Saturday, April 28, 2012

Illuminated manuscript, Book of Hours in Dutch, Two souls kneel in prayer in purgatory, Walters Manuscript W.188, fol. 175r

This illuminated Book of Hours was produced in the second quarter of the fifteenth century. It is written in the Netherlandish translation of Geert Grote. Although lacking in full-page miniatures, the manuscript contains eighteen historiated initials by the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg with ornamental initials and decoration throughout.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Illuminated Manuscript, Gloss on The lamentations of Jeremiah, Walters Manuscript W.30, fol. 3v

This illustrated copy of The lamentations of Jeremiah with the gloss (or interpretation) of Gilbert of Auxerre was written in Austria in the second half of the twelfth century and comes from the monastery of Seitenstetten. Gilbert died in 1134, and the manuscript is an early and important witness to his text. The gloss is written in a small script and is both interlinear and marginal. This layout is typical of glossed books of the Bible from the twelfth century. The illustrations of the sack of Jerusalem and the return to Babylon give valuable information on twelfth-century armor. The manuscript is in its original binding.

Execution of King Sedekiah of Judah's sons; Blinding of Sedekiah; Return to Babylon with the blinded king; Jeremiah lamenting before a walled city.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Illuminated Manuscript, The Rochester Bible, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.18, fol.149v

Initial "S" opening the Second Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle.

This large-format copy of the New Testament was created at, and for, Rochester Cathedral in Rochester, England in the first half of the twelfth century. The manuscript is an important survival, for it is one part of what is believed to be the the earliest decorated Bible produced at the priory scriptorium at Rochester. Originally a five volume work, only one other volume, British Library, Royal I.C.VII., has survived. The book's large size indicates it was designed to be read aloud, either during services or at meals. Large, fanciful initials filled with foliage, dragons, and human faces begin each section of the text, and their vibrant color and intricate designs capture the essence of Romanesque manuscript illumination.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau, Crucifixion, Walters Manuscript W.174, fol. 152v

The Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau is a masterpiece of Dutch manuscript painting. It was originally produced in the second quarter of the fifteenth century for von Greiffenklau, prebendary of Utrecht from 1446. The manuscript features work by the Masters of Zweder van Culemborg, active in the Utrecht area between 1420 and 1440, so-named after the Bishop of Utrecht 1425-33 for whom they produced a magnificent Missal in the late 1420s (now Bressanone, Bibl. del Seminario Maggiore). This Missal also features work by the celebrated Master of Catherine of Cleves, linking it to possibly the finest Dutch illuminated manuscript ever made; the Hours of Catherine of Cleves of c.1440 (Morgan Library & Museum, M.917 & M.945). This extremely elaborate Missal is illuminated with one full-page miniature, 52 column miniatures and 68 historiated initials throughout the manuscript, with the Temporal and Sanctoral sections being particularly richly decorated. In the late 15th century, a selection of prayers and sequences were added to the end of the manuscript in Germany, probably Mainz, and the volume was subsequently rebound with its current brown calf over boards, blind, rebacked binding either at that time or in the early 16th century.

Illuminated Manuscript, Bible (part), Creation of the world, and Eve, Walters Manuscript W.805, fol. 6v

This large-scale manuscript contains the first eight Old Testament books, Genesis through Ruth. The date of completion is given, February 2, 1507. The illumination of the Creation within a cosmographic scheme is based in part on the woodcut illustrations of Creation in the 1483 Koberger Bible, and the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle by the same printer. Large historiated initials mark the beginning of each book. This large format form of the bible was revived in the low countries and Rhineland in the mid fifteenth century, and later in the century they were being made in south east Germany and Bohemia. The style of the miniatures in this manuscript is typical of upper Austrian miniature painting of the later fifteenth century.