Illuminated manuscripts in classical and mediaeval times, their art and their technique

by J. H. Middleton

Fig. 32. An initial S, illuminated with foliage of the Northumbrian type, from a German manuscript of the twelfth century.

Fig. 33. Miniature of the Annunciation from a German manuscript of the beginning of the thirteenth century.

Fig. 34. Page of a Kalendar from a German Psalter of about 1200 A.D.

Fig. [32] shows a fine initial S formed out of a winged dragon, and ornamented with conventional foliage of the noblest type. This initial shows the surviving Celtic or rather Northumbrian influence, which in the time of Charles the Great had been so important in the German Empire.

Painting of the Annunciation.

Painting of the Annunciation.Fig. [33] illustrates a miniature of the Annunciation from a fine manuscript Evangeliarium or Book of the Gospels, which is now in the library at Carlsruhe. The drawing, though stiff in pose, is noble in style; and the whole miniature, with its graceful scroll-work background, is of high decorative value, a prototype of the perfect style of the French and Anglo-Norman illuminations of the second half of the thirteenth century. In this painting, as in many other manuscripts of early date, the B. V. Mary is represented as occupied in spinning with a distaff while the angel Gabriel approaches to announce the birth of the Messiah.

Page of a Kalendar.

Page of a Kalendar.Fig. [34] shows a very beautifully designed page of the Kalendar at the beginning of a Psalter executed about the year 1200 for the Landgrave of Thüringen. On the left is the space in which the scribe inserted the days of the months, and on the right is a noble and gracefully drawn figure of Saint Matthew. The interlaced foliage of the initial K is of characteristic German type.