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

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