⇒
LARGER IMAGE
The shape of the chalice is sufficient, by comparison with other examples, to determine its date approximately. It may be compared, in respect of its hemispherical bowl, its flattened globular knop, and its trumpet-shaped foot with bevelled margin, with a much larger and more ornate example in the church of the Holy Apostles at Cologne, shown by the character of its ornament to be of the early part of the thirteenth century.[35] While in the latter example, however, the bowl and knop are separated by a stem equal in length to at least half of the height of the knop, in our chalice they are separated only by the narrow indented band with beaded edges already noticed.[36] ¶ A closer parallel, though again on a larger scale, is furnished by an example dated 1222, formerly in the Heckscher collection, and now in the possession of Sir Samuel Montagu, where all the main features referred to are reproduced, and a much closer similarity in the spacing of bowl and knop is observable.[37] ¶ Still more to the point, however, is a silver chalice found at Sorö, in Denmark, in the year 1827, with an episcopal ring, in the grave of Absalon, bishop of Lund (died 1201).[38] We have here an example from the latter part of the twelfth or the first year of the thirteenth century, reproducing almost exactly the outlines of our chalice already described, and in almost the same dimensions. In the bishop’s chalice the knop is plain, and set off by a band of shallow fluting above and below; but these differences of detail, and even a somewhat wider separation of bowl and knop, cannot veil the striking resemblance of type between the two. ¶ The inscription with its combination of uncial and capital letters furnishes further evidence of date. In general style, as well as in its peculiarities of the use of both varieties of D, the freely curved G, and the A with bent cross-stroke, it shows considerable affinity to the inscription on the ivory cross of Gunhilda (died 1076), grand-niece of Canute, in the Copenhagen Museum.[39] The same peculiarities, as well as the V with a circle on its sinister stroke, are to be observed in the inscriptions on the altar frontal of Lisbjerg, in Denmark, assigned to the twelfth century. The tendency towards curved forms, however, shown in the rounding of the interior of the capital D’s and in the curving-in of the tails of these letters and of the R may be more closely matched, in default of a Scandinavian example, in the inscriptions on the bronze font at Hildesheim, assigned to the second quarter of the thirteenth century.[40] At this date, however, the fully-developed Lombardic character has so far prevailed over the roman capital that it is only by picking out letters here and there, existing as survivals among their curved supplanters, that such pure capital or transitional characters as form the staple of our inscription can be matched. ¶ The foliage on the knop is in two of the groups of that conventional type which, apparently in reality a debasement of the classical acanthus, is employed in the decoration of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as the leafage of the symbolical vine; and the bud-shaped objects springing among the leaves in one compartment are clearly intended for such bunches of grapes as are similarly rendered in ironwork of the thirteenth century. Foliage of similar character, rising in the same way from the curved ends of the circumscribing band, may be observed on certain of the carved church doors of the twelfth century in Norway,[41] where such groups, employed in rows side by side, distinctly recall an enrichment of classical architecture. It is less easy to speak confidently of another of the bunches of leaves, which suggests the growth either of a trumpet-shaped lichen or possibly of an arum lily. The single flat leaf with curled edges seems clearly the leaf of a water-plant. Perhaps it is not too fanciful to see in this and the vine foliage already noticed a reference to the two constituents of the sacramental element. ¶ Turning to the question of nationality, it is to be remarked that the inscription and the lines enclosing it, one above and two below, are entirely engraved in that zigzag line, reminding one of the mark of an assayer’s tool, which is an almost constant characteristic, even till recent times, of Scandinavian silversmiths’ work; and the fret round the foot shows the same peculiarity. It has already been said that the chalice comes to us with a tale of a distant but active centre of Scandinavian art. If it be doubted whether such highly developed work could have been produced in Iceland at the date indicated it may be recalled that this remote island, whose inhabitants anticipated by five centuries the discovery of Columbus, was at this time the home of a culture such as could hardly be boasted by continental Scandinavia—a land, indeed, ‘where, long before the “literary eras” of England or Germany, a brilliant period of intellectual life produced and elaborated in its own distinct form of expression a literature superior to any north of the Alps.’[42] ¶ Gathering the conclusions to which all indications point, there seems every reason to regard this beautiful little chalice as an example of Scandinavian work, of a date not later than the early part of the thirteenth century, produced, it may well be, in that farthest outpost of European culture whence already in the dark ages a hand was stretched out from the old world to the new.
H. P. MITCHELL.
THE REID GIFT.—II
One of the most interesting of the Italian manuscripts is a Book of Hours—Officium Beatae Virginis Marine secundum consuetudinem Romanae Curiae—belonging to the early part of the sixteenth century, and evidently made for a member of the famous Bentivoglio family: perhaps Giovanni, born in 1505. The Bentivoglio arms appear on the first page; on folio 41 in two cartouches within the border are the words IOANNES, BEN; and on folio 109, in one cartouche similarly placed, IO·BEN. The writing of this volume is very good; the more important initials are well drawn, and pleasantly placed in architectural compartments decorated above and below with the characteristic ornament of the period. Indeed one would say that the composition and arrangement of the less ornate pages of the book are its best features. There are twenty-two full-page illuminations, each containing an elaborate initial, within a rich border of brightly-coloured arabesque ornament, generally in compartments. The decoration is well drawn and distributed, though the drawing of the figures in the initials, and of the half-human grotesques in the borders, leaves something to be desired. An interesting and useful feature—though one by no means uncommon—is the use of jewellery to give relief to the arabesques. ¶ From the calligraphic point of view only, a tall folio of the four Gospels, with commentary (Italian, twelfth century), is possibly the most important of the gift, and should be especially useful to students. The text is written in a large minuscule character, beautifully spaced and proportioned, occupying the centre of each page. In either margin occur the notes in much smaller writing. Practically the whole decoration consists of initials in blue and red, with here and there a rare display of bold but simple pen-drawn ornament and a few chapter headings of tall, cramped lettering, of which the initial has never been supplied. A ‘Thesaurus’ of St. Cyril of Alexandria is another valuable example of fine Italian writing; in this instance, of the end of the fifteenth century in date. A border and a few fine initials in gold, blue, pale red and green of cunningly contrived interlacements—in the case of the border further embellished with amorini, birds, etc.—are the only decorations of note. This volume also includes a work by St. John Chrysostom, and formerly belonged to the Minutoli Tegrimi family of Lucca, whose stamp defaces some of the pages. A small Book of Hours is to be referred to the same period and locality as the latter; it has, however, much more elaborate decoration; the superposition of numerous beasts, birds, and insects on the interlacing scroll-work of the borders, is, though interesting, by no means an improvement. These animals are, it must be admitted, rendered with curious care; while the two full-page miniatures adorning the volume, as it stands, are of quite a high order of merit. They represent The Annunciation and David killing Goliath—a particularly spirited drawing, with a beautiful little miniature of the Man of Sorrows in a cartouche on the page facing it; four storied initials within borders also serve to mark the commencements of various offices. The capitals, in gold, on these pages are very finely written. The kalendar is complete, and contains references to several local saints, indicating Umbria as the district for use in which it was made. ¶ A Missal belonging in date to the beginning of the fifteenth century, is a good example of Italian writing adorned with fine pen-drawn scrolls and storied initials treated in a broad, simple style of colouring and foliage. The pen-work, interesting for its restraint and formality, differs greatly in this respect from that of the more northern schools. There are sixteen large storiated initials, of which attention may be drawn to those on folios 283, a Monstrance displayed on an altar; 292, the Celebration of Mass; and a representation of the absolutions at the side of a dead man, clothed and hooded in red and lying on a couch; the prayer is read by a monk in a white habit, attended by another similarly dressed who supports a tall cross which has lighted candles on either arm. The kalendar is very full, and has been corrected in a later handwriting in several places. Immediately following it, in two pages of small script, is the Ordo ad faciendum aquā bn̄dictam. ¶ A small Italian Book of Hours is archaeologically interesting because it is signed in a colophon on folio 266. ‘Frater paulus de mediolano ordīs scī B’tholomei de hermineis sc’psit’ (late fifteenth century). The name of this writer is believed to be unrecorded hitherto; the script is thoroughly Italian in character, but the decoration has decided Netherlandish tendencies. Several northern saints are inserted in the kalendar—by another hand—including St. Brandan. ¶ In conclusion mention may be made of a small Book of Devotions with borders and miniatures of considerable merit and interest, placed within architectural frames. On the first page is a coat of arms, which however has evidently been superimposed on an earlier design. The writing is good and the initials well placed and coloured. At the end on a tablet are the initials S.H., but these have not been identified. The work is French, probably southern, and in date belongs to the first half of the sixteenth century. ¶ The works mentioned in these notes are only a few of the large collection given by Mr. Reid. They are all now exhibited near the entrance to the National Art Library.
E. F. S.
THE PRINT ROOM OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
The most interesting among recent additions to the Print Room are woodcuts, both old and new. A chiaroscuro by Andreani, after Alessandro Casolani of Siena, representing the Pietà, or Lamentation for Christ, is remarkable both for its great size—it measures nearly six feet by four—and for its rarity. Other impressions exist at Bassano and Berlin. The figures, St. John supporting the dead Saviour, and a second group of three holy women in attendance on the Virgin, are nearly of the size of life, and the wood-engraver evidently set himself the task of producing the closest possible facsimile of a large cartoon, outlined in charcoal and washed with neutral tints. He has succeeded very well, and he was fortunate, considering the date, 1592, in obtaining so fine a composition on which to exert his skill. The design has been cut throughout on three sets of blocks, one for the black outline and two for tone. The impression, on many sheets of paper joined together, is in good preservation, but the lowest portion has perhaps been cut away, for there is no trace of the inscription, recorded by Kolloff in his catalogue of Andreani’s works (No. 15), that contains the dedication of the print to Vincenzo Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, with the names of the artists and the date and place of publication. Andreani had worked hitherto at Rome, Florence, and Siena. It was to this dedication, apparently, and to his success in such an important print, that he owed a summons to Mantua, his native city, and a commission from the duke to reproduce in chiaroscuro Mantegna’s Triumph of Caesar. ¶ Another woodcut of smaller but still considerable dimensions (39¾ by 28¼ inches) bears the address ‘Gedruckt zu Nürmberg Bey hans Wolff Glaser,’ cut upon the block in a tablet at the left lower corner. Glaser was a ‘Briefmaler’ or petty publisher, printer, and wood-engraver, who was at work at Nuremberg in the middle, or third quarter, of the sixteenth century. His name is most familiar as the publisher of one of the late editions of the portrait of Dürer at the end of his life. The present work represents the Trinity, with angels in adoration. These angels are copied, for the most part, from Dürer’ fine woodcut of 1511 (B. 122), but they have been sadly spoilt in the process of enlargement. Glaser’s work is coarse throughout, and remarkable only for the rarity which it shares with most early woodcuts of exceptional size. ¶ A fine impression of the portrait of Luther as an Augustinian friar, after Cranach, dated 1520 (P. 194), has been well coloured by a contemporary hand. A tablet at the bottom contains the undescribed Latin inscription, EFFIGIES DOCTORIS MARTINI LVTHERI | AVGVSTINIANI WITTENBERGĒSIS | 1520. The Holy Dove is added at the top on a separate block, which also completes the arch. The portrait, rare in the early, original impressions, hardly deserves to rank with the woodcuts drawn by Cranach himself on the block; it seems, rather, to be a good adaptation of an engraving on copper of the same year (P. 8, Sch. 7), in which Luther stands in front of a niche. Dr. Flechsig finds much fault with the engraving itself, and will not allow it to be more than a copy of the other engraved portrait of Luther (B. 5, Sch. 6), with a plain background. With this woodcut were purchased three interesting and undescribed etchings of knights arrayed for the tournament, by the monogrammist C. S., a German artist of about 1550. ¶ A dainty little book, without text, but with the address, A LION | PAR IAN DE TOVRNES. | M.D. LVI, within a graceful arabesque border, on the first page, contains proofs of sixty blocks by wood-engravers of the Lyons school, printed throughout on the recto of the leaf. ‘Das gebet Salomonis’ (S. Grimm, Augsburg, 1523; 8vo.) has a pretty border to the title, and a woodcut, Moses receiving the Tables of the Law, both by the fascinating illustrator known provisionally as ‘The Master of the Trostspiegel.’ A more important illustrated book is ‘Die Legend des heyligen vatters Francisci,’ printed by Hölzel at Nuremberg in 1512, and profusely illustrated with woodcuts by Wolf Traut. The fine copy recently purchased for the Print Room was formerly in the library of William Morris. ¶ Another volume, still more intimately associated with the author of ‘The Earthly Paradise,’ is the gift of Mr. George Young Wardle, a friend and associate of Morris. It contains a complete set, one of a very small number in existence, of proofs rubbed by hand from unpublished blocks, designed by Burne-Jones, to illustrate the tale of ‘Cupid and Psyche.’ The illustrations, forty-four in number, were drawn upon the block by Mr. Wardle himself from the rough sketches of Burne-Jones, which are now at Oxford. Morris, in revolt against the methods of professional wood-engravers, had a few blocks cut by amateurs, chosen among his own friends, and then took up the task himself and cut by far the larger number with his own hands. To these illustrations are added some initials and decorative borders, both designed and cut by Morris. The story of the projected edition has been told in ‘A Note on the Kelmscott Press.’ The scheme was abandoned about 1870. The woodcuts, accordingly, belong to the period of English illustrations generally described as ‘the sixties,’ and are separated by a long interval from the later Burne-Jones woodcuts, including the Chaucer series, which were printed in the ‘nineties,’ at the Kelmscott Press. They are as full of romance as anything that Burne-Jones ever drew, and the cutting, inexperienced and occasionally faulty as it is, often preserves the freshness of the original sketch as no mere hack engraver’s work would have done. It must not be forgotten, however, that the defects of the cutting, in the opinion of Morris and Burne-Jones themselves, were so serious as to make the publication of the blocks undesirable. In addition to such rubbed proofs as those lately in Mr. Wardle’s possession, a small number of proofs exist which were pulled at a later date in the printing-press, and do more justice to the blocks.
C. D.