DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0165
140 Early German and Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.
in the Kalendar or text, so far as the latter was written by the first hand.
The second hand has suppiied the omission. After the first four leaves of
preliminary pxayers, concluding, as we have seen, with a petition to St.
Catherine of Alexandria, two leaves are inserted, written by the later hand,
referriDg to St. Catherine of Siena. The text on the last page (for the
octave) refers explicitly to the new festival as follows : Virginis Katherine
liec clies dicata ut nuqua tante scitatis pstantia mortaliu memorie ezcidere
queat et cunctis celeberrima pqretuo fiat all. V. Ora. bii Anth. Maxima est
Kath’ine c'ginis senensis pstantia que i columitatem languentibus et vita
mortuis restituere potuit all’. V. Illu.
The date 1461, therefore, occurs in the interval between the first hand and
the second. To judge 'by the ditference of the two hands, that interval may
have been considerable, and as it is probable that the office for St. Catherine
of Siena would be inserted in a Dominican book soon after her canonisation, a
long interval would imply that the first part of the book,containing all the wood-
cuts, was rnuoh earlier than 1461. But this is merely a matter of inference;
there is no evidence, apart from the style of the cuts themselves, to fix the
date, and the style agrees very well with the date 1450-60. One more
detail is of some interest. In each litany the name of St. Anne has been
inserted by a later hand, much smaller than the first hand, but neater
than the second. This addition may be referred with some probability to
the year 1494, when Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, obtained a bull from
Alexander VI., establishing the feastof St. Anne as oneof the greater saints’
days. The addition was made before the binding of the book, for in the
second litany the cropping of the margin has left only the letters . . . nna.
II. The Woodcuts. These (34 in number) are all contained iu the earlier portion of
the book, and are, therefore, of a date earlier than 1461. They are not pasted into the
book in the usual way, but form an integral part of its composition, being printed back
to back on vellum leaves, uniform with those on which the text- is writteD, left blank for
the purpose and bouncl up witli the text. MSS. ornamented with woodcuts in this
manner are of very rare occurrence.1 The practice may be most naturally explained
by the supposition that they were produced in a period of transition, when woodcuts
were only just begiuning to take the place of illuminations as a cheap aud convenient
way of multiplying pictures for books of devotion. The picture of St. Dominic in this
book is painted in the old-fashioned way, without the aid of outlines printed from a
wood-block. It is the only exception to the arrangement in pairs, and stands by itself
on tlie recto of a leaf of which tlie verso is blank.
The cuts are all coloured in a very rude manner. Colours : carmine, reddish violet,
vermilion, cinnabar, yellow, brown, green (of three shades, verdigris, bright and
yellowish, pale and blueish), ultramarine blue, black, white, silver (on armour), gold
(on nirnbi, clasps, &c., generally bright and well preserved). Many of the cuts have
been defaced by some person who. went over the outlines with jxen and ink and
occasionally scribbled on other parts of the design. The borders are usually yellow,
with sometimes a streak of vermilion in addition.
The cuts fall into two chief sets—(a) A series of 22 subjects from the life and
passion of Christ (average dimensions 82 x 63 mm.), ('b) a series of 10 subjects, 8 of
which are saints, 2 scenes from the Passion (average dimensions 61 X 57 mm.). These
are throughout uniform in style and have a double border. There are also two cuts of
exceptional dimensions, the Coronation of the Virgin [93 X 72], and St. Jerome
[107 X 68]. The first of these is, perhaps, sligbtly more artistic than the average, but
the rounded folds of the drapery, and the absence of any indication of shading
suggests an even earlier date. The St. Jerome has rudiments of hatching, and mav be
later, though it is certainly not superior.
The arrangement of tlie cuts does not correspond with the text, and seems to be
arbitrary. The order of the Passion subjects, for instance, is apparently quit-e
haphazard, the entry into Jerusalem and Last Supper following the C'rucifixion, while
the Descent from the Cross and Christ washing tlie disciples’ feet are placed on the
recto and verso of the same leaf.
It will be most convenient to describe the separate subjects of either series in the
generally accepted order, and to briefly indicate afterwards tho order in which they
occur in the book.
1 See note on A7, and R. Kautzsch, “ Erorterungen,” &c. “Studien zur Deutschen
Kunstgescliichte,” Heft iii, 1894, 79 and footnote.
in the Kalendar or text, so far as the latter was written by the first hand.
The second hand has suppiied the omission. After the first four leaves of
preliminary pxayers, concluding, as we have seen, with a petition to St.
Catherine of Alexandria, two leaves are inserted, written by the later hand,
referriDg to St. Catherine of Siena. The text on the last page (for the
octave) refers explicitly to the new festival as follows : Virginis Katherine
liec clies dicata ut nuqua tante scitatis pstantia mortaliu memorie ezcidere
queat et cunctis celeberrima pqretuo fiat all. V. Ora. bii Anth. Maxima est
Kath’ine c'ginis senensis pstantia que i columitatem languentibus et vita
mortuis restituere potuit all’. V. Illu.
The date 1461, therefore, occurs in the interval between the first hand and
the second. To judge 'by the ditference of the two hands, that interval may
have been considerable, and as it is probable that the office for St. Catherine
of Siena would be inserted in a Dominican book soon after her canonisation, a
long interval would imply that the first part of the book,containing all the wood-
cuts, was rnuoh earlier than 1461. But this is merely a matter of inference;
there is no evidence, apart from the style of the cuts themselves, to fix the
date, and the style agrees very well with the date 1450-60. One more
detail is of some interest. In each litany the name of St. Anne has been
inserted by a later hand, much smaller than the first hand, but neater
than the second. This addition may be referred with some probability to
the year 1494, when Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, obtained a bull from
Alexander VI., establishing the feastof St. Anne as oneof the greater saints’
days. The addition was made before the binding of the book, for in the
second litany the cropping of the margin has left only the letters . . . nna.
II. The Woodcuts. These (34 in number) are all contained iu the earlier portion of
the book, and are, therefore, of a date earlier than 1461. They are not pasted into the
book in the usual way, but form an integral part of its composition, being printed back
to back on vellum leaves, uniform with those on which the text- is writteD, left blank for
the purpose and bouncl up witli the text. MSS. ornamented with woodcuts in this
manner are of very rare occurrence.1 The practice may be most naturally explained
by the supposition that they were produced in a period of transition, when woodcuts
were only just begiuning to take the place of illuminations as a cheap aud convenient
way of multiplying pictures for books of devotion. The picture of St. Dominic in this
book is painted in the old-fashioned way, without the aid of outlines printed from a
wood-block. It is the only exception to the arrangement in pairs, and stands by itself
on tlie recto of a leaf of which tlie verso is blank.
The cuts are all coloured in a very rude manner. Colours : carmine, reddish violet,
vermilion, cinnabar, yellow, brown, green (of three shades, verdigris, bright and
yellowish, pale and blueish), ultramarine blue, black, white, silver (on armour), gold
(on nirnbi, clasps, &c., generally bright and well preserved). Many of the cuts have
been defaced by some person who. went over the outlines with jxen and ink and
occasionally scribbled on other parts of the design. The borders are usually yellow,
with sometimes a streak of vermilion in addition.
The cuts fall into two chief sets—(a) A series of 22 subjects from the life and
passion of Christ (average dimensions 82 x 63 mm.), ('b) a series of 10 subjects, 8 of
which are saints, 2 scenes from the Passion (average dimensions 61 X 57 mm.). These
are throughout uniform in style and have a double border. There are also two cuts of
exceptional dimensions, the Coronation of the Virgin [93 X 72], and St. Jerome
[107 X 68]. The first of these is, perhaps, sligbtly more artistic than the average, but
the rounded folds of the drapery, and the absence of any indication of shading
suggests an even earlier date. The St. Jerome has rudiments of hatching, and mav be
later, though it is certainly not superior.
The arrangement of tlie cuts does not correspond with the text, and seems to be
arbitrary. The order of the Passion subjects, for instance, is apparently quit-e
haphazard, the entry into Jerusalem and Last Supper following the C'rucifixion, while
the Descent from the Cross and Christ washing tlie disciples’ feet are placed on the
recto and verso of the same leaf.
It will be most convenient to describe the separate subjects of either series in the
generally accepted order, and to briefly indicate afterwards tho order in which they
occur in the book.
1 See note on A7, and R. Kautzsch, “ Erorterungen,” &c. “Studien zur Deutschen
Kunstgescliichte,” Heft iii, 1894, 79 and footnote.