30 October 2018
Medieval nudes
Two of the British Library's most famous illuminated manuscripts — The Romance of the Rose (Harley MS 4425) and Christine de Pizan's 'The Book of the Queen' (Harley MS 4431) — will be on display at the exhibition The Renaissance Nude, at the Getty Center, Los Angeles (30 October 2018 to 27 January 2019). The exhibition will then move to the Royal Academy, London (3 March to 2 June 2019). We hope that many of our readers will be able to see these manuscripts in person, in the USA or in the UK.
Far more than a person with no clothes on, the nude is a tradition of European art originating in Classical Antiquity. Nude artworks follow a visual formula where the naked body is displayed for the aesthetic or often sexual admiration of an imagined viewer. In recent decades, the tradition has been heavily criticised, especially by feminist thinkers and activists.
But what do medieval manuscripts have to tell us about the tradition of the nude? The Middle Ages are sometimes portrayed as a period when Classical art was forgotten, when prudishness dominated, and when sexism went unchecked. A look at these nudes from medieval art proves that none of these were true.
Zeuxis and the nude models, The Romance of the Rose: Harley MS 4425, f. 142r
Some of the most influential stories for the tradition of the nude are retold in the 13th-century best-seller, The Romance of the Rose, an allegorical poem about the protagonist’s quest to win the love of the ‘Rose’. The story includes digressions into Classical mythology, such as the story of the ancient Greek artist Zeuxis, depicted here in a manuscript made in Paris in the 1490s.
The story goes that Zeuxis was commissioned to paint a nude picture of Helen of Troy, the legendary most beautiful woman in the world. Zeuxis could find no one beautiful enough to match his vision of Helen, so he selected five women to be his models and combined what he considered to be the best features of each. The story was important for the history of art because of its message that art is about more than simply imitating nature — artists had to use their skill and judgement to discover ideal beauty.
In The Romance of the Rose, the story has a very different interpretation. Here the tale illustrates the narrator’s point that no one can truly represent the beauty of nature — ‘even Zeuxis could not achieve such a form with his beautiful painting’. Rather, perfect beauty can only be created by God. This uniquely medieval twist transforms Zeuxis’ project to represent the ideal nude into a demonstration of the inadequacy of human artistry compared with the perfection of divine creation.
In line with this interpretation, the picture shows Zeuxis diligently painting at an easel with the five nude models grouped before him. Unfinished paintings are scattered around the room, suggesting unsuccessful attempts discarded by the frustrated artist.
Pygmalion and the statue, The Romance of the Rose: Harley MS 4425, f. 178v
The Romance of the Rose later digresses onto the story of another ancient Greek artist and proponent of the nude, Pygmalion. According to the tale, Pygmalion sculpted a nude woman out of ivory with such skill that the statue seemed to be alive — ‘neither Helen nor Lavinia, however well-formed, were of such perfect complexion or development, nor did they have a tenth the beauty’. The sculpture was so beautiful and lifelike that Pygmalion fell madly in love with it. He became obsessed with buying it gifts, dressing it in costly clothes, and embracing and kissing it. Frustrated by his inanimate love, Pygmalion appealed to Venus to help him. The goddess placed a soul in the sculpture, transforming it into a living woman who offered Pygmalion her companionship and love.
Unlike the Zeuxis story, the narrator presents this tale as a celebration of artistic ingenuity surpassing and defying nature. The erotic premises of the nude are also made clear — in the picture the sculpture gestures invitingly to the artist and to her explicitly depicted vulva.
Christine and the Sybil encounter the Muses, The Path of Long Study: Harley MS 4431, f. 183r
If you are thinking that these stories are uncomfortable for their indifferent and objectifying representations of women, you are not the first — medieval women were already leading the critique. In the opening years of the 15th century, The Romance of the Rose sparked an intellectual debate known as the ‘Quarrel of the Rose’. A key critic was Christine de Pizan, the first professional woman writer in Europe (b. 1364, d. c. 1430). Christine accused the Rose of misogyny, caustically writing of the plot, ‘how much effort and trickery there is in order to accomplish nothing more than the deception of a maid through fraud and cunning’.
In her own books, Christine made a point of portraying women as intelligent, good and empowered. You can see the difference in her representation of nudes in her first-person dream allegory, The Path of Long Study — depicted here in a manuscript written and illuminated under Christine’s supervision in Paris, c. 1410–14.
In her dream, Christine follows the Cumaean Sybil on a cosmological journey beginning at the Fountain of Wisdom. According to Christine, ‘I saw nine ladies bathing nude in the fountain; they truly seemed to have great authority, worth, and wisdom’. The Sybil explains that these are the nine muses, ‘they control the fountain which is so beautiful, clear, and healthy. And they hold their holy school there, which is enclosed by great learning’. In Classical mythology, the muses were the goddesses that inspired learning and the arts. Here, their nudity emphasises their intimate immersion in the waters of wisdom and their likeness to the fountain, ‘beautiful, clear, and healthy’. In this way, Christine uses the nude to represent the ideals of wisdom and to emphasise women’s embodiment of intellectual values.
And like anyone with great authority, worth and wisdom, the muses wouldn’t think of bathing without their wimples.
Christine gives instructions from her book: Harley MS 4431, f. 261v
You can see both these stunning manuscripts in the Renaissance Nude exhibition at the Getty Center then the Royal Academy. You can also view our manuscripts on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site.
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24 October 2018
The Utrecht Psalter on loan to Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
At the end of the British Library's landmark Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition are three incredible and interrelated works of art. The earliest — and the one that sparked an artistic revolution — is the Utrecht Psalter, made in Reims (now northern France) during the reign of Louis the Pious (814–840). We are extremely grateful to Utrecht University Library for its generous loan of this beautiful manuscript to our exhibition.
Psalm 14 from the Utrecht Psalter: Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek, MS 32, f. 8r
The drawings in the Utrecht Psalter are revolutionary in their approach to illustrating the Psalms. Previously, the Psalms were sometimes ornamented with scenes from the life of King David, either on a few pages or painted inside initials, as in the Vespasian Psalter, made in Kent in the 8th century.
Detail of an historiated initial showing King David saving a sheep from a lion: Cotton MS Vespasian A I, f. 53r
By contrast, the Utrecht Psalter’s ink drawings illustrate every phrase from the text of the Psalm on a given page. Check out the annotated version produced by Utrecht University to see how each element in the drawing was inspired by a different line in the text. In addition to literally representing the Psalms, these drawings offer visual interpretation and commentary.
‘Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns’, as depicted in the Utrecht Psalter: Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek, MS 32, f. 12r
The Utrecht Psalter was hugely influential for the style of its drawings. This manuscript was one of many books that travelled between the Continent and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. By AD 1000 it had arrived in Canterbury where a direct copy of it was made, now known as the Harley Psalter, and also currently on display next to the Utrecht Psalter.
‘Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns’, as depicted in the Harley Psalter: Harley MS 603, f. 12r
The vivid style of line-drawings in the Utrecht Psalter had a huge impact on early English art beyond the immediate copies of the Psalter. Many manuscripts associated with Canterbury, from calendars to canon tables to archbishops’ handbooks, contain lively drawings that show its influence. Drawing was considered a high-status art form on a par with painting in late 10th- and 11th-century England, and some images mix both styles.
Psalm 14 from the Harley Psalter: Harley MS 603, f. 8r
The Utrecht Psalter continued to inspire art at Canterbury after the Norman Conquest. One of these later copies was the 12th-century Eadwine Psalter (Cambridge, Trinity College, R.17.1), which is also displayed alongside the Utrecht and Harley Psalters in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition.
The Eadwine Psalter: Cambridge, Trinity College, R.17.1, f. 24r
The three Psalters ultimately ended up in different collections. The Harley Psalter was acquired by the earls of Mortimer and Oxford and became part of the Harley collection. The Eadwine Psalter was sent to Cambridge and is now in the Wren Library in Trinity College. In turn, the Utrecht Psalter came into the possession of Sir Robert Cotton (1571–1631), a noted collector of manuscripts. At the back of the volume, Cotton added some leaves from an 8th-century gospel-book, which seems to have been made at Wearmouth-Jarrow, Bede’s monastery. At some stage, the oldest surviving charter from England was also part of the volume, but it was subsequently removed and is now Cotton MS Augustus II 2.
Cotton loaned the Utrecht Psalter on at least two occasions. James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh (1581–1656), probably borrowed this manuscript around 1625 and described it in his notebook. Later, Thomas Howard, earl of Arundel (1585–1646), borrowed seven books from Cotton’s library including ‘an auncient coppie of the Psalms. Literis maiusculis, in Latin, and pictures’.
Sir Robert Cotton owned the Utrecht Psalter in the 17th century. In this portrait, commissioned in 1626, he is shown resting his hands upon the Cotton Genesis (courtesy of the Rt. Hon. Lord Clinton, D.L., Heanton Satchville, Devon).
Cotton's collection was used by writers who were looking for political arguments and precedents. In 1629, Charles I ordered that Cotton’s library be closed, on the grounds that it included a tract that advocated for absolutist monarchy, and Cotton himself was briefly imprisoned.
Robert Cotton died soon afterwards, in 1631. Meanwhile, Thomas Arundel seems to have taken the Psalter with him to the continent. There, his family lived rather lavishly, and the possessions of his son William Howard, Viscount Stafford (1612–1680), were auctioned twice to pay off debts. Eventually, Willem de Ridder acquired the Utrecht Psalter, and he bequeathed the manuscript to Utrecht Library on his death in 1716.
We are very grateful to Utrecht University for generously loaning this superstar to the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition, so that it can be displayed alongside the Harley Psalter and the Eadwine Psalter. The manuscripts discussed in this blogpost are also featured in a catalogue published to accompany the exhibition, available in both hardback and paperback from the British Library shop.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War
The British Library
19 October 2018–19 February 2019
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23 October 2018
Fire in the library
Our new exhibition, Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, has been receiving rave reviews. Don't just take our word for it, read here why The Guardian and the Evening Standard have both given it a coveted 5 stars. The show features outstanding archaeological finds alongside incredible illuminated manuscripts and literary treasures, from Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard to Beowulf and Codex Amiatinus.
The Old English epic poem Beowulf survives uniquely in a manuscript from the Cotton collection: Cotton MS Vitellius A XV, f. 169r
Approximately a quarter of the manuscripts on display come from one collection alone, namely that of the 17th-century politician and antiquary, Sir Robert Cotton. They include books such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Vespasian Psalter, and documents such as the oldest surviving charter written in England. We are incredibly lucky to have them in our show, but even more so because they escaped near-total destruction in one of the most devastating events in modern library history: the Cotton fire, which broke out on the night of 23 October 1731.
The manuscript of Gildas' The Ruin of Britain was almost ruined by fire in 1731: Cotton MS Vitellius A VI, f. 15r
A quick look at the pages of the unique surviving manuscripts of Beowulf and Gildas' The Ruin of Britain gives some idea of the damage they sustained in that fire. Their parchment pages started to warp in the heat of the flames, and the edges began to crumble. In some sad cases, the manuscripts were blackened and rendered almost useless, and in a handful of instances — such as that of the only medieval copy of Asser's Life of King Alfred — the volume was destroyed for ever.
A page from the London portion of the Otho-Corpus Gospels, showing the severe damage this manuscript sustained in the 1731 Cotton fire: Cotton MS Otho C V, f. 27r
The story of the Cotton library fire has been told elsewhere. Essentially, the Cotton collection was presented to the British nation in 1702, upon the death of Sir John Cotton, Sir Robert's grandson. It had ultimately been taken for safekeeping to the (inappropriately named) Ashburnham House, located near Westminster School in London. When the fire took hold, desperate efforts were made to save the books from the flames. The next morning, the Westminster schoolboys were reported to have collected scraps of burnt parchment, which were blowing in the breeze.
The Marvels of the East: Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1, f. 82r
A miraculous and pioneering programme of restoration, carried out at the British Museum in the 19th century, managed to preserve the burnt Cotton volumes for posterity. The manuscripts seem to have been soaked in a 'solution of wine', enabling their pages to be separated, and then they were often inlaid (like Beowulf and Gildas) in paper mounts. This whole process has been documented meticulously in Andrew Prescott's seminal article, ‘“Their present miserable state of cremation”: the restoration of the Cotton library’, in C. J. Wright (ed.), Sir Robert Cotton as Collector: Essays on an Early Stuart Courtier and his Legacy (London, 1997), pp. 391–454.
The Æthelstan Psalter was singed in the Cotton fire: Cotton MS Galba A XVIII, f. 21r
Below is a full list of the Cotton manuscripts and charters on display in Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. To their number, we could also add the magnificent Utrecht Psalter, which was alienated from Cotton's collection in the 1620s, and which ultimately made its way to the Universiteitsbibliotheek in Utrecht in the 18th century.
The Cotton collection was recently added to the UNESCO Memory of the World UK register. We feel sure that you would agree that, without the enterprise of Sir Robert Cotton himself, and without the endeavours of those who salvaged the damaged manuscripts in the 18th and 19th centuries, our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period — as well as our Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition — would be much the poorer.
Cotton Charter VIII 16 (grant of King Æthelstan and the will of Wulfgar)
Cotton Charter VIII 38 (will of Wynflæd)
Cotton MS Augustus II 2 (grant of King Hlothhere of Kent, AD 679)
Cotton MS Augustus II 3 (grant of King Æthelbald of the Mercians)
Cotton MS Augustus II 18 (letter of Bishop Wealdhere of London)
Cotton MS Augustus II 20 (Council of Kingston)
Cotton MS Augustus II 61 (decree of a synod of Clofesho, 803)
Cotton MS Caligula A VIII (Libellus de primo Saxonum uel Normannorum aduentu)
Cotton MS Caligula A XIV (Caligula Troper)
Cotton MS Claudius B IV (Old English Hexateuch)
Cotton MS Cleopatra B XIII (Old English coronation oath)
Cotton MS Domitian A I (Isidore, De natura rerum)
Cotton MS Domitian A VII (Durham Liber Vitae)
Cotton MS Faustina A X (Ælfric's Grammar)
Cotton MS Galba A XVIII (Æthelstan Psalter)
Cotton MS Julius A VI (Julius Work Calendar)
Cotton MS Julius E VII (Ælfric's Lives of Saints)
Cotton MS Nero A I (law-code of King Cnut)
Cotton MS Nero D IV (Lindisfarne Gospels)
Cotton MS Otho A VI (Boethius)
Cotton MS Otho C I/1 (Old English gospel-book)
Cotton MS Otho C V (Otho-Corpus Gospels)
Cotton MS Tiberius A II (Æthelstan or Coronation Gospels)
Cotton MS Tiberius A III (Regularis concordia)
Cotton MS Tiberius A VI (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle B)
Cotton MS Tiberius A XIII (Liber Wigorniensis)
Cotton MS Tiberius B I (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle C)
Cotton MS Tiberius B IV (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D)
Cotton MS Tiberius B V/1 (Marvels of the East)
Cotton MS Tiberius C II (Tiberius Bede)
Cotton MS Tiberius C VI (Tiberius Psalter)
Cotton MS Titus D XXVII (Ælfwine’s Prayer Book)
Cotton MS Vespasian A I (Vespasian Psalter)
Cotton MS Vespasian A VIII (New Minster Charter)
Cotton MS Vespasian A XIV (letter-book of Archbishop Wulfstan)
Cotton MS Vespasian A XIX (Libellus Æthelwoldi)
Cotton MS Vitellius A VI (Gildas)
Cotton MS Vitellius A XV (Beowulf)
Cotton MS Vitellius C III (Old English herbal)
Cotton MS Vitellius C XII/1 (St Augustine's martyrology)
Our once-in-a-generation exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms is on at the British Library until 19 February 2019.
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18 October 2018
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: a once-in-a-generation exhibition
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War, the largest ever exhibition on the history, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England, opens at the British Library on 19 October.
We are delighted to give you a brief glimpse here of some of the stunning exhibits that will be on show. They range from outstanding archaeological objects to unique literary texts, alongside intricately illuminated manuscripts, some of which are returning to England for the first time. The exhibition highlights the key role manuscripts played in the transmission of ideas, literature and art across political and geographical boundaries, spanning all six centuries from the eclipse of Roman Britain to the Norman Conquest.
The Utrecht Psalter, on loan from Universiteitsbibliotheek, Utrecht
Spong Man, on loan from Norwich Museums Service
The exhibition presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to encounter original evidence from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, a time when the English language was used and written for the first time and the foundations of the kingdom of England were laid down.
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms is on display at the British Library in London from 19 October 2018 to 19 February 2019. You can buy your tickets here. A book accompanying the exhibition, edited by Lead Curator Dr Claire Breay (The British Library) and Professor Joanna Story (University of Leicester), is available to buy from the Library's online shop.
Don't forget that the British Library has made its outstanding collection of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and charters available online in full, allowing people around the world to explore them in detail, and to support future research in the field.
Regular stories about the exhibition will be published on the Medieval Manuscripts Blog. You can also follow us on Twitter, @BLMedieval, using the hashtag #BLAngloSaxons. We'd love you to tell us which is your favourite exhibit, from the selection published here.
Codex Amiatinus, the earliest surviving complete Bible in Latin, was made at the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in the north-east of England in the early 8th century and taken to Italy in 716 as a gift for the Pope. It has returned to England for the first time in more than 1300 years, on loan from the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence.
Codex Amiatinus, on loan from Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence
Here is a small selection of some of the outstanding illuminated manuscripts on display. They include the St Augustine Gospels, the Book of Durrow, the Echternach Gospels, the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Durham Cassiodorus, the Codex Aureus, the MacDurnan Gospels and the Boulogne Gospels.
The St Augustine Gospels, on loan from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
The Book of Durrow, on loan from Trinity College Dublin
The Echternach Gospels, on loan from Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
The Lindisfarne Gospels (The British Library)
The Durham Cassiodorus, on loan from Durham Cathedral Library
The Codex Aureus, on loan from Kungliga Biblioteket, Stockholm
The MacDurnan Gospels, on loan from Lambeth Palace Library
The Boulogne Gospels, on loan from Bibliothèque municipale, Boulogne-sur-mer
The exhibition also presents an opportunity to compare side-by-side the Utrecht Psalter with its later descendants, the Harley Psalter and the Eadwine Psalter.
The Utrecht Psalter, on loan from Universiteitsbibliotheek, Utrecht
The Harley Psalter (The British Library)
The Eadwine Psalter, on loan from Trinity College, Cambridge
Also on display is the magnificent treasure binding on the Judith of Flanders Gospels.
The Judith of Flanders Gospels, on loan from The Morgan Library, New York
The four principal manuscripts of Old English poetry are on display together for the first time. The British Library’s unique manuscript of Beowulf is on show alongside the Vercelli Book, returning to England for the first time from the Biblioteca Capitolare in Vercelli; the Exeter Book, on loan from Exeter Cathedral Library; and the Junius Manuscript, on loan from the Bodleian Library.
Beowulf (The British Library)
The Exeter Book, on loan from Exeter Cathedral Library
The Vercelli Book, on loan from Biblioteca e Archivio Capitolare, Vercelli
The Junius Manuscript, on loan from the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford
Domesday Book, the most famous book in English history and earliest surviving public record, is on loan from The National Archives. It provides unrivalled evidence for the landscape and administration of late Anglo-Saxon England.
Domesday Book, on loan from The National Archives
Also on display are a number of recently discovered archaeological objects including the Binham Hoard, the largest collection of gold from 6th century Britain, on loan from the Norfolk Museums Service; the Lichfield Angel, which has never been displayed outside of Lichfield since it was excavated in 2003, on loan from Lichfield Cathedral; and key objects from the Staffordshire Hoard, discovered in 2009, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, on loan from Birmingham Museums Trust and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
The Binham Hoard, on loan from Norwich Museum Service
The Lichfield Angel, on loan from Lichfield Cathedral
The Staffordshire Hoard, on loan from Birmingham Museums Trust and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
Other objects on display (did we say that this is a once-in-a-generation exhibition?) include the Sutton Hoo gold buckle on loan from the British Museum, and the Alfred Jewel, on loan from the Ashmolean Museum.
The Sutton Hoo gold buckle, on loan from the British Museum
The Alfred Jewel, on loan from the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
The River Erne horn, a wooden trumpet from the 8th century discovered in the river in the 1950s, is displayed for the first time alongside the Vespasian Psalter, which includes the oldest translation of part of the Bible into English and depicts two musicians playing very similar instruments.
The River Erne Horn, on loan from National Museums Northern Ireland
The Vespasian Psalter (The British Library)
A number of important documents are on display in Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. They include the earliest surviving English charter, issued in 679 and granting land to the Abbot of Reculver; the oldest original letter written in England, from the Bishop of London to the Archbishop of Canterbury, dating from early 8th century; and the earliest surviving letter in English, the Fonthill letter, from the early 10th century on loan from Canterbury Cathedral.
The earliest surviving charter (The British Library)
The oldest letter written in England (The British Library)
The Fonthill Letter, on loan from Canterbury Cathedral Archives
The St Cuthbert Gospel, the oldest intact European book with its original binding, was made at the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in the north-east of England in the early 8th century. It was acquired by the British Library in 2012 following the Library’s most ambitious and successful fundraising campaign for an acquisition.
The St Cuthbert Gospel (The British Library)
Last, and certainly not least, the exhibition has on display a number of significant historical manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, such as the Moore Bede, Textus Roffensis, the New Minster Liber Vitae, and the will of Wynflæd, a 10th-century English noblewoman.
The Moore Bede, on loan from Cambridge University Library
Textus Roffensis, on loan from Rochester Cathedral
The New Minster Liber Vitae (The British Library)
Wynflæd's will (The British Library)
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War
The British Library, London
19 October 2018–19 February 2019
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16 October 2018
A missal not to be missed
One of the British Library's illuminated manuscripts is now on display, with a selection of other stunning objects, at a new exhibition exploring the life and times of the powerful bibliophile duchess, Mary of Guelders (1378–1427). You can visit the exhibition, I, Mary of Guelders: The Duchess and her extraordinary prayer book, at the Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, from now until 6 January 2019. Our manuscript, Egerton MS 3018, reveals the cosmopolitan connections and rich book culture of the Lower Rhine area in Mary’s day.
The opening of the Canon of the Mass, facing a miniature of the Virgin and Child with a patron portrait: Egerton MS 3018, ff. 23v–24r
The manuscript on loan from the Library is a missal, a service book containing the texts needed for the performance of the Mass. A close look through its pages reveals a fascinating meeting of scribal cultures. The main part of the manuscript was written and illustrated in the late 14th century by a scribe working in an Italian style, using the rounded script and smooth white parchment that were common in Italian manuscripts. It could have been made in Italy, or by Italian artisans working in the Lower Rhine area.
In the year 1400, a different scribe added a calendar focusing on saints related to Cologne, featuring ‘red letter days’ for the Three Kings (their deaths on 11 January and their translation on 23 July), the 11,000 Virgins (21 October), and St Severin, archbishop of Cologne (23 October), all of whom had their major shrines in Cologne. They also added an office for St Severin and a Mass dedicated to all angels. This scribe used thicker parchment, wrote in a pointed gothic script typical of northern Europe, and decorated their initial letters with a Dutch type of penwork.
At a similar time or perhaps slightly later, an artist added seven Rhenish-style full-page miniatures depicting various saints. With their full-length figures, flat backgrounds and minimal narrative, these miniatures closely resemble the types of devotional panel paintings commonly displayed in churches at this time. They were probably added at the request of a new owner, probably the man pictured in the image above, praying before the Virgin and Child at the opening of the Canon of the Mass.
Probably St Severin of Cologne: Egerton MS 3018, f. 7r
Some of the saints included were widely venerated while others were local to the Lower Rhine area. This miniature shows a saint holding a church, identified as a bishop by his mitre and crosier. He is probably intended to represent St Severin, the 4th-century bishop of Cologne whose feast day is prominently marked in the manuscript’s calendar and commemorated with an office in the manuscript’s sanctorale section. The church he carries most likely represents his foundation and shrine site, the Basilica of St Severin in Cologne. It was the city’s second major cult focus after the Shrine of the Three Kings at the Cathedral.
St Cornelius and St Cyprian: Egerton MS 3018, f. 92r
The saints portrayed in this miniature also point to a connection with the Basilica of St Severin in Cologne. They are St Cornelius and St Cyprian, a pope and a bishop who were martyred together in the 3rd century. St Cornelius is identified by his papal tiara and horn, while St Cyprian wears a bishop’s mitre and carries a crosier and book. When St Severin first founded his Basilica, he dedicated it to Cornelius and Cyprian. Severin was later added to the dedication and the Basilica was re-named in his honour. Nevertheless, devotion to Cornelius and Cyprian continued, and a relic known as the Horn of St Cornelius has been one of the principal treasures housed at the Basilica since c. 1500. The miniatures of Saints Severin, Cornelius and Cyprian, three unusual subjects who were all patron saints of the Basilica of St Severin in Cologne, suggests that the manuscript’s owner had close ties with this church.
The Ten Thousand Martyrs: Egerton MS 3018, f. 43r
Another unusual image in this manuscript depicts the Ten Thousand Martyrs, said to have been a group of Roman soldiers led by St Achatius, and who were impaled to death by a pagan army. This relatively obscure cult is particularly associated with Switzerland and Germany, and relics were claimed by Cologne, Prague and other towns. According to legend, whoever venerated their memory would enjoy health of mind and body. Perhaps to emphasise their powers over bodily health, this gruesome miniature focuses on the martyrs’ bodily suffering, showing them as a mass of contorted naked bodies, violently impaled and pouring with blood.
We are delighted to be a lender to the Mary of Guelders exhibition, which is on in Nijmegen from 13 October 2018 to 6 January 2019.
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13 October 2018
The last Anglo-Saxon kings
This weekend marks two important anniversaries. 13 October is the feast-day of King Edward the Confessor, who ruled England from 1042 until his death in January 1066. His successor, King Harold II, was killed 952 years ago at the Battle of Hastings, on 14 October 1066. In the week that our major exhibition, Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, opens at the British Library, here is some of the manuscript evidence for these last kings of Anglo-Saxon England.
Hastings is often cited as ‘the end of Anglo-Saxon England’. But how ‘English’ were these last Anglo-Saxon kings? Harold had a Norse name, and his parents were closely linked to King Cnut, who ruled England and Scandinavia; while Edward the Confessor spent most of his formative years in exile in Normandy.
Seal of Edward the Confessor: LFC Ch XXI 5
Although Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, his saint’s day was eventually set for 13 October: the last day England was ruled by an ‘English’ king, as opposed to a Norman. (A handy tip: you can enter Westminster Abbey for free on this day, since Edward’s shrine is there.) But Edward had many close connections to Normandy. His parents were Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, the daughter of Richard I, duke of Normandy. During Edward’s childhood, England was repeatedly attacked by Scandinavian forces.When he was about 10, he fled to Normandy wih his mother, his brother Alfred and his sister Godgifu. After Æthelred died, Emma returned to England to marry the conquering King Cnut, but Edward and his siblings remained in Normandy, probably living with their relatives.
When King Cnut died in 1035, Alfred and Edward, now in his 30s, invaded England in order to claim the throne. They were probably supported by Norman forces and possibly encouraged by Emma. After being defeated, Edward escaped but Alfred was captured, blinded and killed by Cnut’s son, Harald Harefoot. Edward seems never to have forgiven his mother for marrying Cnut or for her role in their failed coup.
Harald Harefoot died in 1040 and Emma’s son by Cnut, Harthacnut, succeeded to the throne. Harthacnut and Emma had trouble retaining power, so Emma invited Edward to return from Normandy and rule as king alongside Harthacnut. Harthacnut choked at a wedding feast and died, and Edward was crowned as sole king of England in 1043, when he was around 40 years old. Up to that point, he had spent three-quarters of his life outside England.
Portrait of Emma being presented with the Encomium Emmae Reginae, while Harthacnut and Edward look on, c. 1041: Add MS 33241, f. 1v
One of Edward’s first actions within a few months of becoming king was to deprive Emma of her property. He still had many Continental connections. His inner circle included his relative Ralph of Mantes, who stationed troops in England. Edward also promoted the interests of the Norman abbot Robert of Jumièges, who was eventually made archbishop of Canterbury. He also promoted Leofric, a Cornishman educated in Liège, to be his bishop of St Germans and Crediton (Exeter). In 1051, Edward even hosted a visit from his cousin, William, duke of Normandy.
The only record of William the Conqueror visiting England before the Conquest, from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D: Cotton MS Tiberius B IV, f. 74r
Another close advisor to Edward was his father-in-law, Earl Godwine. Godwine was an English noble, but he had risen through the ranks of Cnut’s regime and had married a Scandinavian woman. A sign of these connections is the Norse names he gave some of his sons: Swein (Sven), Tostig and Harold. While Harold may not have grown up outside England, he still travelled widely and his family relied on the support of Continental powers.
In 1051, after Earl Godwine had a dispute with Eustace of Boulogne and Edward's other Continental advisors, his family fled to Bruges. His sons travelled to Flanders and Scandinavia to raise a fleet to force Edward to allow them to return, and Harold travelled to Ireland, also seeking support. The family succeeded in being reinstated. Harold also travelled much further afield, to Flanders, the German lands and Rome, where he collected relics.
Further evidence of connections on both sides of the English Channel, even before the Norman Conquest, is that Harold had probably stayed at the court of William of Normandy. In 1064, two years before they faced off across the battlefield at Hastings, William and Harold may have even fought together during William’s campaigns in Brittany. Later Norman sources made much of this meeting, claiming that Harold swore on relics to allow William to succeed Edward as king of England. These claims seem slightly too convenient in light of the later Norman Conquest. However, The Life of King Edward commissioned by Harold’s sister mentioned that ‘Harold had a tendency to be too generous with his promises. Alas!’
Opening page from the Vita Ædwardi Regis: Harley MS 526, f. 38r
Whatever happened between Harold and William, when Edward died in 1066, Harold was swiftly elected king by the English nobility, who claimed that Edward has nominated Harold on his deathbed. Harold’s 10-month reign was dominated by warfare, first with the Welsh kings and then with challengers for his own throne. England was attacked from the sea by the Scandinavian leader Harald Hardrada, who was supported by Harold Godwinson’s own brother, Tostig. Harold defeated Harald Hardrada and Tostig was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September 1066. The English king then immediately marched South, since William of Normandy had landed on the coast and was devastating the surrounding countryside.
Account of Harold Hardrada's and Tostig’s attacks, from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle C: Cotton MS Tiberius B I, f. 162v
On 13 October 1066, as Harold marched to confront William's invading forces, few could have predicted the sweeping changes that would occur when William won the Battle of Hastings. English government, the aristocracy, architecture and the English language would undergo radical change in the following decades. But some things did not change. English rulers, nobles and tradespeople had close links to the Continent before the Norman Conquest, and there was already cultural and artistic exchange between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the wider world.
You can discover more about these connections in the British Library's Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms exhibition (19 October 2018–19 February 2019).
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12 October 2018
Harry Potter: A History of Magic at the New York Historical Society
Many of you will remember the British Library’s blockbuster exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, which explored the history, mythology and folklore behind the Harry Potter stories. Our North American readers may be excited to know that, like the self-renewing phoenix on the poster, the exhibition has been born again in New York. The new exhibition is now open at the New-York Historical Society, featuring rare books and manuscripts on loan from the British Library.
Here’s a selection of magical manuscripts that you can see in the show. All of these should be on the reading list of any aspiring student of witchcraft and wizardry.
An alchemist: Harley MS 3469, f. 4r
Harry Potter fans will know that the plot of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, centres on the use of alchemy. This beautifully illustrated manuscript, known as Splendor Solis (Splendour of the Sun), was made in Germany in 1582. This image shows an alchemist holding a flask filled with a golden liquid. A scroll fluttering from the flask bears the mystical inscription, ‘Eamus quesitum quatuor elementorum naturas’ (Let us ask the four elements of nature), which reflects the Classical idea that all earthly substances are made up of four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Alchemists attempted to imitate the creative processes of nature to transform matter and even to restore life.
A centaur with the plant centaury: Harley MS 5294, f. 22r
Students at Hogwarts School take classes in Herbology to learn about which plants are most useful for potions and medicine. The manuscript shown above is a 12th-century herbal, describing different kinds of plants and their medicinal properties. This page describes the plant centauria minor, the lesser centaury, named after the wise centaur Chiron from Greek mythology. In the picture, Chiron hands some centaury plants to his pupil and foster son Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. The inscription below the snake explains that, ground to a powder or mixed in wine, centaury is a potent remedy against snake bites.
Harvesting a mandrake: Harley MS 3736, f. 59r
One of the most notorious plants listed in medieval herbals was the mandrake. The plant’s roots often resemble miniature humans, which were said to shriek when they were pulled out of the ground. According to ancient and medieval folklore, mandrakes could cure headaches, earaches, gout and insanity, but anyone who heard the mandrake’s scream would die. To harvest the mandrake without succumbing to its fatal shrieking, some herbals recommended a handy trick, as illustrated in this herbal made in the late 15th or early 16th century. You can read more about this process in our blogpost How to harvest a mandrake.
A phoenix rising from the ashes: Harley MS 4751, f. 45r
In the Harry Potter universe, witches and wizards learn about magical creatures by consulting the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. Medieval people learned about marvellous creatures by reading a bestiary, or book of beasts. This page in a 13th-century English bestiary describes and illustrates the phoenix. The text explains that this remarkable bird has the ability to resurrect itself in old age. It creates its own funeral pyre from branches and plants, then fans the flames with its own wings until it is consumed by the fire. After the ninth day, the phoenix rises again from the ashes.
The constellation Canis Major: Cotton MS Tiberius C I, f. 28r
The names of many characters in the Harry Potter books, such as Sirius Black and Draco Malfoy, were inspired by stars in the night sky. Medieval people also placed great importance on the stars, which they used for navigation, calculating dates and predicting the future. This 12th-century English manuscript contains a copy of Cicero’s Aratea, a Roman book about the stars. The page above shows the constellation Canis Major (the Greater Dog), in which is found Sirius, the 'dog star', the brightest star in the night sky.
The writing inside the dog’s body gives further information about the constellation, including its origin story from ancient Greek mythology. According to the tale, there was once a hound so swift that no prey could escape it, and also a fox so swift that it could never be caught. When the huntsman Cephalus sent the hound to catch the fox, it created such a paradox that the god Zeus had to turn them both to stone. Zeus then placed the hound in the sky where it became Canis Major.
To learn more about these manuscripts, please visit the Harry Potter exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, from 5 October 2018 until 27 January 2019. All the manuscripts described above are also featured on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site. There are lots of other ways to learn more about Harry Potter: A History of Magic, including the exhibition book, television documentary and our own pages hosted by Google Arts and Culture.
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02 October 2018
The Harley Bible moralisée on display in New York
During the reigns of Louis VIII (1223–1226), his formidable wife Blanche of Castile (d. 1252) and their son, Louis IX (1226–1270), Paris was the artistic centre of Europe. Among the most spectacular artistic creations of their reigns were moralized picture Bibles known as Bibles moralisées. Each contains literally thousands of richly painted and gilded images, designed (in the words of Professor John Lowden) to ‘create an impression of unsurpassed magnificence’.
The One seated on the throne, in Revelation 4:6–5:8: Harley 1527, f. 120v
These books are known as moralized Bibles because biblical scenes in roundels are paired with their symbolic or theological interpretation or ‘moralizations’ below, with a short biblical extract or explanatory moralisation added next to each picture. Each was made as a royal commission for a member of the French royal family or a close relative.
Two of the manuscripts include an image of a king and queen, or a king, as well as an artist at work on a book with roundels like those in the Bibles moralisées. It has been suggested that the first two copies, now both in Vienna, were made for Blanche and Louis’s own use (one in French, and the second latinized from French).
(i) Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 1179
(ii) Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 2554
The other two early copies, one now split between Oxford, Paris and the Harley collection at the British Library, and its twin, now in Toledo (with a small portion in New York), are even more ambitious undertakings. They were perhaps commissioned by Blanche as wedding presents for her son, Louis IX, and his bride Margaret of Provence (1221–1295) on their marriage in 1234.
(iii) Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 270B + Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11560 + London, British Library Harley MS 1527
(iv) Toledo, Tesoro del Catedral + New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.240
The book of Seven Seals with the four living creatures and the twenty-four Elders with moralisations, in Revelation 4:6–5:8: Harley 1527, f. 121r
These moralized Bibles are indeed extraordinary creations in every way. Their production in a workshop in Paris must have been a massive and extremely expensive undertaking, as the books appear to have been made in rapid succession, within a period of about ten years, from around 1225 to 1235. Each illustrated page has eight roundels, and faces another page with the same layout, so that the viewer is confronted with sixteen images on each illustrated opening. The astonishing complexity of the images, their moralisations and the accompanying texts suggests that the royal recipients of the Bibles moralisées would have viewed and/or read them in the company of their personal chaplains or priests.
The Wise and Foolish Virgins: Harley MS 1527, f. 46r
One volume of the British Library's Harley Bible moralisée is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, as part of the Armenia! exhibition, which opened on 22 September. The exhibition is the first to examine the remarkable artistic contribution of the Armenians in a global context.
An important aspect of the exhibition is the exploration of the connections between the arts of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia and the court of Louis IX. The Franciscan friar William of Rubruck (Willem van Ruysbroeck) (c. 1210–c. 1270) took illuminated manuscripts with him on his mission to the Mongols in 1253, including a Bible given to him by Louis IX and a Psalter given by Queen Margaret of Provence (d. 1295). It may be that these manuscripts influenced the style and compositions of one of the most accomplished of Armenian painters, T‘oros Roslin (active 1256–1268).
To see the Harley manuscript in New York, visit the Armenia! Exhibition, open until 13 January 2019. To view it online, please visit the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site. We also discussed this manuscript in a previous blogpost.
Kathleen Doyle
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Further Reading
John Lowden, The Making of the Bibles Moralisées, 2 vols (University Park, Pennsylvania, 2000), I, The Manuscripts, esp. pp. 139–87.
John Lowden, ‘The Apocalypse in the Early-Thirteenth-Century Bibles Moralisées: A Re-Assessment’, in Prophecy, Apocalypse and the Day of Doom, Proceedings of the 2000 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by Nigel Morgan, Harlaxton Medieval Studies, 12 (Donington, 2004), pp. 195–217 (pp. 198, 207–212, 216, pls 20, 26–28, 31).
Scot McKendrick & Kathleen Doyle, The Art of the Bible: Illuminated Manuscripts from the Medieval World (London: Thames & Hudson, 2016), no. 26.
Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages, ed. by Helen C. Evans (New York, 2018).
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