Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscripts, by John W. Bradley

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Title: Illuminated Manuscripts
Author: John W. Bradley
Release Date: November 19, 2006 [EBook #19870]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Illuminated Manuscripts
John Bradley
BRACKEN BOOKS LONDON

CONTENTS
BOOK I
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
What is meant by art?--The art faculty--How artists may be compared--The aim of illumination--Distinction between illumination and miniature--Definition of illumination--The first miniature painter--Origin of the term "miniature"--Ovid's allusion to his little book.
CHAPTER II
VELLUM AND OTHER MATERIALS
Difference between vellum and parchment--Names of different preparations--The kinds of vellum most prized for illuminated books--The "parcheminerie" of the Abbey of Cluny--Origin of the term "parchment"--Papyrus.
CHAPTER III
WRITING
Its different styles--Origin of Western alphabets--Various forms of letters--Capitals, uncials, etc.--Texts used in Western Europe--Forms of ancient writings--The roll, or volume--The codex--Tablets--Diptychs, etc.--The square book--How different sizes of books were produced.
CHAPTER IV
GREEK AND ROMAN ILLUMINATION
The first miniature painter--The Vatican Vergils--Methods of painting--Origin of Christian art--The Vienna Genesis--The Dioscorides--The Byzantine Revival.
CHAPTER V
BYZANTINE ILLUMINATION
The rebuilding of the city of Byzantium the beginning of Byzantine art--Justinian's fondness for building and splendour--Description of Paul the Silentiary--Sumptuous garments--The Gospel-book of Hormisdas--Characteristics of Byzantine work--Comparative scarcity of examples--Rigidity of Byzantine rules of art--Periods of Byzantine art--Examples--Monotony and lifelessness of the style.
CHAPTER VI
CELTIC ILLUMINATION
Early liturgical books reflect the ecclesiastical art of their time--This feature a continuous characteristic of illumination down to the latest times--Elements of Celtic ornament--Gospels of St. Chad--Durham Gospels--Contrast of Celtic and Byzantine--St. Columba--Book of Kells--Details of its decoration.
CHAPTER VII
CELTIC ILLUMINATION--continued
The Iona Gospels--Contrast with Roman and Byzantine--Details--Treatment of animal forms--Colour schemes--The Gospel-book of St. Columbanus--That of Mael Brith Mac Durnan--The Lindisfarne Gospels--Cumdachs--Other book-shrines.
CHAPTER VIII
SEMI-BARBARIC ILLUMINATION
Visigothic--Merovingian--Lombardic--Extinction of classic art--Splendid reign of Dagobert--St. Eloy of Noyon--The Library of Laon--Natural History of Isidore of Seville--Elements of contemporary art--Details of ornament--Symbolism--Luxeuil and Monte Cassino--Sacramentary of Gellone--"Prudentius"--"Orosius"--Value of the Sacramentary of Gellone.
CHAPTER IX
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INITIAL
The initial and initial paragraph the main object of decoration in Celtic illumination--Study of the letter L as an example--The I of "In principio" and the B of "Beatus Vir".
CHAPTER X
FIRST ENGLISH STYLES
Transition from Iona to Lindisfarne--Influence of Frankish art--The "Opus Anglicum"--The Winchester school and its characteristics--Whence obtained--Method of painting--Examples--Where found and described.
CHAPTER XI
CAROLINGIAN ILLUMINATION
Why so-called--Works to be consulted--The Library of St. Gall--Rise and progress of Carolingian art--Account of various MSS.--Feature of the style--Gospels of St. Sernin--The Ada-Codex--Centres of production--Other splendid examples--The Alcuin Bible--The Gospel of St. M��dard of Soissons.
CHAPTER XII
MONASTIC ILLUMINATION
Introductory--Monasteries and their work from the sixth to the ninth century--The claustral schools--Alcuin--Warnefrid and Theodulf--Clerics and monastics--The Golden Age of monasticism--The Order of St. Benedict--Cistercian houses--Other Orders--Progress of writing in Carolingian times--Division of labour.
CHAPTER XIII
MONASTIC ILLUMINATION--continued
The copyist--Gratuitous labour--Last words of copyists--Disputes between Cluny and Citeaux--The Abbey of Cluny: its grandeur and influences--Use of gold and purple vellum--The more influential abbeys and their work in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
CHAPTER XIV
OTHONIAN ILLUMINATION
Departure from Carolingian--Bird and serpent--Common use of dracontine forms in letter-ornament--Influence of metal-work on the forms of scroll-ornament--The vine-stem and its developments--Introduction of Greek taste and fashion into Germany--Cistercian illumination--The Othonian period--Influence of women as patronesses and practitioners--German princesses--The Empress Adelheid of Burgundy--The Empress Theophano--Henry II. and the Empress Cunegunda--Bamberg--Examples of Othonian art.
CHAPTER XV
FRANCONIAN ILLUMINATION
The later Saxon schools--Bernward of Hildesheim--Tuotilo and Hartmut of St. Gallen--Portrait of Henry II. in MS. 40 at Munich--Netherlandish and other work compared--Alleged deterioration of work under the Franconian Emperors not true--Bad character of the eleventh century as to art--Example to the contrary.
CHAPTER XVI
ARTISTIC EDUCATION IN THE CLOISTER
The "Manual"--Its discovery--Its origin and contents--Didron's translation--The "Compendium" of Theophilus--Its contents--English version by Hendrie--Benedictine and Cistercian illumination--How they differ--Character of monastic architects and artists.
CHAPTER XVII
THE RISE OF GOTHIC ILLUMINATION
Germany the chief power in Europe in the twelfth century--Rise of Italian influence--The Emmeram MSS.--Coronation of Henry II.--The Apocalypse--The "Hortus Deliciarum"--Romanesque--MS. of Henry the Lion--The Niederm��nster Gospels--Description of the MS.--Rise of Gothic--Uncertainty of its origin--The spirit of the age.
BOOK II
CHAPTER I
THE GOLDEN AGE OF ILLUMINATION
The Gothic spirit--A "zeitgeist" not the invention of a single artist nor of a single country--The thirteenth century the beginning of the new style--Contrast between North and South, between East and West, marked in the character of artistic leaf-work--Gradual development of Gothic foliage--The bud of the thirteenth century, the leaf of the fourteenth, and the flower of the fifteenth--The Freemasons--Illumination transferred from the monastery to the lay workshop--The Psalter of St. Louis--Characteristics of French Gothic illumination--Rise of the miniature as a distinct feature--Guilds--Lay artists.
CHAPTER II
RISE OF NATIONAL STYLES
The fourteenth century the true Golden Age of Gothic illumination--France the cradle of other national styles--Netherlandish, Italian, German, etc.--Distinction