27 May 2014
Just Like Heaven: Dante's Paradiso
When we last left Dante, he had met with his muse and lady-love Beatrice in Purgatory, and we were beginning to escort him into the third and last realm of the Divine Comedy – that of Heaven, or the Paradiso (see here for our previous posts about the Inferno and the Purgatorio).
Dominicans in Heaven, Egerton MS 943, f. 144v
It is worth noting how the style of the artwork changes throughout this manuscript to reflect the different stages of the poem. Dante’s visual imagery is rich and occasionally quite strange, yet the artist of this manuscript took on the grand task of representing the un-representable (and we rather think he succeeded).
The heavenly light, Egerton MS 943, f. 152r
The souls in the Heaven of Jupiter form the shape of an eagle. Each stage of heaven corresponds to a virtue, and a planet. Jupiter is where the just rulers abide.
The eagle’s head, Egerton MS 943, f. 160r
Souls in the 8th circle of Heaven, Egerton MS 943, f. 168r
See how Dante begins to pass into the concentric circles of Heaven as he approaches closer and closer to a final meeting with God Himself.
Dante and Beatrice in Heaven, Egerton MS 943, f. 172r
A white rose, made up of the souls of the saintly, is at the very heart of heaven, and of the entire cosmos. It’s a very beautiful image (see below), and our artist matches the poem’s glorious language.
The Rose of Heaven, Egerton MS 943, f. 181r
Beatrice takes her place in this scene amongst the saints, and then St Bernard of Clairvaux takes over in the final explanation to Dante, whilst pointing to the Virgin Mary at the heart of the rose (see below). It was very bold of Dante to place his love in such august company, but throughout the poem Beatrice is depicted as both human and as something so much more than that. Dante makes love, even romantic love, the road to contemplation of God, and the force that binds all of heaven together, as we can see in the final moments of the poem, in the description of the vision of God.
St Bernard shows Dante the Virgin Mary, Egerton MS 943, f. 182r
In the poem, Dante apologises that it was impossible for him to completely describe his vision of God, but that didn’t stop the artist of our manuscript from giving it a go. God is shown here as three circles without circumference, representing the Trinity, and at the heart of it Dante sees a vision of both God and man in one.
Dante before God, Egerton MS 943, f. 186r
To quote from Dante just once, there is something from the following description we can just about see in the image above: ‘Alone, you know yourself. Known to yourself / you, knowing, love and smile on your own being’ (Paradiso, Canto 33, verses 125-126). We can perhaps see from the image above what the artist took from that – a smile! For Dante, God’s innermost essence was reflected in the very smile, given in passing, that led him to devote his life to the adoration of a young woman he barely knew. We would definitely recommend having a try at reading the Divine Comedy, and perhaps having Egerton MS 943 open as you do. It’s not always an easy read, but you’ll find plenty of smiles within.
- Arthur Westwell
22 May 2014
A Sense of Detachment
Those of you who have spent a great deal of time on our Digitised Manuscripts site may have encountered the occasional instance of a detached binding amongst the wonderful array of medieval manuscripts on offer. Many of the bindings are spectacular works of art in themselves, featuring amazing examples of medieval embroidery, leatherwork, or ivories. Besides being beautiful to look at, these bindings are also vitally important to scholars investigating the history of the manuscripts they were once attached to.
Detached binding containing an ivory plaque of St Paul, from the Siegburg Lectionary, 11th century, Harley MS 2889/1
Bindings can be detached for any number of reasons. It was a policy among many collectors and institutions in the 18th and 19th centuries (the British Museum included) to automatically rebind every newly-arrived manuscript, and unfortunately many of the original bindings from this period are now lost to us. Of course, this is no longer our procedure, and the British Library makes every effort to maintain the integrity of the manuscripts that come to us. Bindings are only replaced these days when it is necessary for preservation or conservation purposes.
Detached silk curtain, formerly covering a miniature, from the Bedford Psalter and Hours, 15th century, Add MS 42131/1
Because these detached bindings are usually kept in our manuscripts store under the same shelfmark as their erstwhile interiors, there was initially no good way to display them on Digitised Manuscripts, save a wonky workaround in which the images were numbered as end flyleaves. This at least allowed the images to be displayed, but we were aware of the potential for confusion for those interested in examining the bindings themselves, so we’ve been working to develop a better solution. And at long last, here it is: we have created new shelfmarks for a number of the detached bindings, and have republished many of the images online accordingly. We still have a few more to go, and we should issue one caveat – this new system does not incorporate all of the detached bindings in the Library’s collections, only those for select and restricted manuscripts on Digitised Manuscripts. As always, if you have any questions or would like to examine any of these bindings, please get in touch with the Manuscripts Reading Room at [email protected].
Our newly republished manuscripts and detached bindings are below; we hope you enjoy browsing through them!
Add MS 37768: the Lothar Psalter, Germany (Aachen) or France (Tours), 9th century
Add MS 37768/1: detached ivory carving from the cover of the Lothar Psalter, 9th century
Add MS 42130: the Luttrell Psalter, England (Lincolnshire), 1325-1340
Add MS 42130/1: box and volume containing the detached former binding and flyleaves of the Luttrell Psalter, England (Cambridge), c. 1625-1640
Add MS 42131: the Bedford Psalter and Hours, England (London), 1414-1422
Add MS 42131/1: detached former bindings, paste-downs, spines, and silk curtains from the Bedford Psalter and Hours, England, 15th – 17th centuries
Egerton MS 1139: the Melisende Psalter, Eastern Mediterranean (Jerusalem), 1131-1143
Egerton MS 1139/1: detached binding with ivory panels & backings, wooden panels and metal plates from the Melisende Psalter, 12th century (with later additions)
Egerton MS 3277: the Bohun Psalter and Hours, England (London?), second half of the 14th century
Egerton MS 3277/1: detached binding from the Bohun Psalter and Hours, 18th century
Harley MS 603: the Harley Psalter, England (Canterbury), first half of the 11th century
Harley MS 603/1: detached binding and flyleaves from the Harley Psalter, 19th century
Harley MS 2820: the Cologne Gospels, Germany (Cologne), fourth quarter of the 11th century
Harley MS 2820/1: detached binding from the Cologne Gospels with an ivory panel of the Crucifixion, late 11th century (set in a post-1600 binding)
Harley MS 2889: the Siegburg Lectionary, Germany (Siegburg), 11th century
Harley MS 2889/1: detached binding from the Siegburg Lectionary, with two 11th century ivory plaques (set in a 19th century binding)
Royal MS 12 C VII: Pandolfo Collenuccio’s Apologues and Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues, Italy (Rome and Florence), 1509 – c. 1517
Royal MS 12 C VII/1: detached chemise binding embroidered with the badge and motto of Prince Henry Frederick (1594-1612)
Update (3 June 2014):
We've just added three more detached bindings to Digitised Manuscripts. And here they are!
Add MS 18850: the Bedford Hours, France (Paris), c. 1410 - 1430
Add MS 18850/1: detached former binding for the Bedford Hours, consisting of a wooden box, 2 red velvet covers with metal clasps and 4 folios, England, 17th century
Add MS 42555: the Abingdon Apocalypse, England, 3rd quarter of the 13th century
Add MS 42555/1: detached former binding components from the Abingdon Apocalypse, 18th century
Add MS 61823: the Book of Margery Kempe, England (East Anglia?), c. 1440
Add MS 61823/1: remains of the original white tawed leather chemise binding from the Book of Margery Kempe, England, c. 1440
- Sarah J Biggs
16 May 2014
Anyone for Hawking?
We are delighted to tell you that the magnificent Kerdeston Hawking Book is now available on our Digitised Manuscripts site (Add MS 82949). This manuscript, together with the related Kerdeston Hunting Book (a fragment of 5 leaves, now Additional MS 82948), was in the collection of HRH Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, until his death in 1974, being acquired by the British Library in 2007.
Ypocras sitting on a stool writing with a dog at his feet. Three hunters, each with a beating stick and three hawks on his arm stand in front of Ypocras. Two buildings are at the top of the miniature, with Kerdeston's arms in the upper centre, from the Kerdeston Hawking Book, England (Norfolk): London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 31v
The library of a 15th-century country gentleman would not have been complete without books on everyday matters such as estate management, heraldry and hunting, sometimes compiled as one volume. The Middle-English ‘Kerdeston Hawking Book’ is from the library of Sir Thomas Kerdeston of Claxton, Norfolk (d. 1446), whose first wife, Elizabeth, was daughter of Sir Edward Burnell, one of the English soldiers killed at Agincourt in 1415. It is a tall, thin book, probably designed to be carried around, and the pages are worn, indicating that it was well-used by its owner.
The first leaf of the book has two full-page images, one on either side, unfortunately rather damaged by cuts and rubbing. The first shows a man in very fine hunting dress, thought to be of the Master of the Hunt, with his pouch at his waist and hawk on his wrist, riding towards a stream with fish and fowl in it.
The Master of the Hunt, shown on horseback, and, below, a hermit with beggars, from the Kerdeston Hawking Book: London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 1r
On the verso of the first folio is an image showing a king in full regalia, holding three hawks on a leash in his right hand. In the lower third of the page are three hawksmen with poles, lures and pouches. The seated scholar in the middle has an open book and a scroll that reads ‘ypocras’. This refers to the first treatise in the book, a dialogue between Ypocras (Hippocrates) and Cosma, a Roman senator, on falconry.
A royal figure, scholar and three hawksmen from the Kerdeston Hawking Book: London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 1v
The book contains advice on how to care for falcons and hawks, with remedies and recipes for salves to keep their plumage in good condition, as well as instructions on their training and management. The margins are decorated with images of birds, animals and the Kerdeston coat of arms.
Marginal image of a dog with a duck in its mouth, from the Kerdeston Hawking Book: London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 45r
Marginal image of two hawks swooping on a heron, from the Kerdeston Hawking Book: London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 48r
No English book on hunting would be complete without foxes and hounds, and here they are:
Marginal image of two hounds chasing a fox, from the Kerdeston Hawking Book: London, British Library, MS Additional 82949, f. 32r
Chantry Westwell
You can read more about the Kerdeston Hawking Book here:
Bror Danielsson, 'Library of Hunting and Hawking Literature (early 15th c. fragments)', in Et Multum et Multa: Beiträge zur Literatur, Geschichte und Kultur der Jagd. Festgabe für Kurt Linder zum 27.November 1971, ed. by S. Schwenk, G. Tilander &C. A. Willemson (New York, 1971), pp. 47-60 [refers to the Kerdeston Hunting Book, a related manuscript: Add MS 82948].
Kathleen L. Scott, Later Gothic Manuscripts 1390-1490, A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British Isles, 6, 2 vols (London, 1996), no. 91.
13 May 2014
Comic Mania
We received some lovely feedback about our recent post, Superheroes, True Romance, Blood and Gore ... so here are three more medieval comic strips. Some people suggested, incidentally, that the famous Bayeux Tapestry qualifies as one of the earliest "comic strips", but here are some British Library examples from the 12th century.
Silos Apocalypse - Daniel the Superhero
A vision of the life of Daniel is illustrated in graphic detail in this Spanish version of Revelations made in the monastery of Silos in Northern Spain. King Darius orders Daniel to be thrown into the lions' den. Daniel appears in the den, on the right, where he is given food and the lions lick his feet. In the lower half of the image, Darius lies awake, worrying about the punishment he has inflicted on Daniel.
Scenes from the Life of Daniel, Spain, 4th quarter of the 10th century: London, British Library, Ms Additional 11695, ff. 238v-239r
The Guthlac Roll - the life of a ‘cult’ hero
Saints’ lives were usually action-packed and gory, lending themselves easily to the comic-strip format. The Guthlac roll tells the story of the life of St Guthlac using a series of images in roundels with labels (see our recent blogpost On A Roll).
St Guthlac receiving the tonsure at Repton Abbey, with the inscription 'Guthl[acus] tonsura[m] suscipit apud rependune', and inscriptions 'Epi[s]c[opus]', 'Guthlac[us]', and 'Ebba abbatissa' labelling the figures, England (possibly Crowland), c. 1175-1225: London, British Library, Harley Roll Y 6, roundel 3
Drawing of Guthlac exorcising a demon from Ecgga: London, British Library, Harley Roll Y 6, roundel 10
Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert - miraculous events
St Cuthbert’s life is told in 46 pictures in this beautiful picture book from the 12th century:
Miniature of Cuthbert accepting the bishopric at a synod of fellow monks; miniature of a man ministering to his ailing servant with holy water blessed by Cuthbert, from Chapter 24 & 25 of Bede's prose Life of St Cuthbert, Durham, 4th quarter of the 12th century: London, British Library, MS Yates Thompson 26, ff. 53v-54r
Here is an action-packed image of a man falling from a tree (degree of difficulty 1.7):
Cuthbert's vision of the soul of a man, who was killed by falling from a tree, being carried to heaven, from Chapter 34 of Bede's prose Life of St Cuthbert: London, British Library, MS Yates Thompson 26, f. 63v
Don't forget that our exhibition Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK is on at the British Library until 19 August 2014.
Chantry Westwell
10 May 2014
Our Favourite Map
What's your favourite map? This is our's (at least, today it is, next week we'll doubtless have a different one).
Look closely, and you can just about discern the shape. Can you guess what it is yet? It's a medieval view of Britain, one of four surviving maps by Matthew Paris, historian and cartographer at St Albans Abbey. Scotland is shown at the top, joined to the rest of the British mainland by a bridge at Stirling ('Estriuelin pons'). Moving southwards are depicted two walls, one dividing the Scots from the Picts (the Antonine Wall) and the other the Scots from the English (Hadrian's Wall). Along the spine of the map is a series of English towns, including Newcastle ('Nouum castrum'), Durham ('Dunelmum'), Pontefract ('Pons fractus') and Newark ('Neuwerc'), culminating with London, Rochester, Canterbury and Dover ('Douera'), a castle located in the centre of the South coast of England. Wales ('WALLIA') is sited in just about the right place, with a sequence of jagged lines representing Mount Snowdon ('Snaudun'); diagonally opposite is Norfolk and Suffolk, and the towns of Norwich (a metropolis, no less), Lynn and Yarmouth.
This particular map is now bound separately (London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius D VI, f. 12v), but it once belonged to a manuscript of the Abbreviatio Chronicorum of Matthew Paris, dating from the 1250s. There are less complete maps of Britain by Matthew Paris in two other St Albans' manuscripts held at the British Library, Royal MS 14 C VII and Cotton MS Julius D VII, and in another at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (MS 16). You can read more about these maps in Suzanne Lewis, The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora (Aldershot, 1987), pp. 364-72; but meanwhile here are some more details of the version in Cotton Claudius D VI. It's worth bearing in mind that Matthew Paris did not have satnav, GPS or an A-Z, and that he had never visited the vast majority of the places recorded on his maps.
Julian Harrison
08 May 2014
Superheroes, True Romance, Blood and Gore
The British Library’s amazing new exhibition, Comics Unmasked, was opened last week by TV presenter and comics fan Jonathan Ross. Talking about the oldest item on show, an early printed version of the Bible with graphic images, Jonathan commented that the Bible can be a great source of material for comic books. We in Medieval Manuscripts know this only too well!
Of course, it all began with manuscripts. Here are some early examples.
The Old English Hexateuch – How many modern comic books have dancing camels?
This 11th-century Old English version of six books of the Old Testament is filled with graphic depictions of the well-known stories, like the series below showing Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden:
Adam and Eve, England, S. E. (Canterbury), 2nd quarter of the 11th century: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B IV, f. 7v
We had to include this picture of the dancing camels!
Abraham’s Camels in the Book of Genesis: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B IV, f. 39r
Holkham Bible Picture Book - Joseph hears shocking news, ‘SHOCK’, ‘HORROR’!!
Sometimes described as England’s first graphic novel, this book tells stories from the Old and New Testament in a series of pictures with captions in Anglo-Norman French. There is some interesting material that didn’t make it into the authorised version of the Bible. The page below tells about Joseph’s reaction when he hears Mary is having a baby: the banners contain the dialogue, like speech bubbles in modern cartoons. In the second image, Joseph, whose friends have been telling him some home truths about his wife, is touching Mary’s stomach and asking her some awkward questions. Mary protests, ‘No, really don’t worry, I have never committed a bodily sin’. Of course he doesn’t believe her, but fortunately an angel drops in to reveal the divine plan and he has to eat humble pie.
Joseph finds out about Mary’s pregnancy, England, S.E. (?London), 1327-1335: London, British Library, MS Add 47682, f. 12r
Episodes from the life of Christ are also given the comic-book treatment:
The healing of the paralysed man; Christ rests by a well; the woman of Samaria; the disciples eat but Jesus will not: London, British Library, MS Add 47682, f. 24v
Egerton Genesis Picture Book – the Prequel, or where it all began
Egerton MS 1894, better known as the Egerton Genesis Picture Book, tells the creation story in a series of images:
The first days of Creation, England (?Norfolk), 3rd quarter of the 14th century: London, British Library, MS Egerton 1894, f. 1r
God creates the birds, animals and man, and rests on the final day: London, British Library, MS Egerton 1894, f. 1v
You can read more about this manuscript in our blogpost A Medieval Comic Strip.
Queen Mary Psalter – Moses, the greatest epic hero
The life of Moses is one of the great stories of all time, providing material for comics and movies such as the Charlton Heston epic and Spielberg’s ‘Prince of Egypt’. The Queen Mary Psalter contains a remarkable series of Old Testament stories told in a series of 223 pictures with captions in French. Included in the series is the Moses story. Here are some of the episodes:
Miniature in two parts of the king of Egypt demanding that all Jewish infants be killed (above); of the birth of Moses, and Moses placed in a basket and left on the banks of the Nile (below), England (London?), c. 1310-1320: London, British Library, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 22v
Miniature of Moses freeing the Israelites from the king of Egypt, (above); miniature of Moses and the king of Egypt's troops facing each other across the Red Sea, (below): London, British Library, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 24v
Miniature of God giving the laws to Moses for a second time (above); and of Moses showing the laws to the Israelites (below): London, British Library, MS Royal 2 B VII, f. 26r
We'll feature more medieval "comics" on this blog in the next few weeks. We're having great fun putting this list together, and would welcome more suggestions via @BLMedieval. Meanwhile, you can see our Comics exhibition in London until 19 August 2014, book your tickets online here.
Chantry Westwell
03 May 2014
A Medieval Word Search
Here is a puzzle for our readers, but be warned – it is not for the faint of heart! This is not the simple type of word search we are used to, but a very complex puzzle involving the date of Easter.
A table with decorated frame for calculating the date of Easter in the years 1140 to 1672 from a Psalter, Liège, 1255-1265, Add MS 21114, f. 7r
Here are your clues: this puzzle comes from a Psalter in our collection and dates from the 13th century. The table contains 35 two-letter symbols, which, if put in the correct order, make up a verse of two and a half hexameter lines, revealing the name of a well-known cleric with whom the book was closely associated. This cleric may have commissioned it or devised this puzzle himself. And those are the only clues we are giving!
Historiated initial 'D'(ixit) at the beginning of Psalm 109 with God holding Christ on the cross, from a Psalter, Add MS 21114, f. 11r
Apart from the Psalms, this smallish book contains two verses in a Northern French dialect, prayers and liturgical material added in the latter part of the 14th century and a number of 15th-century additions in Catalan.
This manuscript is not yet in our online Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts but will be published at the next upload, later this year, so you will not find any help there. We know it’s possible to solve the puzzle; a French scholar had it all worked out in the late 19th century. Let’s see if you can do it! You can leave your guesses in the comments below, or on Twitter @BLMedieval. We'll be revealing the solution on Tuesday, so stay tuned!
- Chantry Westwell
01 May 2014
A Calendar Page for May 2014
For more information about the Huth Hours, please see our post A Calendar Page for January 2014.
The themes of courting and pleasurable outdoor pursuits continue in these calendar pages for the month of May. On the first folio is the beginning of the listing of saints' days and feasts for May, amongst a backdrop of flowers. In the roundel below can be found a roundel miniature of an aristocratic young couple on horseback, setting off to go hawking (it is perhaps, but not definitely, the couple found on the opening folio for April). On the next folio is a small painting of a nude couple for the zodiac sign Gemini. Beneath is a well-dressed lady sitting in a flowering garden, engaged in a somewhat mysterious activity. Curators in our department have variously theorised that she is holding a tambourine, an embroidery hoop, or a skein of yarn; please do let us know what you think!
Calendar page for May, with a roundel miniature of a couple going hawking, from the Huth Hours, Netherlands (Bruges or Ghent?), c. 1480, Add MS 38126, f. 5v
Calendar page for May, with a roundel miniature of a lady in a pleasure garden, with the zodiac sign Gemini, from the Huth Hours, Netherlands (Bruges or Ghent?), c. 1480, Add MS 38126, f. 6r
- Sarah J Biggs
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