decoration in classical manuscripts,
we have the evidence of a few existing examples dating from about the time
of Constantine, and also a large number of copies of Roman
manuscript-pictures of earlier date than the third century A.D., which are
to be seen in various Italian and Byzantine manuscripts of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. 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.]
_Isolated pictures._
_Mediaeval method._
The evidence derived from these two sources leads to the conclusion that as
a rule the illuminations in classical manuscripts were treated as separate
pictures, each surrounded with a simple painted frame, and not closely
linked to the text in the characteristic mediaeval fashion. The mediaeval
method, by often introducing miniature paintings within the boundary of
large initial letters, and by surrounding the page with borders of foliage
which grow out of the chief initials of the text, makes the decoration an
essential part of the whole and creates a close union between the literary
and the ornamental parts of the book, which is very unlike the usual
ancient system of having a plainly written text with isolated miniature
paintings introduced at intervals throughout the pages of the book.
_Iliad of the 4th century._
_Manuscript of the Iliad at Milan_; of all existing Greek or Latin
manuscripts none gives a better notion of the style of illuminations used
in manuscripts of the best Graeco-Roman period than the fragments of
Homer's _Iliad_ which are preserved in the Biblioteca Ambrogiana in Milan.
These fragments consist of fifty-eight miniature paintings, which have been
cut out of a folio manuscript on vellum of Homer's _Iliad_, dating probably
from the latter part of the fourth century A.D. The mutilator of this
_codex_ seems only to have cared to preserve the pictures, and the only
portion of the text which still exists is about eight hundred not
consecutive lines which happen to be written on the backs of the paintings.
Great additional interest is given to this priceless fragment by the fact
that the miniatures are much older in style than the date of the manuscript
itself, and have evidently been copied from a much earlier Greek original.
_Older Greek style._
And more than that; these paintings take one back further still; their
rhythmical composition, the dignity of their motives, the simplicity of the
planes, and the general largeness of style which is specially noticeable in
some of the miniatures representing fighting armies of gods and heroes, all
suggest that we have here a record, weakened and debased though it may be,
of some grand series of mural decorations on a large scale, dating possibly
from the best period of Greek art.
_Hellenic models._
As is naturally the case with copies of noble designs executed at a period
of extreme decadence these paintings are very unequal in style, combining
feebleness of touch and coarseness of detail with great spirit in the
action of the figures and great dignity in the compositions, which have
numerous figures crowded without confusion of line, thus suggesting large
scale though the paintings are actually miniatures only five or six inches
long. The treatment of gods and heroes, especially Zeus, Apollo, Achilles
and others, has much that recalls fine Hellenic models. And some of the
personifications, such as _Night_ and the river _Scamander_, possess a
gracefulness of pose and beauty of form which was far beyond the conception
of any fourth century artist.
It should, however, be observed that a fine Hellenic origin is not
suggested by all the fifty-eight pictures from this _Iliad_. Some of them
are obviously of later and inferior style, with weak scattered
compositions, very unlike the nobility and decorative completeness of the
best among the miniatures.
_Scheme of colour._
With regard to the arrangement of these pictures, each is surrounded by a
simple frame formed of bands of blue and red; in most cases the miniatures
reach across the whole width of the page. The colouring is heavy, painted
in opaque _tempera_ pigments with an undue preponderance of _minium_ or red
lead. White lead, yellow, brown and red ochres are largely used, together
with a variety of vegetable colours and the purple-red of the _kermes_
beetle (_coccus_), but no gold is used, a bright yellow ochre being
employed as a substitute[22].
The costumes are partly ancient Greek and partly of later Roman fashion. A
nimbus encircles each deity's head, and different colours are used to
distinguish them. The nimbus of Zeus is purple, that of Venus is green;
those of the other gods are mostly blue. To a large extent the backgrounds
of the pictures are not painted, but the creamy white of the vellum is left
exposed[23].
_The Vatican Virgil._
_The Virgil of the Vatican_; next in importance to the Ambrosian _Iliad_,
among the existing examples of classical illuminated manuscripts, comes the
manuscript of Virgil's poems (_Vat._ No. 3225) which is supposed to have
been written in the third or more probably the fourth century A.D. The text
is written in large handsome capitals, well formed except that all the
cross lines are too short, T, for example being written thus [Symbol: T
with short curled arms].
The whole manuscript, but especially the _Aeneid_, is decorated with
pictures, fifty in all, each framed by a simple border of coloured bands.
The style of these miniatures is very different and artistically very
inferior to that of the Ambrosian _Iliad_.
_Miniatures of the 5th century._
The whole of the designs, in composition and drawing and in the costumes of
the figures, are those of the fourth century. The details are coarse, the
attitudes devoid of spirit, and the figures clumsy. The backgrounds are
painted in and the colouring is dull in tone and heavy in texture, put in
with a considerable body of pigment (_impasto_). Gold, not in leaf but as a
fluid pigment, is largely used for high lights on trees, mountains, roofs
of buildings, and for the folds of drapery, especially where the stuff is
red or purple. The male figures have flesh of a reddish-brown tint like
many of the Pompeian wall paintings; they wear short tunics with cloaks
thrown over the shoulders. Other figures wear a long _dalmatica_ or tunic,
ornamented with two vertical purple stripes, closely resembling the tunics
which have recently been found in such abundance in the late Roman tombs of
the Fayoum in Upper Egypt.
_Period of decadence._
On the whole the miniatures are neither graceful nor highly decorative;
they were executed at about the low water mark of classical artistic
decadence shortly before the Byzantine revival under Justinian. Much that
has been written in their praise must be attributed to antiquarian
enthusiasm rather than to just criticism[24].
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Miniature of classical design from a twelfth century
_Psalter_ in the Vatican library.]
Before passing on to another class of manuscripts it should be noted that
there is in existence one manuscript of the fourth or fifth century A.D.
which is of special interest on account of its being ornamented, not only
with miniature pictures, but also with some decorative designs of a stiff
conventional character. This is a Roman _Kalendar_, which forms part of a
manuscript in the Imperial library in Vienna. The ornaments have but little
decorative merit, but they are of interest as showing that the
illuminations in classical manuscripts were not always confined to the
subject pictures.
_Copies of lost originals._
It has not as a rule been sufficiently noticed that the style of miniature
paintings in manuscripts of a considerably earlier date than either the
Ambrosian _Iliad_ or the Vatican Virgil is very fairly represented in
various manuscripts of the tenth to the twelfth century, the illuminators
of which have evidently copied, as accurately as they were able, miniatures
in manuscripts of the first or second century A.D.
The originals of these early Roman manuscripts do not now exist, and
therefore the information as to their style and composition, which is given
in the mediaeval copies, is of great interest.
_Classical design._
_Graeco-Roman design._
A Greek twelfth century _Psalter_ in the Vatican library (No. 381) has one
special picture which is obviously a careful copy of a miniature painting
of the first century A.D. or even earlier: see fig. 2. The subject is
Orpheus seated on a rock playing to a circle of listening beasts together
with two nymphs and a youthful Faun or shepherd. These figures are arranged
so as to form a very graceful composition in a landscape with hills and
trees. The figures are extremely graceful both in outline and in pose,
showing a considerable trace of Greek influence. The whole design closely
resembles in style some of the wall paintings in the so-called "House of
Livia" on the Palatine Hill in Rome, of which fig. 3 shows the scene of Io
watched by Argus, and those in the now destroyed villa which was discovered
by the Tiber bank in the Farnesina Gardens[25], and many of the better
class of paintings on the walls of the houses of Pompeii. Of the latter a
good example is shown in fig. 4, a painting the design of which has much
fine Hellenic feeling in the grace of its form and the simplicity of the
composition.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Painting in the "House of Livia" on the Palatine
Hill in Rome.]
_Orpheus made into David._
Returning now to the above mentioned _Psalter_ of the Vatican, the scribe,
probably a Greek monk, who in the twelfth century painted this
miniature[26], converted it into quite a different subject, that of David
playing on the harp, by the simple device of ticketing each figure with a
newly devised name. Orpheus is called "David," one of the Nymphs who sits
affectionately close to Orpheus, probably meant for his wife Eurydice, is
labelled "Sophia", "wisdom"; while the other two figures are converted into
local personifications to indicate the locality of the scene.
It is not often that a mediaeval copyist has thus preserved unaltered the
composition of a whole subject of classical and pre-Christian date, but it
is not uncommon to find single figures or parts of pictorial designs of
equally early date among the illuminations of the ninth to the twelfth
centuries.
_Graeco-Roman personifications._
As an example of this we may mention one painting in a Greek _Psalter_ of
the tenth century in the Paris library (_Bibl. Nat._ No. 139). This
represents the Prophet Isaiah standing, gazing up to heaven, in a very
beautiful landscape with trees growing from a richly flower-spangled sward.
The somewhat stiff figure of the Prophet is Byzantine[27] rather than
Classical in style, but the other two figures which are introduced are
purely Graeco-Roman in design. On one side is a personification of Night
([Greek: NUX]), a very graceful standing female figure with part of her
drapery floating in the wind, forming a sort of curved canopy over her
head, such as is so often represented above the heads of goddesses or
nymphs on the reliefs of fine Graeco-Roman sarcophagi.
On the other side of the Prophet is a winged boy, like a youthful Eros,
bearing a torch to symbolize the dawn.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. A Pompeian painting of Hellenic style, as an example
of Greek drawing and composition.]
_Classical style._
The bold and very decorative, yet almost realistic treatment of the foliage
of the trees and of the flowers which are sprinkled among the grass is
purely classical in style, and the whole miniature shows that the tenth
century illuminator had before him some very fine manuscript of early
Imperial date. From this he has selected a picture which might by omissions
and modifications be adapted to his subject; and for the figure of the
Prophet he has fallen back on another less ancient original, but still one
which must have been several centuries older than his own time.
This is the explanation of what at first seems so strange a union in the
same painting of very graceful single figures by the side of others which
are rigid and awkward; and again, great skill shown in the drawing of the
individual figures combined with a feeble and clumsy arrangement of the
whole composition.
_Byzantine style._
Fig. 5 shows a miniature of very similar style representing the Prophet
Ezechiel in the Valley of dry bones. It is taken from a manuscript of the
_Sermons_ of Saint Gregory Nazianzen, which was written for the Byzantine
Emperor Basil who reigned from 867 to 886. This figure chiefly illustrates
the Byzantine, not the Classical element in the miniatures of this mixed
style of art, though there is also a clear trace of Graeco-Roman influence
in the finely designed drapery of the Prophet.
The curious union of two utterly different styles is well exemplified in
another of the miniatures in the last mentioned _Psalter_. Here David is
represented like a Byzantine Emperor crowned and wearing the richly
embroidered _toga picta_, and holding an open book. The figure might well
pass for a representation of the Emperor Justinian, and the original
painting was probably of that date, of the early part of the sixth century.
_Graeco-Roman figures._
On each side of the Byzantine David is a female figure draped with most
gracefully designed folds of pure Graeco-Roman style, a most striking
contrast to the central figure. Who these ladies represented in the
original manuscript it is impossible to say, but the painter who in the
tenth century illuminated the _Psalter_ called them _Wisdom_ and
_Prophecy_, writing by them the names _Sophia_ and _Prophetia_.
[Illustration: Fig. 5. The Prophet Ezechiel from a Byzantine manuscript of
the ninth century A.D.]
_Value of late copies._
Many other examples might be given to show that a truer notion of classical
illuminated manuscripts of the best Graeco-Roman style can be gained from a
study of the works of mediaeval copyists than from manuscripts which,
though older, are of late and debased style like the famous illuminated
Virgil of the Vatican[28].
After Rome had ceased to be the seat of government, Constantinople became
the chief centre for the production of illuminated manuscripts[29], but
nevertheless the older classical style of drawing to some extent did
survive in Italy, though in a very debased form, down to the thirteenth
century, when Cimabue and his pupil Giotto inaugurated the brilliant
Renaissance of Italian painting.
_Classical survival._
The _Gospels_, for example, which St Augustine is said to have brought with
him to Britain in 597 A.D., have paintings, enthroned figures of the
Evangelists, which in design and colour are purely of late Roman style,
unchanged by the then wide-spread influence of Byzantine art.
CHAPTER IV.
BYZANTINE MANUSCRIPTS.
_Byzantine style._
The history of the origin, development and decay of the Byzantine style in
manuscripts, as in other branches of art, is a long and strange one[30].
The origin of the Byzantine style dates from the time when Christianity had
become the State religion, and when Constantine transferred the Capital of
the World from Rome to Byzantium.
In Russia and other eastern portions of Europe the Byzantine style still
exists, though in a sad state of decay, not as an antiquarian revival, but
as the latest link in a chain of unbroken tradition, going back without
interruption to the age of Constantine, the early part of the fourth
century after Christ.
_Many strains of influence._
During the early years of the Eastern Empire, Constantinople, or "New Rome"
as it was commonly called, became the chief world's centre for the practice
of all kinds of arts and handicrafts. Owing to its central position, midway
between the East and the West, the styles and technique of both met and
were fused into a new stylistic development of the most remarkable kind.
Western Europe, Asia Minor, Persia and Egypt all contributed elements both
of design and of technical skill, which combined to create the new and for
a while vigorously flourishing school of Byzantine art. The dull lifeless
forms of Roman art in its extreme degradation were again quickened into new
life and beauty in the hands of these Byzantine craftsmen, who became as it
were the heirs and inheritors of the art and the technique of all the chief
countries of antiquity.
_Technical skill._
In architecture, in mosaic work, in metal work of all kinds, in textile
weaving, the craftsmen of New Rome reached the highest level of technical
skill and decorative beauty. So also a new and brilliant school of
manuscript illumination was soon formed, and Constantinople became for
several centuries the chief centre for the production of manuscripts of all
kinds.
The Oriental element in Byzantine art shows itself in a love of extreme
splendour, the most copious use of gold and silver and of the brightest
colours.
_Murex purple._
Manuscripts written in burnished gold, on vellum stained with the brilliant
purple from the _murex_ shell, were largely produced, especially for the
private use of the Byzantine Emperors. This _murex_ purple, produced with
immense expenditure of labour, came to be considered the special mark of
Imperial rank[31]. A golden inkstand containing purple ink was kept by a
special official in waiting, and no one but the Emperor himself might,
under heavy penalties, use for any purpose the purple ink; and the
sumptuous gold and purple manuscripts were for a long time written only for
Imperial use.
_Gold and purple gospels._
The principal class of manuscripts which were written either in part or
wholly in this costly fashion were _Books of the Gospels_; and of these a
good many magnificent examples still exist, dating not only from the early
Byzantine period, but down to the ninth or tenth century. In these
manuscripts the burnished gold and the brilliantly coloured pigments which
are used for the illuminations are still as bright and fresh in appearance
as ever, but the _murex_ purple with which the vellum leaves were, not
painted, but dyed, has usually lost much of its original splendour of
colour.
_Monotony of style._
Before describing the characteristics of Byzantine illuminated manuscripts
it may be well to note that the Byzantine style is unique in the artistic
history of the world from the manner in which it rapidly was crystallized
into rigidly fixed forms, and then continued for century after century with
marvellously little modification or development either in colour, drawing
or composition.
This absence of any real living development was due to the fact that
paintings of all kinds in the Eastern Church, from a colossal mural picture
down to a manuscript miniature, were produced by ecclesiastics and for the
Church, under a strictly applied series of hieratic rules.
_Hieratic rules._
The drawing, the pose, the colours of the drapery of every Saint, and the
scheme of composition of all sacred figure subjects came gradually to be
defined by ecclesiastic rules, which each painter was bound to obey. Thus
it happens that during the many centuries which are covered by the
Byzantine style of art, though there are periods of decay and revival of
artistic skill, yet in style there is the most remarkable monotony. This
makes it specially difficult to judge from internal evidence of the date of
a Byzantine painting. In manuscripts the palaeographic, not the artistic
evidence, is the best guide, aided of course by various small technical
peculiarities, and also by the amount of skill and power of drawing which
is displayed in the paintings.
_Absence of change._
Long after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the
Byzantine style of painting survived; and even at the present day the monks
of Mt Athos execute large wall paintings, which, as far as their style is
concerned, might appear to be the work of many centuries ago. M. Didron
found the monastic painters in one of the Mount Athos monasteries using a
treatise called the [Greek: Hermêneia tês zôgraphikês], in which directions
are given how every figure and subject is to be treated, and which
describes the old traditional forms without any perceptible
modification[32]. The proportions of the human form are laid down after the
characteristic slender Byzantine models, the complete body, for example,
being nine heads in height.
_5th century MS. of Genesis._
_Weak drawing._
The earliest Byzantine manuscript which is now known to exist is a fragment
of the _Book of Genesis_, now in the Imperial library of Vienna, which
dates from the latter part of the fifth century. This fragment consists of
twenty-four leaves of purple-dyed vellum, illuminated with miniatures on
both sides. In the main the designs are feeble in composition and weak in
drawing, belonging rather to the latest decadence of Roman classical art
than to the yet undeveloped Byzantine style, which was soon to grow into
great artistic spirit and strong decorative power, a completely new birth
of aesthetic conceptions, the brilliance of which is the more striking from
its following so closely on the degraded, lifeless, worn-out art of the
Western Empire. In this manuscript of _Genesis_ there is but little promise
of the Renaissance that was so near at hand. The drawing of each figure,
though sometimes graceful in pose, is rather weak, and the painter has
hardly aimed at anything like real composition; his figures merely stand in
long rows, with little or nothing to group them together. Fig. 6 shows
examples of two of the best miniatures, representing the story of the
accusation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife. In every way this _Genesis_
manuscript forms a striking contrast to the delicate beauty and strongly
decorative feeling which are to be seen in a work of but a few years later,
the famous _Dioscorides_ of the Princess Juliana.
_The Dioscorides of c. 500_ A.D.
Among all the existing Byzantine manuscripts perhaps the most important for
its remarkable beauty as well as its early date is this Greek _codex_[33]
of Dioscorides' work on _Botany_, which is now in the Imperial library in
Vienna[34], No. 5 in the Catalogue. The date of this manuscript can be
fixed to about the year 500 A.D. by the record which it contains of its
having been written and illuminated for the Princess Juliana Anicia, the
daughter of Flavius Anicius Olybrius who was Emperor for part of the year
472, and his wife Galla Placidia: Juliana Anicia died in 527.
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Miniature from the Vienna manuscript of _Genesis_.]
This beautiful manuscript, which was executed in Constantinople, contains
five large and elaborate miniatures, and a great number of vignettes
representing varieties of plants. The fifth of the large miniatures
consists of a central group framed by two squares interlaced within a
circle. The plait pattern on the bands which form the framework, and the
whole design closely resemble a fine mosaic pavement of the second century
A.D. The resemblance is far too close to be accidental; and indeed this
manuscript is not the only example we have of miniature painters copying
patterns and motives from mosaic floors of earlier date.
_Portrait figure._
The central group in this beautiful full page painting represents Juliana
Anicia, for whom the manuscript was written, enthroned between standing
allegorical female figures. Minutely painted figures of Cupids, engaged in
a variety of handicrafts and arts, fill up the small spaces in the
framework.
_Inferior paintings._
In these paintings we have a curious combination of different styles; the
enthroned figure of the Princess is of the stiff Byzantine style, while the
attendant figures and the little Cupids are almost purely classical in
drawing. This manuscript forms a link between the classical or Graeco-Roman
and the Christian or Byzantine style. Other paintings in the same
manuscript are very inferior in design, partaking of the late Roman
decadence, rather than of the better and earlier art of the above mentioned
picture. Fig. 7 shows one of these. It represents Dioscorides seated on a
sort of throne; in front is a female figure _Euresis_ (_Discovery_)
presenting to him the magic plant _mandragora_ (mandrake). The dying dog
refers to the popular belief, given by Josephus, as to the manner in which
the mandrake was gathered. When plucked from the ground the mandrake
uttered a scream which caused the death of any living creature that heard
it; it was therefore usual to tie a dog to the plant and retire to a safe
distance before calling it, and so causing the dog to drag the plant out of
the ground. On hearing the scream the dog dropped down dead. Cf. Shaks.,
_Romeo and Juliet_, IV. iii.
[Illustration: Fig. 7. Miniature from the manuscript of the work on
_Botany_ by Dioscorides, executed in Constantinople about 500 A.D.]
_Colours and gold._
The colours used in the _Dioscorides_ of Juliana are very brilliant,
especially the gorgeous ultramarine blue, and are glossy in surface owing
to the copious use of a gum medium. Gold is very largely and skilfully
used, especially to light up and emphasize the chief folds of the drapery,
a method which is very widely used in Byzantine art, both in the colossal
pictures of the wall-mosaics, and also in most of the finest class of
illuminated manuscripts.
_Cloisonné enamel._
In this use of gold, in thin delicate lines which strengthen the drawing,
we have a very distinct copyism of another quite different art, that of the
worker in enamelled gold, an art which was practised in Constantinople with
wonderful taste and skill. The kind of enamel which was so often imitated
by the manuscript illuminator is now called cloisonné enamel from the thin
slips of gold or _cloisons_ which separate one colour from another, and
mark out the chief lines of the design. So closely did many of the
illuminators copy designs in this cloisonné that very often one sees
manuscript miniatures which look at first sight as if they were actual
pieces of enamel. In other ways too the art of the goldsmith had
considerable influence on Byzantine illuminations; and the designs of the
mosaic-worker and the miniaturist acted and reacted upon each other, so
that we sometimes see an elaborate painting in a book which looks like a
design for a wall-mosaic; or again the gorgeous glass mosaics with gold
grounds on the vaults and walls of Byzantine churches frequently look like
magnified leaves cut out of some gorgeously illuminated manuscript.
_The pure Byzantine style._
It was only for a short period that manuscripts were executed at
Constantinople which, in their miniatures, were links between the classical
and the Byzantine style. Thus we find that the famous Greek manuscript of
_Cosmas Indopleustes_ in the Vatican library (No. 699) is of the pure and
fully developed Byzantine style, with its formal attitudes, its rigid
drapery, its lengthy proportions of figure, and stiff monotonous schemes of
composition, such as grew to be accepted as the one sacred style, and as
such has been preserved by the Eastern Church down to the present century.
This manuscript of Cosmas is certainly a work of Justinian's time, the
first half of the sixth century A.D., though it has usually been attributed
to the ninth century; it really is but little later than the Dioscorides of
Juliana, and yet it has but little trace of the older classical style,
either in drawing, composition or colour[35].
The Laurentian library in Florence possesses a manuscript of the _Gospels_
which, though poor as a work of art, has several points of special
interest. A contemporary note in the _codex_ records that it was written in
the year 586 by the Priest Rabula in the Monastery of St John at Zagba in
Mesopotamia.
_Early crucifixion._
Its illuminations are weak in drawing, coarse in execution and harsh in
colouring, but one of them, representing the Crucifixion of our Lord
between the two thieves, is noticeable as being the earliest known example
of this subject. The primitive Christian Church avoided scenes representing
Christ's Death and Passion, preferring to suggest them only by means of
types and symbols taken from Old Testament History.
This and other subsequent paintings of the Crucifixion treat the subject in
a very conventional way, and it is not till about the thirteenth century
that we find the Death of Christ represented with anything like realism.
In the _Gospels_ of the Priest Rabula, Christ is represented crowned with
gold, not with thorns; He wears a long tunic of Imperial purple reaching to
the feet. The arms are stretched out horizontally, an impossible attitude
for a crucified person, and four nails are represented piercing the hands
and both feet separately.
_Oriental influence._
It appears to have been the gloomy Oriental influence that gradually
introduced scenes of martyrdom, with horrors of every description into
Christian art, which originally had been imbued with a far healthier and
more cheerful spirit, a survival from the wholesome classical treatment of
death and the grave. Hell with its revolting horrors and hideous demons was
an invention of a still later and intellectually more degraded period.
_MSS. of the Gospels._
_Evangeliaria or manuscripts of the Gospels._ One of the most important
classes of Byzantine manuscripts, and the one of which the most magnificent
examples now exist are the _Books of the Gospels_ already mentioned at page
46 as being occasionally, either wholly or in part, written in letters of
gold on leaves of purple-dyed vellum.
_The four Evangelists._
These Imperially magnificent manuscripts are usually decorated with five
full page paintings, placed at the beginning of the codex. These five
pictures represent the four Evangelists, each enthroned like a Byzantine
Emperor under an arched canopy supported on Corinthian columns of marble or
porphyry. Each Evangelist sits holding in his hand the manuscript of his
_Gospel_; or, in some cases, he is represented writing it. In the earlier
manuscripts, St John is correctly represented as an aged white-bearded man,
but in later times St John was always depicted as a beardless youth, even
in illuminations which represent him writing his Gospel in the Island of
Patmos, as at the beginning of the fifteenth century _Books of Hours_. Next
comes the fifth miniature representing "Christ in Majesty," usually
enthroned within an oval or vesica-shaped aureole; He sits on a rainbow,
and at His feet is a globe to represent the earth, or in some cases a small
figure of _Tellus_ or Atlas with the same symbolical meaning.
_The Canons of Eusebius._
_Sasanian style._
Other highly decorated pages in these Byzantine _Gospels_ are those which
contain the "Canons" of Bishop Eusebius, a set of ten tables giving lists
of parallel passages in the four Gospels. These tables are usually framed
by columns supporting a semicircular arch, richly decorated with
architectural and floral ornaments in gold and colours. Frequently birds,
especially doves and peacocks, are introduced in the spandrels over the
arches; they are often arranged in pairs drinking out of a central vase or
chalice--a motive which occurs very often among the reliefs on the
sarcophagi and marble screens of early Byzantine Churches both in Italy and
in the East[36]. These birds appear to be purely ornamental, in spite of
the many attempts that have been made to discover symbolic meanings in
them. Other birds, such as cocks, quails and partridges, are commonly used
in these decorative illuminations, and this class of ornament was probably
derived from Persia, under the Sasanian Dynasty, when decorative art and
skilful handicrafts flourished to a very remarkable extent[37].
Among the most sumptuous and beautiful illuminations which occur in these
Byzantine _Gospels_ are the headings and beginnings of books written in
very large golden capitals, so that six or seven letters frequently occupy
the whole page. These letters are painted over a richly decorated
background covered with floreated ornament, and the whole is framed in an
elaborate border, all glowing with the most brilliant colours, and lighted
up by burnished gold of the highest decorative beauty[38].
_Textus for the High Altar._
These sumptuous _Evangeliaria_, or _Textus_ as they were often called, soon
came to be something more than merely a magnificent book. They developed
into one of the most important pieces of furniture belonging to the High
Altar in all important Cathedral and Abbey churches[39]. Throughout the
whole mediaeval period every rich church possessed one of these
magnificently written _Textus_ or _Books of the Gospels_ bound in costly
covers of gold or silver thickly studded with jewels. This _Textus_ was
placed on the High Altar before the celebration of Mass, during which it
was used for the reading of the Gospel.
_Textus used as a Pax._
The jewel-studded covers had on one side a representation of Christ's
crucifixion, executed in enamel or else in gold relief, and the book was
used to serve the purpose of a _Pax_, being handed round among the
ministers of the Altar for the ceremonial kiss of peace, which in primitive
times had been exchanged among the members of the congregation themselves.
One of the most magnificent examples of these _Textus_ is the one now in
the possession of Lord Ashburnham, the covers of which are among the most
important and beautiful examples of the early English goldsmith's and
jeweller's art which now exist[40].
_The Textus at Durham._
An interesting description of the _Textus_ which, till the Reformation,
belonged to the High Altar of Durham Cathedral, is given in the _Rites and
Monuments of Durham_ written in 1593 by a survivor from the suppressed and
plundered Abbey[41], who in his old age wrote down his recollections of the
former glories of the Church. He writes, "the Gospeller[42] did carrye a
marvelous FAIRE BOOKE, which had the Epistles and Gospels in it, and did
lay it on the Altar, the which booke had on the outside of the coveringe
the picture of our Saviour Christ, all of silver, of goldsmith's worke, all
parcell gilt, verye fine to behould; which booke did serve for the PAX in
the Masse."
These _Textus_ were not unfrequently written wholly in gold on purple
stained vellum, not only during the earliest and best period of Byzantine
art but also occasionally by the illuminators of the age of Charles the
Great.
_Weak drawing of the figure._
Returning now to the general question of the style of Byzantine art, it
should be observed that, though little knowledge of the human form is shown
by the miniaturists, yet they were able to produce highly dignified
compositions, very strong in decorative effect. Study of the nude form was
strictly prohibited by the Church; and the beauty of the human figure was
regarded as a snare and a danger to minds which should be fixed upon the
imaginary glories of another world. What grace and dignity there is in
Byzantine figure painting depends chiefly on the skilful treatment of the
drapery with simple folds modelled in gracefully curving lines.
_Livid flesh colour._
The utmost splendour of gold and colour is lavished on this drapery, and on
the backgrounds, border-frames and other accessories, while the colouring
of the flesh, in faces, hands and feet, is commonly unpleasant; with, in
many cases, an excessive use of green in the shadows, which gives an
unhealthy look to the faces. This copious use of green in flesh tints is
especially apparent in the later Byzantine paintings, and again in the
Italian imitations of Byzantine art. Even paintings by Cimabue and some of
his followers, in the second half of the thirteenth century, are disfigured
by the flesh in shadow being largely painted with _terra verde_[43].
_Monastic bigotry._
The monastic bigotry, which prohibited study either of the living model or
of the beauties of classical sculpture, tended to foster a strongly
conventional element in Art, which for certain decorative purposes was of
the highest possible value. Anything like realism is quite unsuited both
for colossal mural frescoes or mosaics and for miniature paintings in an
illuminated manuscript.
_Fine early mosaics._
Thus, for example, the existing mosaics on the west front of St Mark's
Basilica in Venice[44], which were copied from noble paintings by Titian
and Tintoretto, are immeasurably inferior to the earlier mosaics with
stiff, hieratic forms designed after Byzantine models, as for example the
mosaics in the Apse of SS. Cosmas and Damian in Rome, executed for Pope
Felix IV. 526 to 530; see fig. 8.
So, again, the skilfully drawn and modelled figures in a manuscript
executed by Giulio Clovio in the sixteenth century are not worthy to be
compared, for true decorative beauty and fitness, with the flat, rigid
forms, full of dignity and simple, rhythmical beauty which we find in any
Byzantine manuscript of a good period[45].
[Illustration: Fig. 8. Mosaic of the sixth century in the apse of the
church of SS. Cosmas and Damian in Rome.]
_Limitations of Byzantine Art._
It should, however, be remarked that in Byzantine art this conventional
treatment of the human form is carried too far, and therefore, splendid as
a fine Byzantine manuscript usually is, it falls far short of the almost
perfect beauty that may be seen in Anglo-Norman and French illuminated
manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, such marvels of
beauty, for example, as French manuscripts of the _Apocalypse_ executed in
the first half of the fourteenth century in Northern France; see below,
page 118.
_Edict against statues._
Till the eighth century, Byzantine art, both in manuscripts and in other
branches of art, continued to advance in technical skill, though little
change or development of style took place. In the eighth century the
iconoclast schism, fostered by the Emperor Leo III. the Isaurian, an
uncultured and ignorant soldier who began by issuing an edict against
image-worship in the year 726 A.D., gave a blow to Byzantine art which
brought about a very serious decadence during the ninth and tenth
centuries, more especially in Constantinople, which up to that time had
been one of the chief literary and artistic centres of the Christian world.
Pictures of all kinds, as well as statues, were destroyed by the iconoclast
fanatics, and the cause of learning suffered almost as much as did the arts
of painting and sculpture.
_Frankish MSS._
One result of this schismatic outbreak was that Constantinople ceased to be
one of the chief centres for the production of beautiful illuminated
manuscripts, and various Frankish cities, such as Aix-la-Chapelle and
Tours, took its place under the enlightened patronage of Charles the Great
the Emperor of the West, who, in the second half of the ninth century, by
the aid of the famous Northumbrian scholar and scribe Alcuin of York,
brought about a wonderful revival of literature and of the illuminator's
art in various cities and monasteries within the Western Empire.
_Byzantine decadence._
At the end of the eleventh century Byzantine art, practised in its original
home, had reached the lowest possible level. Thus, for example, a
manuscript of some of the works of St Chrysostom (Paris, _Bibl. Nat.
Coislin._, 79) contains miniatures the figures in which are mere sack-like
bundles with little or no suggestion of the human form. The whole skill of
the artist has been expended on the painting of the elaborate patterns on
the dresses; drawing and composition he has not even attempted.
Fig. 9 shows a miniature from this manuscript, representing the Greek
Emperor enthroned between four courtiers, and two allegorical figures of
_Truth_ and _Justice_. The Emperor is Nicephoros Botaniates, who reigned
from 1078 to 1081. An equally striking example of the degradation of
Byzantine art in Germany is illustrated on page 78.
[Illustration: Fig. 9. Miniature from a Byzantine manuscript of the
eleventh century; a remarkable example of artistic decadence.]
_Want of life in Byzantine Art._
After this period of decay during the tenth and eleventh centuries,
Byzantine art began to revive, largely under the influence of the West; the
original life and spirit had, however, passed away, and the subsequent
history of Byzantine art is one of dull monotony and growing feebleness,
the inevitable result of a continuing copying and recopying of older
models.
It is rather as a modifying influence on the art of the West that Byzantine
painting continued to possess real importance. As a distinct and isolated
school, Constantinople fell into the background at the time of the
iconoclasts and never again came to the front as an artistic centre of real
importance[46].
CHAPTER V.
MANUSCRIPTS OF THE CAROLINGIAN PERIOD.
_The Age of Charles the Great._
_The age of Charles the Great and his successors._ Charles the Great, who
was elected King of the Franks in 768, and in the year 800 became Emperor
of the West, did much to foster all branches of art--architecture,
bronze-founding, goldsmith's work, and more especially the art of writing
and illuminating manuscripts. The Imperial Capital, Aix-la-Chapelle
(Aachen), became a busy centre for arts and crafts of all kinds, and
various monasteries throughout the Frankish kingdom became schools of
manuscript illumination of a very high order of excellence.
[Illustration: Fig. 10. An initial P. of the Celtic-Carolingian type, of
the school of Alcuin of York.]
_Alcuin of York._
_The Gospels of Alcuin._
_Northumbrian influence._
It was specially with the aid of a famous English scholar and manuscript
writer, Alcuin of York[47], that Charles the Great brought about so
remarkable a revival both of letters and of the illuminator's art, and
created what may be called the Anglo-Carolingian school of manuscripts.
From 796 till his death in 804 Alcuin was Abbot of the Benedictine
monastery of St Martin at Tours; and there he carried out various literary
works for Charles the Great, and superintended the production of a large
number of richly illuminated manuscripts. Alcuin's most important literary
work was the revision of the Latin text of the Bible, the _Vulgate_, which
since Saint Jerome's time had become seriously corrupted. The British
Museum possesses (_Add. Manuscripts_, No. 10546) a magnificently
illuminated copy of the _Vulgate_ as revised by Alcuin, which, there is
every reason to believe, is the actual manuscript which was prepared for
Charles the Great either by Alcuin himself or under his immediate
supervision. This splendid manuscript is a large folio in delicate and
beautifully formed _minuscule_ characters, with the beginnings of chapters
in fine _uncials_; it is written in two columns on the purest vellum. The
miniature paintings in this manuscript show the united influence of various
schools of manuscript art. The figure subjects are mainly classical in
style, with fine architectural backgrounds of Roman style, drawn with
unusual elaboration and accuracy, and even with fairly correct perspective.
The initial letters and all the conventional ornaments show the Northern
artistic strain which Alcuin himself introduced from York. Delicate and
complicated interlaced patterns, such as were first used in the wonderful
sixth and seventh century manuscripts of the Celtic monks, are freely
introduced into the borders and large capitals.
[Illustration: Fig. 11. An initial B. of the Celtic-Carolingian type.]
_Celtic influence._
In Alcuin's time Northumbria and especially York was one of the chief
centres in the world, for the production of manuscripts, and the Dean of
York naturally introduced into France the style and influence of his native
school, which had grown out of a combination of two very different styles,
that of Rome, as introduced by St Augustine, and the Celtic style which the
monks of Ireland and Lindisfarne had brought to such marvellous perfection
in the seventh century.
Fig. 10 shows an initial of the Celtic-Carolingian type, with a goldsmith's
pattern on the shaft of the _P_, and a bird of Oriental type forming the
loop; and fig. 11 gives a large initial _B_ in which the Oriental element
is very strong, cf. fig. 13, page 68.
_Henry VIII's Gospels._
The Carolingian class of manuscripts in this way combined many different
strains of influence--native Frankish, Classical, Oriental and English, all
modified by the Byzantine love for gorgeous colours, shining gold and
silver, and purple-dyed vellum. A considerable number of manuscripts were
written in the reign of Charles the Great in letters of gold on purple
vellum like those prepared in earlier times for the Byzantine Emperors. A
manuscript _Book of the Gospels_ of this magnificent class was given by
Pope Leo X. to Henry VIII. of England in return for the presentation copy
of his work against Luther, entitled _Assertio Septem Sacramentorum_, which
the king had sent in 1521 to the Pope as a proof of his allegiance to the
Catholic Faith and the Holy See. This magnificent _Textus_ afterwards came
into the Hamilton collection through Mr Beckford of Fonthill, and was
subsequently bought by Mr Quaritch[48].
[Illustration: Fig. 12. Miniature of Christ in Majesty from a manuscript of
the school of Alcuin, written for Charles the Great.]
_Carolingian Gospels._
_Gospels of Godesscalc._
As was the case with the earlier Byzantine manuscripts, the most
magnificent books produced in the Carolingian period were this kind of
_Evangeliaria_ or _Books of the Gospels_. Though differing in the details
of their ornamentation, these later _Gospels_ are decorated with the same
set of miniature subjects that occur in the Byzantine Gospels. The library
of Paris possesses a fine typical example of this (_Bibl. Nat. Nouv. Acq.
Lat. 1993_), a richly decorated and signed _Evangeliarium_, which was
written for Charles the Great in 781 by the scribe and illuminator
Godesscalc. Every page is sumptuously ornamented with large initials and a
border in brilliant burnished gold, and silver, and bright colours; and
there are also six full-page miniatures, the first four representing the
four Evangelists enthroned in the usual way. The fifth has a painting of
_Christ in Majesty_ with one hand holding a book, the other raised in
blessing; see fig. 12. The sixth miniature represents the Fountain of Life.
In all these paintings the backgrounds are very rich and decorative, with a
greater variety and more fancifully designed ornament than is to be found
in Byzantine manuscripts of a similar class, owing, of course, to the
introduction of the many different elements of design which were combined
with great taste and skill by the Carolingian illuminators.
_Oriental influence._
In this and many other manuscripts of the same class a very distinct
Semitic or Persian strain of influence can be traced in much of the rich
conventional ornament. Very beautiful and highly decorative forms and
patterns were derived from Oriental sources[49], owing to the active import
into France and Germany of fine Persian carpets and textile stuffs from
Moslem looms in Syria, Sicily (especially Palermo) and from other parts of
the Arab world; all these textiles were designed with consummate taste and
skill both in colour and drawing.
_Sicilian silk cope._
Fig. 13 shows a fine specimen of woven silk from the Arab looms of Syria.
It was used as an Imperial cope or mantle by various German Emperors; in
the centre is a palm-tree, and on each side a lion devouring a camel,
treated in a very decorative and masterly manner. The form of the
conventional foliage on the lions' bodies is imitated in many manuscript
illuminations, as, for example, in the ornaments of the initial _B_ shown
in fig. 11, page 64.
[Illustration: Fig. 13. A cope made of silk from the loom of an Oriental
weaver.]
_Splendour of MSS._
One important characteristic of the Carolingian manuscripts is their
extreme splendour. The freely used burnished gold is often made more
magnificent by the contrast of no less brilliant silver. Purple-stained
vellum was largely used, and all the pigments are of the most gorgeous hues
that great technical skill could produce. And yet in spite of all this
magnificence of shining metals and bright colours the effect is never harsh
or gaudy, owing to the taste and judgment shown by the illuminators in the
way they broke up their colours, avoiding large unrelieved masses, and in
the arrangement of the colours so as to give a general effect of harmony in
spite of the great chromatic force of the separate parts.
_Technical methods._
The somewhat realistic way of representing the Evangelists as aged
white-haired men, which occurs in Byzantine manuscripts, in the Carolingian
_Gospels_ is replaced by a more conventional treatment, and thus they are
as a rule represented as youthful, beardless men of an idealized type. The
general treatment of the figure is flat, with little or no light and shade
or modelling of any kind. The drapery is represented by strong, dark lines
applied over a flatly laid wash of pigment. The painter first drew in his
outlines with a fine brush dipped in red, and then filled in the
intermediate spaces with a wash of colour mixed with a large proportion of
gummy medium, so that a very glossy, lustrous surface was produced. The
folds of the drapery and the rest of the internal drawing of the figures
were put in after the application of the flat ground colour. This method
very much resembles the process of the early Greek vase-painters. In order
to give richness of effect by the use of a thick body of colour the
illuminator commonly applied his flat tints in two or even three distinct
washes, a method which is recommended by Theophilus[50] and other early
writers on the technique of illumination.
_Gospels at Vienna._
Another _Book of the Gospels_ which belonged to Charles the Great, now
preserved in the Imperial Treasury at Vienna, is decidedly inferior as a
work of art to the Paris manuscript mentioned above. In it the influence of
the enfeebled Roman style is much stronger; the detail is far less refined
and decorative, in spite of a copious use of burnished gold. This
inferiority is due mainly to the absence of that Northumbrian influence, to
which the best Carolingian manuscripts owe so much of their beauty.
_Successors of Charles._
_Manuscripts of the later Carolingian school._ Under Charles the Great's
successors the art of illuminating manuscripts continued to flourish, and,
in the ninth century, under his grandsons Lothair and Charles the Bald,
reached the climax of its development. During this century decorative
splendour of a very high order was reached, in spite of there being very
little advance in the power of rendering the human form. Gold, silver,
ultramarine and brilliant pigments of all kinds were skilfully used; the
subjects for miniatures became more varied, and detail was more delicate
and highly finished[51].
_Portrait figures._
Portraits of the kings are often introduced at the beginning of books of
this period, a fashion which in later times was extended to other than
royal patrons of art and learning. A great number of places, chiefly
Benedictine monasteries in France, became active centres for the production
of fine illuminated manuscripts. Among them some of the principal places
were Paris, St Denis, Rheims, Verdun, Fontanelle, and the two Abbeys of St
Martin at Tours and Metz.
Fig. 14 shows a miniature from a manuscript of the _Gospels_ in the Paris
library representing King Lothair enthroned between two guards. This
manuscript was written about the year 845 in the monastery of St Martin at
Metz. In this picture a strong classical influence is apparent; the
illuminator must have been familiar with manuscripts written in Rome or
elsewhere in Italy.
_Celtic influence._
Some of the finest manuscripts of this period show a strongly marked
Northern influence, imitated from the old Celtic illuminations of Ireland
and Lindisfarne. Less gold is used in this class of manuscripts; and the
intricate interlaced patterns of the Celtic monks are used with much skill
and great beauty of effect. The figures of Christ and the Evangelists are
sometimes hardly human in form, but are worked up into a kind of
conventional scroll-pattern, just as they are in the older Celtic
illuminations. The Paris library possesses two manuscripts of the
_Gospels_, which are good examples of this revived Celtic style (_Bibl.
Nat. Lat._ Nos. 257 and 8849). The borders and initial letters in these
manuscripts are remarkable for their intricate delicacy of design, and for
their rich colour, tastefully arranged; while the figure drawing is of the
purely ornamental scroll type.
[Illustration: Fig. 14. King Lothair enthroned; a miniature from a
manuscript of about the year 845 A.D.]
_Classical school of St Gall._
In the ninth century the Benedictine monastery of St Gallen in Switzerland,
which had formerly produced manuscripts of a purely Celtic type, now
developed a very strange school of miniature art[52]. The pictures in these
St Gallen manuscripts have figure subjects drawn in outline and then
faintly coloured with transparent washes, very like the Anglo-Saxon
(classical) style of illumination during the ninth and tenth centuries.
These rather weak drawings, which have but little decorative value, show
the influence of the Roman school of illuminators, who still mainly adhered
to the old debased form of classical art, modified by some observation and
even careful study of the actual life and movement which the painters saw
around them. In this curious class of manuscripts, though the figure
subjects are devoid of much vigour and artistic force, yet the decorative
details of the initials and borders are extremely fine, full of invention
and delicacy of detail. Fig. 15 shows a pen drawing from a St Gallen
manuscript of the ninth century, the magnificent _Psalterium aureum_[53];
it represents David going forth to battle.
_Studies from life._
With regard to studies from the life, either of men or animals, it should
be remembered that an artist is always biased by tradition and association
to a degree which is now very difficult to realise. Even when looking at
the same object two painters of different race and education might receive
very different impressions on their retina. Thus in the very interesting
sketch-book of Villard de Honecourt, a French sculptor and architect of the
thirteenth century, there are studies of men, lions and other animals,
which he has noted as being from the life; and yet these drawings look to
us like the purely imaginative conceptions of a heraldic draughtsman, in
spite of the fact that Villard certainly represented them as faithfully as
he was able, putting down on his vellum the subjective visual and mental
impression that he had received[54].
[Illustration: Fig. 15. Illumination in pen outline, from a manuscript
written in the ninth century at St Gallen. It represents David riding out
against his enemies.]
[Illustration: Figs. 16 and 17. Subject countries doing homage to the
Emperor Otho II; from a manuscript of the _Gospels_.]
[Illustration]
In the same way a modern Japanese artist evidently sees the nobler animals,
such as men and horses, in a very subjective and distorted manner, whereas
when he is dealing with fishes, reptiles, plants and the like he is able to
depict them with the most wonderful grace, accuracy and realistic spirit.
_Personal equation._
For this reason in examining an illuminated manuscript, or other early work
of art, to discover what use the artist has made of actual study from
nature, one should always take into account the influences which made him
see each natural object in a special, personal way, and we must not argue
that because the drawing now looks very unreal that it may not possibly
have been as careful and accurate a study from life as the painter's eye
and hand could produce.
_Byzantine influence._
During the later Carolingian period there was a marked revival of Byzantine
influence, which did not tend to delay the advancing decadence[55]. Figs.
16 and 17 show a very striking example of this, a two-page miniature from a
magnificent purple and gold manuscript of _the Gospels_, which was executed
for the Emperor Otho II., and is now in the Munich library. On the
right-hand page is the Emperor enthroned holding the long sceptre and the
orb, with an archbishop and some armed courtiers beside him. On the
opposite page, personifications of _Rome_, _Gaul_, _Germany_ and _Slavonia_
are doing homage and offering gifts. The whole motive and design is
borrowed from a much earlier Byzantine work, such as the mosaics of
Justinian's time (c. 530 A.D.) in the churches of Ravenna.
_Classical influence._
Fig. 18 from another fine manuscript of _the Gospels_ is far nobler in
style; here the influence is rather classical than Byzantine. The figure
illustrates one of the usual four miniatures of the Evangelists, Saint Mark
dipping his pen into the ink. The Saint is robed in the _alb_, _dalmatic_
with two stripes, _chasuble_ and _pall_ as being Archbishop of Alexandria.
The figure is very dignified, and is evidently copied from a much earlier
Italian _Textus_, such as that which Saint Augustine received from Pope
Gregory or brought from Italy to Canterbury.
[Illustration: Fig. 18. Miniature of the Evangelist St Mark; from a
manuscript of the _Gospels_.]
_Later Emperors._
Throughout the tenth century, and especially under the patronage of the
three Emperor Othos and Henry the Fowler, fine and richly decorative
manuscripts continued to be produced, with little change in the style of
ornament employed. After a long period of great artistic brilliance and
wonderful fertility of production the Carolingian style of illumination
came to an end when Charles the Great's Empire was (in France) divided
among various Feudal Lords. Then a serious decadence of art set in, and
lasted till the beginning of a most magnificent artistic revival in the
twelfth century.
[Illustration: Fig. 19. Miniature of the Crucifixion from a German
manuscript of the eleventh century; showing extreme artistic decadence.]
To a large extent the illuminations of French manuscripts during the latter
part of the eleventh century consisted of rude pen drawings with no washes
of colour. The subsequent history of the illuminator's art in France is
discussed below, see page 126.
_Extreme decadence._
Fig. 19 gives an example of the extreme artistic decadence that in many
places followed the brilliant Carolingian period. This miniature of the
Crucifixion is copied from a German early eleventh century manuscript, now
at Berlin. The ludicrous ugliness of the drawing is not atoned for by any
decorative beauty of colour; the whole miniature is dark and heavy in tone,
with yellow and green flesh-tints of the most cadaverous hues.
CHAPTER VI.
THE CELTIC SCHOOL OF MANUSCRIPTS.
One of the most extraordinary artistic developments that ever took place in
the history of the world has been the Celtic Monastic School of Art which
in the seventh century reached its highest aesthetic and technical climax,
more especially in the production of exquisitely minute gold jewellery and
no less minute and richly illuminated manuscripts.
_The Irish Church._
The Christian Church in the east of Ireland dated from an earlier period
than the establishment of Christianity in England[56]. It was founded about
the year 430 A.D., and the monks of Ireland, owing to their remote
position, were able for a long period to develope peacefully their artistic
skill, undisturbed by such successive foreign invasions as those which for
so many years kept Britain in a constant tumult of war and massacre.
_Celtic goldsmiths._
_Gold jewellery._
Thus it happened that by the middle or latter part of the seventh century
the Celtic monks of Ireland had learned to produce goldsmiths' work and
manuscript illuminations with such marvellous taste and skill as has never
been surpassed by any age or country in the world[57]. Not even the finest
Greek or Etruscan jewellery, enriched with enamels and studded with gems,
can be said to surpass the amazing perfection shown in such a masterpiece
of the goldsmith's art as the so-called "Tara brooch"[58] in the Museum of
the Royal Irish Academy. As a rule the skill of these Irish goldsmiths was
devoted to the service of the Church in the manufacture of such objects as
croziers, morses (or cope-brooches), shrines, chalices, textus-covers,
receptacles for Bishops' bells, and other pieces of ecclesiastical
furniture.
_Technical processes._
These precious objects are decorated by a variety of technical processes,
such as applied filagree, repoussé or beaten reliefs, enamels, both
_champlevé_ and _cloisonné_, and inlay of precious stones, especially the
carbuncle in minute slices, set in delicate gold _cloisons_ and backed with
shining gold-leaf. All these and other decorative processes were employed
with unrivalled skill by the monastic goldsmiths of eastern Ireland, a fact
which it is important to notice, since nearly all the methods and styles of
ornament which occur in the Irish illuminated manuscripts of the same
period are clearly derived from prototypes in gold jewelled work. It is in
fact often possible to trace in a fine Irish manuscript of the class we are
now concerned with, ornamental patterns of several quite distinct classes,
one being derived from the patterns of spiral or plaited form produced by
soldering delicate gold wire on to plain surfaces of gold, another being
copied from gold _champlevé_ enamels, and a third no less clearly derived
from the inlaid rectangular bits of carbuncle framed in delicate gold
strips or _cloisons_.
_Influence on illuminations._
This strongly marked influence of the technique of one art on the designs
of another is due to the fact that the arts both of the goldsmith and the
manuscript illuminator were carried on side by side in the same monastery
or group of monastic dwellings[59], and in some cases we have written
evidence that the scribe who wrote and illuminated an elaborate manuscript
and the goldsmith who wrought and jewelled its gold cover were one and the
same person[60].
_The Book of Kells._
It was in the second half of the seventh century that the Celtic art of
Eastern Ireland reached its highest point of perfection. To this period
belongs the famous _Book of Kells_, now in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin, which was probably written between 680 and 700, and for many years
was, with its jewelled gold covers, the principal treasure of the cathedral
church at Kells[61]. This church had been founded by Saint Columba, and so
in old times this marvellous manuscript was usually known as "the Great
Gospels of Saint Columba."
_Perfect workmanship._
No words can describe the intricate delicacy of the ornamentation of this
book, lavishly decorated as it is with all the different varieties of
pattern mentioned above, the most remarkable among them being the
ingeniously intricate patterns formed by interlaced and knotted lines of
colour, plaited in and out, with such amazingly complicated lines of
interlacement that one cannot look at the page without astonishment at the
combined taste, patience, unfaltering certainty of touch and imaginative
ingenuity of the artist. The wonderful minuteness of the work, examined
through a microscope, fills one with wonder at the apparently superhuman
eyesight of the scribe.
_Complex interlacings._
With regard to the intricate interlaced ornaments in which (with the aid of
a lens) each line can be followed out in its windings and never found to
break off or lead to an impossible loop of knotting, it is evident that the
artist must have enjoyed, not only an aesthetic pleasure in the invention
of his pattern, but must also have had a distinct intellectual enjoyment in
his work, such as a skilful mathematician feels in the working out of a
complicated geometrical problem.
_Microscopic intricacy._
The combined skill of eye and hand shown in the minute plaits of the _Book
of Kells_ places it among the most wonderful examples of human workmanship
that the world has ever produced. By the aid of a microscope Mr Westwood
counted in the space of one inch no less than 158 interlacements of bands
or ribands, each composed of a strip of white bordered on both sides with a
black line.
Giraldus Cambrensis, who visited Ireland in 1185 as secretary to Prince
John, writes in the most enthusiastic language of the splendour of a
similar manuscript of the _Gospels_ which he saw in Kildare Cathedral. It
shows, he says, superhuman skill, worthy of angels' hands, and he was lost
in wondering admiration at the sight.
_Copies of jewellery._
_Primitive spiral patterns._
One class of ornament in the _Book of Kells_ and in other manuscripts of
this class consists of bands or diapers formed with step-like lines
enclosing small spaces of brilliant colour. It is this class of pattern
which is derived from the _cloisonné_ inlay with bits of transparent
carbuncle used in gold jewellery. Other ornaments consist of various spiral
forms derived from the application of gold wire to flat surfaces of gold, a
class of pattern which appears to have come, as it were, naturally to the
gold-workers of many different periods and countries. Many of these spiral
designs in the Irish manuscripts are almost identical with forms which
occur so frequently among the gold ornaments of the Greek "Mycenean
period," one among many examples in the art history of the world, which
show the remarkable sameness of invention in the human mind at a certain
stage of development whatever the time or the place may be[62].
It should moreover be noticed that this close imitation of metal-work is
not limited to the separate details of the manuscripts. The main lines and
divisions of the decoration on whole pages are accurately copied from the
enamelled and jewelled gold or silver covers in which these precious
_Gospels_ were bound. Thus, the same design might appear in delicate
goldsmiths' work on the covers of a _Textus_, and also might be seen
represented by the illuminator in brilliant colours on a page within.
_Trumpet pattern._
One form of ornament, which occurs very frequently in the Irish
manuscripts, is what is often called "the trumpet pattern" from its
supposed resemblance to a curved metal trumpet. This kind of spiral
ornament is used not only in the Celtic manuscripts and goldsmiths' work,
but also on bronze shields and other pieces of metal-work on a large scale.
This special ornament is not peculiar to the Irish, but was commonly used
by the Celtic tribes of Britain from a very early date.
_Arab influence._
United with these purely native types of ornament, we find in these Celtic
manuscripts one curious class of foreign ornament derived from the patterns
on imported pieces of textile stuffs woven in Arab looms[63]. Among many
strange forms of serpents, dragons and other monsters of northern origin,
other animals, such as lions, eagles and swans, occur which resemble
closely those represented with such perfect conventional skill on the rich
silk stuffs and early Oriental carpets woven in Syria, in the Arab towns of
Sicily and in other Moslem centres. These beautiful stuffs were imported
largely into Northern Europe for ecclesiastical purposes, such as for the
vestments of priests or to form wrappings round some sacred reliquary[64].
_The human form._
Though these Celtic manuscripts show such marvellous dexterity of touch and
unerring firmness of line in every minute and complicated pattern, yet the
monastic artist appears to have been absolutely incapable of representing
the human form.
The figures of Christ and the Saints, which sometimes do occur in these
manuscripts, are treated in a purely ornamental and (in its stricter sense)
conventional way; the hair and beard, for example, are worked up into
scrolls or spiral ornaments, and the draperies are merely masses of varied
colour, with little or no resemblance to the folds of a dress.
_Colours without gold._
The pigments used by the Celtic monks are very varied and of the most
brilliant tints, prepared with such skill that after more than a thousand
years they seem as fresh and bright as ever.
Among these pigments is included the fine _murex_ purple which the Irish
monks used occasionally to stain sheets of vellum like those in the _Golden
Gospels_ of the Byzantines. We are told by the Venerable Bede that the
Irish monks had learnt how to extract this beautiful dye from a variety of
the _murex_ shell-fish which is not uncommon on both shores of the Irish
Channel. Splendid as they are in colour, there is one curious feature in
the early Irish manuscripts of the finest class, such as the _Book of
Kells_; that is, that no gold or silver either in the form of leaf or as a
fluid pigment is used. This seems specially strange when we remember the
close connection there was between the arts of the goldsmith and of the
illuminator of manuscripts among the Irish artists.
_Celtic art in Britain._
In later times, when the Celtic style of illumination was transplanted to
England, gold was to some extent introduced, but in the finest Irish
manuscripts of the best period, the latter half of the seventh century,
gold is completely absent. Nevertheless, so great was the decorative genius
of these Irish monks that, even without burnished gold and silver, their
illuminated pages quite equal, not only in artistic beauty, but even in
mere splendour of effect, any illuminations that have ever been produced.
_The Book of Durrow._
In addition to the _Book of Kells_ another manuscript of similar style and
date and of almost equal splendour should be mentioned, the _Book of
Durrow_[65], which, like the _Book of Kells_, was also known as the
"Gospels of Saint Columba," who is said to have left behind him, at his
death in 597, no less than three hundred manuscripts written with his own
hand. It is not impossible that the _Book of Durrow_ is one of these, as it
bears some signs of being earlier in date than the _Book of Kells_.
_Monks of Iona._
From Ireland the art of illuminating manuscripts was carried by monkish
colonists to the Western coasts of Scotland, and especially to the Island
of Iona, where a monastery had been founded by Saint Columba in the latter
part of the sixth century[66]. Great numbers of manuscripts resembling in
style the _Book of Kells_ were produced in Iona; and offshoots from the
monastery of Iona, established at various places on the mainland, became
similar centres for the writing of richly decorated manuscripts. No less
than thirteen monasteries in Scotland and twelve in England were founded by
Irish monks from the mother settlement in Iona. In fact the whole of
Britain seems to have owed its Christianity, during the Anglo-Saxon period,
to the Irish missionaries from Iona, with the important exception of the
kingdom of Kent, which was occupied by the Roman mission of Saint
Augustine.
_Celtic missionaries._
In the year 635, at the request of Oswald King of Northumbria, the Scottish
king sent an Irish monk from Iona, named Aidan, to preach Christianity to
the Northumbrian worshippers of Thor and Odin. Aidan selected the little
island of Lindisfarne as the head-quarters of his missionary church, which,
at first consisting mainly of a few Irish monks from Iona, rapidly grew in
size and importance. In a few years, Saint Aidan, Bishop and Abbot of
Lindisfarne, was able to establish a number of monastic houses throughout
the Northumbrian Kingdom, and his own Abbey of Lindisfarne became one of
the chief centres of Northern Europe for the production of fine illuminated
manuscripts of the Celtic type.
After the death of Saint Aidan other Irish monks succeeded him as Bishop of
Lindisfarne, and the school of manuscript illumination continued to
flourish.
_Gospels of St Cuthbert._
One of the most beautiful existing examples of the Lindisfarne branch of
the Irish school of miniature work is the famous "Book of the Gospels of
Saint Cuthbert[67]" as it is called, now in the British Museum (_Cotton
manuscripts, Nero_, D. IV). The history of this manuscript is a very
curious one; it was written some years after Saint Cuthbert's death in 688,
not during his lifetime as was formerly believed. Eadfrith, a monk of
Lindisfarne in Saint Cuthbert's time, and subsequently eighth Bishop of
Lindisfarne (698 to 721), was the writer of these _Gospels_, "in honour of
God and of Saint Cuthbert," as he records in a note. The illuminations were
added by the monk Aethelwold, afterwards ninth Bishop of Lindisfarne, and
the elaborate gold, gem-studded cover of this magnificent _textus_ was the
work of a third monk of the same Abbey named Bilfrith.
_Viking piracy._
_Travels of the Gospels._
In the ninth century the Viking pirates were constantly harrying the shores
of Northumbria; more than once the Abbey of Lindisfarne was plundered and
many of the monks were slain, till at last, in the year 878, the small
remnant who had escaped the cruelty of the Northmen decided to leave
Lindisfarne and seek a new settlement in the original home of the founders
of Lindisfarne, the eastern coast of Ireland. In 878 the survivors set off,
carrying with them the body of Saint Cuthbert, and the magnificent
manuscript of the _Gospels_, which was the chief treasure of their Abbey,
and which had been successfully hidden in Saint Cuthbert's grave at the
time of the invasion of the Northmen. The monks crossed to the western
shore of Northumbria, and there took ship for Ireland. A great storm,
however, arose; their boat shipped a heavy sea which washed overboard the
precious Gospels of Saint Cuthbert, which had been carefully packed in a
wooden box. Eventually the little ship was driven back, and finally was
stranded on the Northumbrian shore. Soon after reaching the land the
fugitive monks, wandering sadly along the beach, found, to their great joy,
the lost box with its precious manuscript thrown up by the waves and lying
on dry land. According to the chronicle of Symeon[68] (chapter xxvii.), the
brilliant illuminations were quite uninjured by the sea-water; this is not
literally the case; some of the pages are a good deal stained, but
wonderfully little injured considering what the book has gone through.
_Minster of Durham._
When after many wanderings the successors of the exiles from Lindisfarne
found, in 995, a final resting-place for the body of Saint Cuthbert in the
Minster which they founded at Durham, the manuscript of the Gospels was
laid on the coffin of the Saint. There it remained till 1104, when Saint
Cuthbert's body was exhumed, and soon after it was sent back to
Lindisfarne, where a Benedictine monastery had been founded in 1093 by some
monks from Durham on the site of Saint Cuthbert's ruined Abbey.
There it was safely preserved till the dissolution of the monasteries under
Henry VIII. The gold covers were then stripped off and melted, but the
still more precious manuscript escaped destruction; it was subsequently
acquired by Sir Robert Cotton, and is now one of the chief manuscript
treasures of the British Museum.
_Anglo-Celtic school._
In point of style the "Gospels of Saint Cuthbert" are a characteristic
example of the Irish school of illumination, modified by transplantation to
English soil. The intermediate stage in Iona and other monasteries of
western Scotland seems to have introduced no change of style into the
primitive Irish method of ornament. Whether produced in eastern Ireland or
in western Scotland the manuscripts were the work of the same Celtic race,
the Scots, who, at first inhabiting the north-east of Ireland, passed over
to the not very distant shores of northern Britain to which these Irish
settlers gave the name Scotland.
_Improved drawing._
When however the Irish monks passed from Iona to Northumbria the case was
different; they were surrounded with a new set of artistic influences
mainly owing to the introduction into Northumbria of fine Byzantine and
Italian manuscripts. The result of this was that though the Lindisfarne
manuscripts continued to be decorated with exactly the same class of
patterns that had been used in the _Book of Kells_ and other Irish
manuscripts for initials, borders and the like, yet in the treatment of the
human figure a very distinct advance was made. Thus in Saint Cuthbert's
_Gospels_ the seated figures of the Evangelists are drawn with much dignity
of form and with some attempt at truth in the pose, the proportions and in
the disposition of the folds of the drapery. The monk Aethelwold who
painted these miniatures must have had before him some fine manuscripts of
the Gospels probably both of Byzantine and Italian style.
_Use of metal leaf._
The whole result is a very splendid one, the _Gospels_ of Saint Cuthbert in
richness of invention and minute intricacy of pattern almost equal the
_Book of Kells_; while the figure subjects, instead of being grotesque
masses of ornament, are paintings with much beauty of line as well as
extreme splendour of colour. Another modification is the introduction of
gold and silver leaf, which are wholly wanting in the _Book of Kells_ and
the other finest purely Irish manuscripts.
_MS. of Bede._
_Italian influence._
Other typical examples of this combined Celtic and English style are the
magnificent _Gospels_ in the Imperial library in St Petersburg, and a
manuscript of the Commentary on the Psalms by Cassiodorus now in the
Chapter library at Durham. This latter manuscript, which dates from the
eighth century, is traditionally said to have been written by Bede himself.
The illuminations in this manuscript are specially rich with interlaced
patterns, dragon monsters and diapers of the most minute scale, all purely
Celtic in style, and all showing with special clearness their derivation
from originals in goldsmiths' work. Not only the distinctly metallic
motives of ornament are faithfully copied, but even the manner in which the
gold-workers built up their elaborate manuscript covers by the insertion of
separate little plates of gold filagree and enamel side by side on a large
plate or matrix is exactly reproduced by the illuminator. As in the case of
the Lindisfarne _Gospels_, the figures of the Psalmist which are introduced
are very superior to any figures which occur in the purely Irish
manuscripts, showing the distinct influence of Italian manuscripts of
debased classical style.
_The Corpus Gospels._
Another very interesting example of the Anglo-Celtic school of
illumination, with fine initials and a painting of an eagle of the
characteristic Northern type, is in the possession of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge; No. CXCVII. This is an imperfect manuscript of the
_Gospels_ containing only the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint John. The
decorative borders and initials have the interlaced Irish class of
ornament. This interesting manuscript was (in the sixteenth century) in the
library of Archbishop Parker, who inserted a note stating that it was one
of the manuscripts which were sent by Pope Gregory to Saint Augustine. The
actual date of the manuscript is probably not earlier than the eighth
century, in spite of the ancient appearance of the figure painting. An
earlier copy of the _Gospels_ in the same library has full page miniatures
of the two Evangelists of purely classical style, surrounded with
architectural framework of debased Roman form, very little modified from
similar Roman miniatures of the fifth century A.D.
_Gospels of MacDurnan._
Returning for the moment to the Irish school of Celtic art, it should be
observed that richly illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in
Ireland till the ninth and tenth centuries, but these later manuscripts,
fine as they are, do not equal in beauty the _Book of Kells_ and other
works of the seventh and eighth century. The Book of the _Gospels of
MacDurnan_[69], who was Archbishop of Armagh from 885 to 927, is a good
example of the later school of Irish art, in which the figures of the
Evangelists are no less grotesque than those in the earlier manuscripts,
while the interlaced and diapered patterns of the borders and initials are
inferior in minute delicacy of execution to such masterpieces as the _Book
of Kells_; see fig. 20.
_Book of Deer._
Another still stronger proof of artistic decadence among the Celtic
illuminators of this period is afforded by the _Book of Deer_[70] in the
Cambridge University library. This is a small octavo copy of the _Latin
Gospels_ after the Itala version[71]. In style it is a mere shadow of the
glories of early Irish art, with comparatively coarse and feebly coloured
decorative patterns. It appears to have been written in Scotland by an
Irish scribe during the ninth century[72].
[Illustration: Fig. 20. Miniature from the _Gospels_ of MacDurnan of the
ninth century.]
_Gospels of MacRegol._
One of the finest of the manuscripts of the later Irish type is the Book of
_the Gospels of MacRegol_ in the Bodleian library (D. 24. No. 3946)
executed in the ninth century. The ornaments and the very conventional
figures of the Evangelists are of the purely Irish type, unmodified by any
imitation of the superior figure drawing in Byzantine and Italian
miniatures[73].
_Gospels of St Chad._
The manuscript _Gospels of Saint Chad_ in the Chapter library of Lichfield
Cathedral is another example of the Irish school and of the same date as
the last-mentioned book. It is named after Ceadda or Chad who, in the
seventh century, was the first Bishop of Lichfield, nearly two hundred
years before the date of this manuscript of the _Gospels_[74].
_Celtic school on the Continent._
During the most flourishing period of Celtic art in Ireland its influence
was by no means limited to the Northumbrian school of illuminators. The
Irish types of ornament were adopted by the scribes of Canterbury and other
places in the South of England; and on the Continent of Europe Celtic art
was widely spread by Irish missionaries such as Saint Columbanus, and by
the founding of Irish monasteries during the sixth century in various
countries, as, for example, at Bobbio in Northern Italy, at St Gallen in
Switzerland, at Wurtzburg in Germany, and at Luxeuil in France. In these
and in other places Irish monastic illuminators worked hard at the
production of manuscripts and spread the Celtic style of ornament over a
large area of Western Europe. The library of St Gallen possesses a number
of richly illuminated manuscripts of the later Irish type, exactly similar
in style to those which during the eighth and ninth centuries were produced
in the monasteries of Ireland and Scotland[75].
_Psalter of St Augustine._
The result of this spread of Celtic influence was that borders, initial
letters and similar ornaments of pure Irish style were used in many
manuscripts in which the figures of Saints were designed after an equally
pure Italian or debased classic style. A good example of this is the
so-called _Psalter of Saint Augustine_[76] (Brit. Mus. _Cotton manuscripts
Vesp._ A. i) which for many centuries belonged to the Cathedral of
Canterbury. This is a manuscript of the eighth century; one of its chief
miniature paintings represents David enthroned, playing on a harp with a
group of attendant musicians and two dancing figures round his throne.
These figures are purely Italian in style, of the debased Roman School; but
the arched frame which borders the picture is filled in with ornament of
the Irish metal type, closely similar in style, except that gold and silver
are largely used, to those in the _Book of Kells_, though inferior in
minute delicacy of execution. It is of course very possible that the
illuminations in this _Psalter_ are the work of two hands, the figures
being painted by an Italian illuminator and the borders by an English or
Irish monk.
_Scandinavian art._
In later times, especially during the ninth century, the Celtic art of
Ireland appears to have been largely introduced into Scandinavia by means
of the Viking pirates who harried the whole circuit of the shores of
Britain and Ireland, and finally in the ninth century established a Norse
Kingdom in eastern Ireland with the newly founded Dublin as its
capital[77]. The Norsemen were far from being a literary race and it was
not in the form of manuscript illuminations that Irish art was introduced
into Norway and Denmark, but rather in the rich gold and silver jewellery
with which the Viking chiefs adorned themselves, and also on a larger scale
in the magnificently decorative reliefs which were carved on the wooden
planks which formed the frames or architraves of the doors of the
Scandinavian wooden churches in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, after
the worship of the Thunderer had been replaced by the Faith of the White
Christ.
Lindisfarne, Iona and the other chief Irish monasteries suffered again and
again from the inroads of the Vikings, who found rich and easily won
plunder in the form of gold and silver chalices, reliquaries and
book-covers in the treasuries of the monastic churches undefended by any
except unarmed and peaceful monks.
_The Golden Gospels of Stockholm._
One curious record of Viking plunder is preserved in the Royal library of
Stockholm. This is a very magnificent manuscript Book of the _Gospels_ of
the eighth century, commonly known as the _Codex aureus_ of Stockholm. It
is mostly written with alternate leaves of purple vellum, the text on which
is in golden letters. In general style and in the splendour of its
ornaments it closely resembles the Lindisfarne "_Gospels of Saint
Cuthbert_," described above at page 88, and most probably, like the latter,
was also written in the monastery of Lindisfarne. The interlaced ornaments
of the Irish type are marvels of beauty, while the dignified drawing of the
enthroned figures of the four Evangelists shows clearly the influence of
Continental manuscript art. In this case the Celtic or English illuminator
must have had before him a copy of the _Gospels_ not of the Italian but of
the Byzantine style, since the Evangelists and other figures in the book
which are represented in the act of benediction do so in the Oriental not
in the Latin fashion[78].
_Viking robbers._
On the margin of the first page of Saint Matthew's Gospel an interesting
note has been written about the year 850 by the owner of the Gospels, an
English Ealdorman named Aelfred; this note records that the manuscript had
been stolen by Norse robbers and that Aelfred had purchased it from them
for a sum in pure gold in order that the sacred book might be rescued from
heathen hands. Aelfred then presented it to the Cathedral Church of
Canterbury, and new gold covers appear then to have been made for this
_Textus_, as there is another note in a ninth century hand requesting the
prayers of the Church for three goldsmiths, probably those who replaced the
original gold covers which the Viking pirates had torn off[79].
_The two Churches in Britain._
Returning now to the manuscripts of the Celtic Church in Northumbria, in
order to understand the gradual introduction into Northern England of the
Italian or classical style of painting it is necessary to remember the
struggle which took place during the seventh century between the adherents
of the older Celtic Church and those who supported the Papal claims for
supremacy throughout Britain.
On the one hand the See of Canterbury, founded by the Roman Saint
Augustine, claimed jurisdiction in the north as well as in the south of
Britain, in opposition to the Celtic Abbot of Iona, who was then the real
Metropolitan of the Church in the north of England.
_Long struggle._
Wilfrid of York and Benedict Biscop of Jarrow spent many years in a series
of embassies, between 670 and 690, backward and forward between Northumbria
and Rome striving to introduce the Papal authority, by the aid of imported
books, relics and craftsmen skilled in building stone churches in place of
the simple wooden structures which at that time were the only
ecclesiastical buildings in Northumbria[80]. Very large numbers of
illuminated manuscripts were brought to England during the many journeys of
Wilfrid and Benedict Biscop; and important libraries were created at York
and at Jarrow which led to these places becoming literary and artistic
centres of great and European importance.
_Synod of Whitby._
_Defeat of the Celtic party._
In the end, after many failures, Wilfrid, Archbishop[81] of York, was
successful in bringing Northumbria under the supremacy of Canterbury and
Rome. In 664 a great Council was held at Whitby in the presence of the
Northumbrian King Oswiu. Bishop Colman, the successor of Saint Aidan at
Lindisfarne, represented the Celtic Church and the authority of Saint
Columba, while Wilfrid appeared to support the authority of Saint Peter and
the Bishop of Rome. After hearing that Saint Peter possessed the keys of
Heaven and Hell, while Saint Columba could claim no such marvellous power,
King Oswiu decided in favour of the Roman Supremacy. This decision, though
based on such fanciful grounds, was a fortunate one for the English Church,
since, in the main, learning, culture and established order generally were
on the side of the Italian Church.
The practical result of this Roman victory at the Synod of Whitby in 664
was that a classical influence gradually extended itself in all the English
centres for the production of illuminated manuscripts. It has already been
noted that the splendid manuscripts of Lindisfarne and other Northumbrian
monasteries, though of Celtic origin, show a distinct Roman influence in
the improvement of the drawing of their figures of Saints. By degrees the
Irish element in the illuminations grew less and less; though the
interlaced patterns and fantastic dragon and serpent forms lasted for many
centuries in all the chief countries of western Europe and form an
important decorative element till the thirteenth century[82].
_Baeda of Durham._
One of the chief schools of English manuscript illumination, that of the
Benedictine Abbey at Durham, was raised to a position of European
importance by the Northumbrian monk Baeda, afterwards called the Venerable
Bede, who was born in 673, a few years after the Synod of Whitby.
As the author of a great _Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation_,
Baeda ranks as the Father of English History; he did much to foster the
study of ancient classical authors, was himself a skilful writer of
manuscripts, and made the Abbey of Jarrow, where he lived till his death in
735, an active centre for the production of richly illuminated manuscripts
of many different literary classes.
_Northumbrian school._
_Celtic and Classic styles._|
In the eighth century the schools of illumination in the Abbeys of Jarrow,
Wearmouth and York in Northumbria, and of Canterbury and Winchester in the
south were among the most active and artistically important in the
world[83]. In these schools of miniature painting was gradually created a
special English style of illumination, partly formed out of a combination
of two very different styles, that of the Irish Celtic illuminators and
that of the Italian classical scribes.
This English School of illumination, which had been partially developed
before the close of the tenth century, became, for real artistic merit, the
first and most important in the whole of Europe, and for a considerable
period continued to occupy this foremost position[84].
CHAPTER VII.
THE ANGLO-SAXON SCHOOL OF MANUSCRIPTS[85].
_Danish invasions._
The ninth century in England was one of great turmoil and misery, on
account of the fearful havoc wrought by the Danish Northmen throughout the
whole length and breadth of the land. In Northumbria the thriving literary
and artistic school which had been raised to such preeminence by Baeda was
utterly blotted out from existence by the invading Danes; and when at last
King Alfred, who reigned from 871 to 901, secured an interval of peace he
was obliged to seek instructors in the art of manuscript illumination from
the Frankish kings.
_Time of King Alfred._
In this way the wave of influence flowed back again from France to England.
In Charles the Great's time the Carolingian school of manuscripts had been
largely influenced by the Celtic style, which Alcuin of York introduced
from Northumbria, and now the later art of Anglo-Saxon England received
back from France the forms of ornament and the technical skill which in
Northumbria itself had become extinct.
Alfred was an enthusiastic patron of literature and art, especially the art
of manuscript illumination, and before long a new school of manuscript art
was created in many of the Benedictine monasteries of England and
especially among the monks of the royal city of Winchester, which in the
tenth century produced works of extraordinary beauty and decorative force.
_Benedictional of Aethelwold._
As an example of this we may mention the famous _Benedictional_ of
Aethelwold, who was Bishop of Winchester from 963 to 984[86]. The writer of
this sumptuously decorated manuscript was Bishop Aethelwold's chaplain, a
monk named Godemann, who afterwards, about the year 970, became Abbot of
Thorney. Unlike the manuscripts of earlier date in which the illuminated
pictures are usually few in number, this _Benedictional_ contains no less
than thirty full page miniatures, mostly consisting of scenes from the life
of Christ. Each picture is framed by an elaborate border, richly decorated
in gold and brilliant colours, with conventional leaf-work of classical
style. The drawing of the figures is dignified, and the drapery is usually
well conceived and treated in a bold, decorative way, showing much artistic
skill on the part of the illuminator.
Fig. 21 shows one of the miniatures, representing the Ascension; the
colouring is extremely beautiful and harmonious, enhanced by a skilful use
of burnished gold.
_Foreign influence._
Though the figures and especially the delicately modelled faces have a
character of their own, peculiarly English in feeling, yet in the general
style of the miniatures, and in their elaborate borders there are very
distinct signs of a strong Carolingian influence, owing, no doubt, to the
introduction of Frankish illuminators and the purchase of Carolingian
manuscripts during the reign of Alfred the Great, more than half a century
before the date of this manuscript.
[Illustration: Fig. 21. Miniature from the _Benedictional_ of Aethelwold;
written and illuminated by a monastic scribe at Winchester.]
There is, for example, much similarity of style in the miniatures of this
_Benedictional_ and those in a Carolingian manuscript of _the Gospels_
written for King Lothaire in the monastery of St Martin at Metz soon after
843[87]; see above fig. 14, p. 71.
_Winchester Charter._
Another very fine example of the Winchester school of illumination is the
manuscript _Charter_ which King Edgar granted to the new minster at
Winchester in 966. The first page consists of a large miniature, painted in
gold and brilliant colours on a purple-stained leaf of vellum[88], with
Christ in Majesty supported by four angels in the upper part of the
picture, and, below, standing figures of the B. V. Mary and Saint Peter,
with King Edgar in the middle offering his charter to Christ. The whole
picture is very skilfully designed so as to fill the whole page in the most
decorative way, and it is framed in a border with richly devised
conventional leaf-forms.
In artistic power this tenth century Winchester school of illuminators
appears, for a while at least, to have been foremost in the world. Both in
delicacy of touch and in richness of decorative effect the productions of
this school are superior to those of any contemporary Continental country.
_St Dunstan as an artist._
Saint Dunstan, the great ecclesiastical statesman of the ninth century,
created another school of illumination in the Benedictine Abbey of
Glastonbury. Dunstan himself was no mean artist, as may be seen from a fine
drawing of Christ, which he executed[89]; the Saint has represented himself
as a small monkish figure prostrate at the feet of Christ. At the top of
the page is inscribed in a twelfth century hand, "Pictura et scriptura
hujus pagine subtus visa est de propria manu sancti Dunstani."
_Coloured ink drawings._
During the tenth century a large number of illuminated manuscripts were
executed in the southern parts of England, the miniatures in which are very
unlike and, as decoration, very inferior to the manuscripts of the
Anglo-Carolingian style, as represented by the magnificent _Benedictional_
of Aethelwold. This class of illumination consists of drawings, often with
a large number of small figures, executed with a pen in red, blue and brown
outline. The drawing of these figures is very mannered, the heads are
small, the attitudes awkward, and the draperies are represented in numerous
small, fluttering folds, drawn with an apparently shaky line, as if the
artist had lacked firmness of hand. This, however, is a mere mannerism, as
wherever he wished for a steady line, as, for example, in the drawing of
the faces, the artist has drawn with the utmost decision and firmness of
touch. The costumes of these curious outline drawings, the architectural
accessories and other details, all show clearly the influence of the very
debased forms of classical Roman art, which still survived among the
manuscript illuminations of Italy[90]. This degraded form of classical art
was far from being a good model for the Anglo-Saxon illuminator to imitate,
and the blue and red outline miniatures are very inferior to the sumptuous
Anglo-Carolingian manuscripts which were being produced at Winchester by
contemporary illuminators.
_MSS. of the XIIth century._
_Roll of St Guthlac._
_Beauty of line._
In the eleventh century Anglo-Saxon miniatures in coloured outline improved
greatly in beauty of form and in gracefulness of pose; till at the
beginning of the twelfth century extremely fine miniatures of this class
were produced. A very beautiful example of this is a long vellum roll
illuminated with eighteen circular miniatures, mostly drawn with a pen in
dark brown ink. These outline miniatures represent scenes from the life of
Saint Guthlac, the Hermit of Crowland. The series begins with a drawing of
the youthful Guthlac receiving the tonsure from Hedda, Bishop of Winchester
(676 to 705), in the presence of the Abbess Ebba and two nuns. The whole
composition is very skilfully arranged to fill the circular medallion, and
there is great dignity and even delicate beauty in the separate figures.
The precision of touch shown in the drawing is most admirable, recalling
the perfect purity of line seen in the finest vase-paintings of the Greeks,
in which, as in these miniatures, the greatest amount of effect is produced
with the fewest possible touches. A few flat washes are introduced into the
backgrounds, but all the principal part of the miniatures is executed with
this pure outline.
There are no grounds for the suggestion that these medallion drawings were
intended as designs for stained glass. There is much similarity of style in
stained glass paintings and manuscript illuminations during the twelfth to
the fourteenth century in England, just as in the early Byzantine
manuscripts the same design serves for a miniature painting and a colossal
wall-mosaic. The same simplicity of drawing and flatness of composition
were preserved in both classes of art, and there is nothing exceptional in
the fact that these miniatures of Saint Guthlac might have served as
excellent motives for a glass-painter[91].
_Pontifical of St Dunstan._
The _Pontifical_ of Saint Dunstan (Brit. Mus. _Cott. Claud._ A. 3),
executed in the early part of the eleventh century, is a magnificent
example of decorative art, both in its noble designs and richness of
colour. Though no gold is used, the greatest splendour of effect is
produced, especially in a large miniature representing Saint Gregory
enthroned under an elaborate architectural canopy, with prostrate figures
at his feet of Archbishop Dunstan and the Benedictine scribe of this
beautiful manuscript; see Westwood, _Irish Manuscripts_, Pl. 50.
_Byzantine decadence._
The beauty of the best English manuscripts of the twelfth century is a
remarkable contrast to the once splendid Byzantine school of illumination,
which by this time had sadly degenerated from its former vigorous
splendour, and had become weak in drawing, clumsy in pose and inharmonious
in colour. The English school on the other hand, all through the twelfth
century, was making rapid advances towards a perfection both of design and
technique which culminated in the Anglo-Norman style of the latter part of
the thirteenth century, which for beauty of all kinds remained for a long
time quite without rival in any European country.
_Canute a patron of art._
_Feeble colouring._
To return to the Anglo-Saxon school of manuscripts in the eleventh century,
it should be observed that the Danish King Canute, unlike his destructive
predecessors, did all that he could to encourage literature and art in
England. With a view to fostering the production of fine illuminated
manuscripts he introduced into this country, and especially into the royal
and monastic libraries of Winchester, a large number of Roman manuscripts
with the usual illuminations of the debased classic type. This, no doubt,
helped to encourage the production of miniatures in outline such as those
in the _Utrecht Psalter_[92]. Another variety of Anglo-Saxon manuscript
illumination, executed during the first half of the eleventh century,
consists first of all of a pen drawing in brown outline; to which
subsequently the artist added with a brush narrow bands of blue or red laid
on in a thin wash as a sort of edging to the brown outlines, apparently
with the object of giving roundness to the drawing[93].
This class of illumination is, however, very inferior in beauty and
decorative splendour to the finest works of the monks of Winchester and
Glastonbury, in which solid colour in great variety of ti
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