DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22421#0164
100
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter V.
birds introduced. The short and broad proportions, full faces of
a clumsy round type, with short nose, eyes far apart, and a straight
horizontal line for the mouth, the antique forms of the drapery, as
in romanesque sculptures,—these characteristics, together with the
Latin inscriptions, indicate a Western artist, whose name may
perhaps be intended by the word " Herodius," on the lower side.
The motives are true, though all attempt at forcible action is lame,
and the execution highly careful. In the connexion of the circles
it is evident that the ancient dyptichs have directly or indirectly
supplied the patterns. The architectonic style of the borders is of
singular delicacy.
The numerous pictures which illustrate this MS. from beginning
to end are executed upon gold grounds by a Byzantine artist of
great ability for his period. For those who have not the op-
portunity of becoming acquainted with the Byzantine conception
of the chief subjects of the New Testament in other original forms,
this MS. supplies the best substitute; and even those who, like
myself, have seen numerous specimens of Byzantine miniatures,
will find some entirely new motives in this work. The Annuncia-
tion is followed by the Nativity, and this, again, as in most Byzan-
tine works, by the Annunciation to the Shepherds. In the
Adoration of the Kings the figure of an angel, who is bidding
them kneel, is new to me; also in the next picture, the king
departing on horseback, with an angel conducting him. In the
Presentation in the Temple the aged Anna is holding up her right
hand in benediction, according to the Greek rite, with a broad scroll
in her left hand containing the Greek words she is speaking. The
keel-shaped arch of the cupola of the temple shows the influence
of Arabic architecture. In the Nativity the four angels attend-
ing is an unusual number; while the Jordan appears, according
to the antique personification, as a river god. In the Temptation,
which is in two portions, Satan is represented as a black man
winged, in contradistinction to the generally hideous forms of the
Western school of that time. The Transfiguration is in that
Byzantine form of arrangement which Raphael himself adopted,
and the motives of the disciples are very good. The Raising of
Lazarus agrees in form with the oldest representations of this
subject; hence it is that the sisters of Lazarus are given on a
smaller scale. In the Entry into Jerusalem an odd effect is pro-
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter V.
birds introduced. The short and broad proportions, full faces of
a clumsy round type, with short nose, eyes far apart, and a straight
horizontal line for the mouth, the antique forms of the drapery, as
in romanesque sculptures,—these characteristics, together with the
Latin inscriptions, indicate a Western artist, whose name may
perhaps be intended by the word " Herodius," on the lower side.
The motives are true, though all attempt at forcible action is lame,
and the execution highly careful. In the connexion of the circles
it is evident that the ancient dyptichs have directly or indirectly
supplied the patterns. The architectonic style of the borders is of
singular delicacy.
The numerous pictures which illustrate this MS. from beginning
to end are executed upon gold grounds by a Byzantine artist of
great ability for his period. For those who have not the op-
portunity of becoming acquainted with the Byzantine conception
of the chief subjects of the New Testament in other original forms,
this MS. supplies the best substitute; and even those who, like
myself, have seen numerous specimens of Byzantine miniatures,
will find some entirely new motives in this work. The Annuncia-
tion is followed by the Nativity, and this, again, as in most Byzan-
tine works, by the Annunciation to the Shepherds. In the
Adoration of the Kings the figure of an angel, who is bidding
them kneel, is new to me; also in the next picture, the king
departing on horseback, with an angel conducting him. In the
Presentation in the Temple the aged Anna is holding up her right
hand in benediction, according to the Greek rite, with a broad scroll
in her left hand containing the Greek words she is speaking. The
keel-shaped arch of the cupola of the temple shows the influence
of Arabic architecture. In the Nativity the four angels attend-
ing is an unusual number; while the Jordan appears, according
to the antique personification, as a river god. In the Temptation,
which is in two portions, Satan is represented as a black man
winged, in contradistinction to the generally hideous forms of the
Western school of that time. The Transfiguration is in that
Byzantine form of arrangement which Raphael himself adopted,
and the motives of the disciples are very good. The Raising of
Lazarus agrees in form with the oldest representations of this
subject; hence it is that the sisters of Lazarus are given on a
smaller scale. In the Entry into Jerusalem an odd effect is pro-