A Light to the World

Irish Arts Review

A Light to the WorldAuthor(s): Charles HortonSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter, 2004), pp. 64-65Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25503112 .

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CURATOR'S CHOICE

A LIGHT TO THE WORLD

A Light to the World CHARLES HORTON presents a tender Nativity scene from Medieval Flanders from the

collection of the Chester Beatty Library

1 Full-page miniature of

St Francis preaching to the animals

c. 1265-75

CBL WMS 61 f. 135

2 Illuminated

boarder decoration: a youth, standing on

one leg balances a

long pole on his

head, on top of

which sits a squirrel

eating a green nut

c. 1265-75

CBL WMS 61 f. 136

3 Illuminated

miniature for the

month of May: a

young couple ride a

white horse while a

bird sings from a

heart-shaped tree

c. 1265-75

CBL WMS 61 f. 3r

4 Nativity Scene, Flemish Illuminated

Psalter (Ghent

Bruges School) c.1265-75

15.5 x 11.5cm

CBL WMS 61 f. 8v

m

Ai

mong the great medieval treasures of the Chester Beatty Library is a magnifi

cent illuminated prayer book worthy of a great prince or high ecclesiastical

prelate. Tucked away among its pages are fourteen full-page miniatures and

twenty-two smaller paintings, each one executed in brilliant colours and

highly burnished gold; the hallmarks of a wealthy commission. Unfortunately its original

owner is unknown, as are the names of the artists who created such a dazzling work of art.

It can be attributed, nevertheless, to an atelier which flourished in northern France or

Flanders in the later part of the 13th century, probably around 1260-75.

By the time that this book was created, book production in most parts of Western Europe

was no longer the exclusive work of gifted monks in isolated monasteries. Manuscripts were

now created by lay scribes and illuminators centred in the various market or university towns

where patronage was readily available. Although guild records survive and provide a clue to the names of artists active in

particular areas, few signed their work and many works of art from this period remain stubbornly anonymous. The artists,

however, have left their 'signatures' in other ways; their combination of certain colours, or particular iconography or a dis

tinct artistic formula in the arrangement of the elements in book decoration.

In this Nativity scene, the artist has introduced an unusual twist to the traditional composition of Mary and Joseph

watching over the manger; for here safely wrapped in his swaddling clothes lies the Holy Infant, casting one eye over

his earthly mother and by extension ourselves, the readers. An exhausted Mary and Joseph lie asleep-even the ani

mals doze and are unaware of the divine presence (Fig 4). This scene is similar in composition to one found in another

contemporary prayer book now in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (Morgan Ms 72) but the Gothic architec

tural setting enclosing the Chester Beatty miniature is more elaborate. It is unlikely perhaps for such a depiction to be

so successful, or indeed acceptable, on a panel painting or mural but, painted as here on small vellum leaves for pri

vate devotion, a more intimate scene is possible.

The magnificence of this psalter, a collection of psalms, is displayed throughout the manuscript. The quality of the vel

lum, carefully prepared and velvet to the touch, and the abundance of gold, not thinly layered but applied in such quantity

and burnished to such a high degree that you can almost see your reflection. The richest of

colours have been used; lapis lazuli, carmine, vermilion, lead white, each demanding of time in

preparation and skill in application. A certain extravagance can also be detected, as expense has

been layered upon expense. The gold border has been additionally decorated with raised pat

terns and the folds of drapery are highlighted or shaded in gold or contrasting colours. In the

dim winter light of northern Europe, illuminated miniatures like this one came to life as the

light of a flickering candle caught the brilliant colours in the undulations of the vellum.

Among the other major miniatures in this manuscript, is the earliest known depiction of

Saint Francis preaching to the animals (Fig 1), a theme found in Flemish psalters from the mid

1260s. Other decorations, often humorous (termed dr?leries), include hunting scenes which fea

ture cross-bowmen hunting birds and animals (Figs 2 & 3). These non-religious scenes delight

the eye and ease the progress of recitation from one prayer to the next. This manuscript will be

on display in the Chester Beatty Library over Christmas and the New Year.

CHARLES HORTON is Curator of Western Collections at the Chester Beatty Library with a specialist interest in the

History of the Book.

64 I IRISH ARTS REVIEW WINTER 2004



i.54

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A Light to the World