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Irish Arts Review
Illuminating PrayerAuthor(s): Charles HortonSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 24, No. 4 (Winter, 2007), p. 168Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25503656 .
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Illuminating Prayer CHARLES HORTON discusses two contrasting, yet intimate
portrayals of the birth of a child from a 16th-century prayer book
1 Simon Bening
(1483/84-1561)
Nativity of Christ WMs99f.l8v from the Chester
Beatty Rosarium.
c.l530Gold, tempera and ink on
vellum, 124 x 84mm. The Chester Beatty Library, Ms W.99 ?The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
2 Birth of the Virgin WMs 99 f 14v ?The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
These illuminated miniatures are
the creation of Simon Bening,
the last great manuscript illu
minator of the Flemish school. His
patrons included some of the most
important rulers of Europe, including
the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who it is thought to have commissioned
this prayer book with thirty-three minia
tures featuring scenes from the Life of
Christ and the Life o? the Virgin. The
prayer-book passed to his son, Philip II
(d.1598) of Spain and it is quite possible that this little volume held the pious
hopes of that most Catholic monarch as
the Armada set sail for England.
Scholars have since renamed this mag
nificent work of art as the Chester
Beatty Rosarium after its 20th-century
owner, the American mining millionaire,
Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968) who
bequeathed his library of manuscripts and rare books to Ireland.
Christmas is a time which celebrates
the birth of Jesus and artists have
approached the Nativity in many different
ways over the centuries. In this illuminat
ed manuscript, Bening has given us two
contrasting scenes relating to the birth of a
child. In the miniature illustrating the
birth of the Virgin (Fig 2), the viewer is
drawn into that very special moment when
a new-born infant is presented to its moth
er for the first time. Here Bening has
shown Saint Anne reclining in an emerald
green bed, receiving the swaddled baby from the mid-wife, while three angels
clasping their hands in joy signify the reli
gious aspect of the scene. This cosy interi
or could easily have been a contemporary
Bruges or Ghent merchant's house with its
crackling fire, cushioned chair and domes
tic cat. This peaceful domestic scene is in
stark contrast to that depicting the birth of
Jesus, which is set in a ruinous out building
(Fig 1). Bening however has constructed a
visual space that is full of contrasts and
detailed iconography. The large column,
placed slightly off-centre, divides the
sacred event from the profane onlooker,
who looks upon the newborn child sur
rounded by divine radiance. The ox looks on the child while the ass turns his back, an artistic device used from the 4th-centu
ry to depict the acceptance of Jesus by some and his rejection by others.
These two miniatures illustrate typical
details of Simon Bening's work, who like
the Flemish panel painters before him, has
painted these miniatures with remarkable
attention to natural detail and dramatic
effect. Bening's inspiration for the minia
tures come from a variety of sources:
including other illuminated manuscripts from the Ghent-Bruges school, but also
the pictorial style that drew its inspiration from the naturalism of Flemish panel
paintings, especially the works of Jan van
Eyck, Hugo van der Goes, Dire Bouts and
Gerard David as well as engravings by Martin Schongauer, Jacob Cornelisz and
Albrecht D?rer. The pictorial references to these artists often make Bening's work
look familiar even if the scale is dramati
cally different.
All the miniatures are painted on a
background of purple stained vellum, a
colour associated with imperial patron
age, but unlike contemporary French and
Flemish books of hours, the border deco
ration is confined to a narrow gold frame
with simple architectural details. The
manuscript is presently on view at the
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle.
CHARLES HORTON is Curator of Western Manuscripts at the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.
1 6 8 I
IRISH ARTS REVIEW WINTER 2007
This content downloaded from 188.72.96.55 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:23:58 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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