A Few of My Favorite Things: Late-Carolingian Manuscripts

After I posted my last entry, I realized that I started at the very end of manuscript production, so I feel like I should go back and post about the beginnings of medieval manuscripts, mainly those from the Carolingian era. (Although now I realize this post is really about the late-Carolingian era and that I should probably go back even further!)

I am, by no means, an expert in this area, but what I do know is that this is the time-period when Gospel Books were very popular with the ruling elite. During this period, the bible, in its entirety was a rare thing to come across, much more common are codexes like Gospel Books, which only contain parts of the biblical narrative. And these manuscripts were sumptuous. The manuscript to the left comes from a monastery in Echternach (now Luxemborg). The backgrounds were often painted purple, and gold was used almost everywhere else. Usually they included lush illuminations of the 4 evangelists as well. (Here's a bigger version of the image.)

Over in England, the monks were making this type of book as well. Another popular type of manuscript from this period is a Psalter, which contains the Psalms and various prayers. The manuscript on the right was made by a monk named Eadui Basan, from Christ Church, Canterbury. The style of manuscripts in England is different, but this type of manuscript is a lavish affair no matter where it is made. On the right, David kills Goliath (a bigger image can be found here).

These aren't the only types of manuscripts that were being made, of course. Only the richest, most powerful people and monasteries had sumptous gospel books and psalters. Among the other manuscripts that survive, most aren't as breath-taking in terms of their art-historical value. A great many of these manuscripts hardly have any decoration at all. These manuscripts are still amazing records of medieval technology, however. The manuscript on the left uses trypical black ink, with red ink for the capitals and headings. The scriptorium must have been conserving their vellum, because in the center of the bottom red capital, there is a big hole on the page! The scribe, very ingeniously, worked around this problem, and made it a feature of his manuscript! It's little things like that, which make me smile when I'm looking through a manuscript. (Here's a bigger image.)

A Few of My Favorite Things

I like all manuscripts.  Even the crustiest hard-to-read ones are unique and special.  But sometimes a girl needs a little bling.  And as far as manuscripts go, you can't get much more showy than Italian manuscripts from the 15th century.  By the time the 1400s roll around, printing presses were all the rage, but printed books just didn't have the 'wow factor' that manuscripts did, especially for wealthy patrons. 

This manuscript (available in a bigger version here), is an example of a typical manuscript of later 15th c. written and illuminated in Northern Italy.  These manuscripts are known for having milky-white parchment, which really brings out the depth of color used by the painters.  You'll

 notice that the handwriting looks a lot like a printed book -- at this late date, scribes and printers were influencing each other as to what handwriting and font should look like.  Most manuscripts of this type have a border filled with acanthus leaves (the blue, green, and pink leaves) and life-like flora and fauna.  At the bottom, there is usually a laurel wreath that the illuminator could leave empty until he found a patron; then he would just paint in the patron's coat of arms, for a ready-made, personalized manuscript.  On either sides of the laurel wreath, many illuminators added little cherubs (usually called putti) and little gold dots (called bezants).  Here's an example of a manuscript that never found a patron, or perhaps the patron just ran out of cash before the painter got to his coat of arms!

 

Depending on how much a patron was willing to shell out, this type of manuscript could be incredibly flashy, like this copy of a work by Titus Livius, or somewhat understated, like this copy of a work by Virgil. 

 

My favorite image I came across today is this page from a copy of Cyriacus' works that Cyriacus himself annotated.  Look at that handwriting!  It's obvious that the scribe was having so much fun with his letters, especially the final 'g' and the ligatures between letters. (Click here to embiggen). And that stamp?  That's the old British Library stamp that you'll find on most manuscripts (and yes, it drives me a little crazy that someone actually stamped it right in the middle of the page).

A Few of My Favorite Things...

The Cotton Genesis (MS Cotton Otho B VI)

For anyone interested in early Christianity, the Cotton Genesis, made in the late 5th century is one of the most tragic losses of the Cottonian Fire, which destroyed so many manuscripts. The Cotton Genesis was once one of the most highly illuminated bibles, with over 300 illustrations; it's also one of the earliest bibles to survive.

The manuscript is in Greek and was probably made in Egypt. The fragments that remain illustrate some of the finest examples late antique illumination. The fragments shrank in the fire, so scholars have tried their best to recreate what the manuscript may have looked like before the fire.


One of the biggest discoveries about the illuminations in the Cotton Genesis are the mosaics in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. 110 of these mosaics were made around 1220, and were direct copies of the illustrations in the Cotton Genesis! The manuscript came to Venice after the sack of Constantinople in 1204.

So even though the manuscript is almost lost to us, St. Mark's preserves the illustrations so we can get an idea of what it looked like. It also shows that the manuscript was considered a masterpiece of illumination in the 13th century. Perhaps I'll get to see St. Mark's someday!

My Favorites...

Since everyone tells me that I'm leaving in less than a month, I thought I'd showcase some of the more amazing things I've seen this summer. We'll get to how I'm feeling about leaving London later, when I've figured it out. For now, have some pretty pictures.

This manuscript is Harley 2278. (Harley was a collector of manuscripts in the 18th century; his collection topped 6,000, most of which now reside in the British Library's collection. It's also the collection that I'm helping to catalogue this summer.) Harley 2278 is a mid 15th century manuscript of the Life of Saint Edmund. (To read more about this manuscript, click on the link.) This was one of the manuscripts I considered as I chose a few for public exhibition. As it turns out, since people can't get close to the manuscript, the images from this book lose some of their power, since they are so detailed.

The illuminations in this manuscript are some of my favorite that I've seen this summer. Instead of using really saturated colors, the artist chose subdued colors and gave the figures amazing facial expressions. There are many, many miniatures in this manuscript, which was given to Henry VI, who happens to be the king in the image below. I also love the border, which not only has birds, but also peas! I have never seen another border with pea pods -- it makes me smile just to think of it. Click on the image to embiggen!