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 1

CHAPTER II

VELLUM AND OTHER MATERIALS

Difference between vellum and parchment — Names of different pre-parations — The kinds of vellum most prized for illuminated books — The "parcheminerie" of the Abbey of Cluny — Origin of the term "parchment" — Papyrus 6

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 11

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 19

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 24

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 36

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 44

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 49

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" 56

CHAPTER X

FIRST ENGLISH STYLES

Transition from Iona to Lindisfame — Influence of Frankish art — The "Opus Anglicum" — The Winchester school and its characteristics — Whence obtained — Method of painting — Examples — Where found and described page 58

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. Semin — The Ada-Codex — Centres of production — Other splendid examples — The Alcuin Bible — The Gospel of St. Medard of Soissons 62

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 71

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 78

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 84

CHAPTER XV

FRANCONIAN ILLUMINATION

The later Saxon schools — Bern ward 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 page 93

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 101

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 Niedermunster Gospels — Description of the MS. — Rise of Gothic — Uncertainty of its origin — The spirit of the age 110

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 123

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 of schools — Difficulty of assigning the provenance of MSS. — The reason for it — MS. in Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge — The Padua Missal — Artists' names — Whence obtained page 134

CHAPTER III

FRENCH ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE RENAISSANCE

Ivy-leaf and chequered backgrounds — Occasional introduction of plain burnished gold — Reign of Charles VI. of France — The Dukes of Orleans, Berry, and Burgundy; their prodigality and fine taste for MSS. — Christine de Pisan and her works — Description of her "Mutation of Fortune" in the Paris Library — The "Roman de la Rose" and "Cite des Dames" — Details of the French style of illumination — Burgundian MSS, Harl. 4431 — Roy. 15 E. 6 — The Talbot Romances — Gradual approach to Flemish on the one hand and Italian on the other 139

CHAPTER IV

ENGLISH ILLUMINATION FROM THE TENTH TO THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Organisation of the monastic scriptoria — Professional outsiders : lay artists — The whole sometimes the work of the same practitioner — The Winchester Abbeys of St. Swithun's and Hyde — Their vicissitudes — St. Alban's — Westminster — Royal MS. 2 A 22 — Description of style — The Tenison Psalter — Features of this period — The Arundel Psalter — Hunting and shooting scenes, and games — Characteristic pictures, grotesques, and caricatures — Queen Mary's Psalter — Rapid changes under Richard II. — Royal MS. 1 E. 9 — Their cause 149

CHAPTER V

THE SOURCES OF ENGLISH FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ILLUMINATION

Attributed to the Netherlands — Not altogether French — The home of Anne of Bohemia, Richard II.'s queen — Court of Charles IV. at Prag — Bohemian Art — John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia — The Golden Bull of Charles IV. — Marriage of Richard II. — The transformation of English work owing to this marriage and the arrival of Bohemian artists in England — Influence of Queen Anne on English Art and Literature — Depression caused by her death — Examination of Roy. MS. 1 E. 9 and 2 A. 18 — The Grandison Hours — Other MSS. — Introduction of Flemish work by Edward IV. page 161

CHAPTER VI

ITALIAN ILLUMINATION

Barbaric character of Italian illumination in the twelfth century — Ravenna and Pavia the earliest centres of revival — The "Exultet" — La Cava and Monte Cassino — The writers of early Italian MSS. not Italians — In the early fourteenth century the art is French — Peculiarities of Italian foliages — The Law Books — Poems of Convenevole da Prato, the tutor of Petrarch — Celebrated patrons — The Laon Boethius — The Decretals, Institutes, etc. — "Decretum Gratiani," other collections and MSS. — Statuts du Saint Esprit — Method of painting — Don Silvestro — The Rationale of Durandus — Nicolas of Bologna, etc. — Triumphs of Petrarch — Books at San Marco, Florence — The Brera Graduals at Milan — Other Italian collections — Examples of different localities in the British Museum — Places where the best work was done — Fine Neapolitan MS. in the British Museum — The white-vine style superseded by the classical renaissance 171

CHAPTER VII

GERMAN ILLUMINATION FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Frederick II., Stupor Mundi, and his MS. on hunting — The Sicilian school mainly Saracenic, but a mixture of Greek, Arabic, and Latin tastes — The Franconian Emperors at Bamberg — Charles of Anjou — The House of Luxembourg at Prag — MSS. in the University Library - The Collegium Carolinum of the Emperor Charles IV. — MSS. at Vienna — The Wenzel Bible — The Welt-chronik of Rudolf v. Ems at Stuttgard — Wilhelm v. Oranse at Vienna — The Golden Bull — Various schools — Hildesheimer Prayer-book at Berlin — The Nuremberg school — The Glockendons — The Brethren of the Pen 186

CHAPTER VIII

NETHERLANDISH ILLUMINATION

What is meant by the Netherlands — Early realism and study of nature — Combination of symbolism with imitation — Anachronism in design — The value of the pictorial methods of the old illuminators — The oldest Netherlandish MS. — Harlinda and Renilda — The nunnery at Maas-Eyck — Description of the MS. — Thomas a Kempis — The school of Zwolle — Character of the work — The use of green landscape backgrounds — The Dukes of Burgundy — Netherlandish artists — No miniatures of the Van Eycks or Memling known to exist — Schools of Bruges, Ghent, Liige, etc. — Brussels Library — Splendid Netherlandish MSS. at Vienna — Gerard David and the Grimani Breviary — British Museum — "Romance of the Rose" — "Isabella" Breviary — Grisailles page 195

CHAPTER IX

THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE

Communication with Italy — Renaissance not sudden — Origin of the schools of France and Burgundy — Touraine and its art — Fouquet — Brentano MSS. — "Versailles Livy" — Munich "Boccaccio," etc. — Perrial and Bourdichon — "Hours of Anne of Brittany" — Poyet — The school of Fontainebleau — Stained glass — Jean Cousin — Gouffier "Heures" — British Museum Offices of Francis I. — Dinteville Offices — Paris "Heures de Montmorency," "Heures de Dimeville," etc 208

CHAPTER X

SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE ILLUMINATION

Late period of Spanish illumination — Isidore of Seville — Archives at Madrid — Barcelona — Toledo — Madrid — Choir-books of the Escorial — Philip II. — Illuminators of the choir-books — The sire and beauty of the volumes — Fray Andris de Leon and other artists — Italian influence — Giovanni Battista Scorza of Genoa — Antonio de Holanda, well-known Portuguese miniaturist in sixteenth century — His son Francesco — The choir-books at Belem — French invasion — Missal of Gonial vez — Sandoval Genealogies — Portuguese Genealogies in British Museum — The Stowe Missal of John III 226

CHAPTER XI

ILLUMINATION SINCE THE INVENTION OF PRINTING

The invention of printing — Its very slight affect on illuminating — Preference by rich patrons for written books — Work produced in various cities in the sixteenth century — Examples in German, Italian, and other cities, and in various public libraries up to the present time 239

MANUSCRIPTS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED 244

BIBLIOGRAPHY 277

INDEX 286