DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22421#0190
126
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter V.
The following' pictures, by the same hand, are also very remark-
able. The Descent of the Holy Ghost; All Saints ; the Virgin
Reading ; the four Fathers of the Church ; St. John the Baptist;
St. John the Evangelist; the Sacrifice of the Mass ; the Cruci-
fixion, which is a rich composition of masterly arrangement and
good motives; the Assumption of the Virgin, with an admirably
disposed robe, the drapery being throughout of fine modelling and
noble style ; and finally, the Office for the Dead. This artist is
so far superior even to the best miniature-painters of the time,
that I am of opinion that he must have painted larger pictures.
The poems of the popular writer Christina of Pisa, born 1363,
died 1406 (Harleian, No. 4431), folio, 398 leaves, with a some-
what carelessly treated minuscule letter, of Netherlandish character,
written about 1420. The excellent miniatures in this work afford
a very interesting specimen of the na'ive manner in which the
middle ages treated the subjects of ancient mythology, re-
presenting them, in all respects, as events of the actual day; so
that the chivalrous element then prevailing is thus brought pro-
minently forward. Although the number of French miniatures
bears the same proportion here as the Netherlandish, yet the
great superiority of the latter, and the evident imitation of their
realistic tendency by the French artists, decide me in placing this
MS. among the Netherlandish series. The frontispiece, p. 2 a,
represents a queen of France on a throne, with the kneeling
poetess presenting her poems. Six court ladies surround the
queen, one of whom, seen in profile, is very elegant. The space
of the chamber, with its azure-coloured hangings, adorned with
gold lilies, and a large canopy with drawn-up curtains, is very
well expressed. This is the careful work of a French hand,
though with a Netherlandish tendency. The flesh is of a pale
tone, and without modelling. The earlier style prevails in the
decorations of the border, with only the flowers and leaves of the
later style intermixed. I annex such pictures as appeared to me
most characteristic. A pretty young maiden kneeling before a
man :—the delicate and true tones of the flesh, and the deep sap-
green of the garments, indicate a Netherlandish hand. The hands
are well drawn and put in action. A knight and a lady riding,
though by the French hand first mentioned, and far inferior
in artistic delicacy to the last, make a pleasing picture; the
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter V.
The following' pictures, by the same hand, are also very remark-
able. The Descent of the Holy Ghost; All Saints ; the Virgin
Reading ; the four Fathers of the Church ; St. John the Baptist;
St. John the Evangelist; the Sacrifice of the Mass ; the Cruci-
fixion, which is a rich composition of masterly arrangement and
good motives; the Assumption of the Virgin, with an admirably
disposed robe, the drapery being throughout of fine modelling and
noble style ; and finally, the Office for the Dead. This artist is
so far superior even to the best miniature-painters of the time,
that I am of opinion that he must have painted larger pictures.
The poems of the popular writer Christina of Pisa, born 1363,
died 1406 (Harleian, No. 4431), folio, 398 leaves, with a some-
what carelessly treated minuscule letter, of Netherlandish character,
written about 1420. The excellent miniatures in this work afford
a very interesting specimen of the na'ive manner in which the
middle ages treated the subjects of ancient mythology, re-
presenting them, in all respects, as events of the actual day; so
that the chivalrous element then prevailing is thus brought pro-
minently forward. Although the number of French miniatures
bears the same proportion here as the Netherlandish, yet the
great superiority of the latter, and the evident imitation of their
realistic tendency by the French artists, decide me in placing this
MS. among the Netherlandish series. The frontispiece, p. 2 a,
represents a queen of France on a throne, with the kneeling
poetess presenting her poems. Six court ladies surround the
queen, one of whom, seen in profile, is very elegant. The space
of the chamber, with its azure-coloured hangings, adorned with
gold lilies, and a large canopy with drawn-up curtains, is very
well expressed. This is the careful work of a French hand,
though with a Netherlandish tendency. The flesh is of a pale
tone, and without modelling. The earlier style prevails in the
decorations of the border, with only the flowers and leaves of the
later style intermixed. I annex such pictures as appeared to me
most characteristic. A pretty young maiden kneeling before a
man :—the delicate and true tones of the flesh, and the deep sap-
green of the garments, indicate a Netherlandish hand. The hands
are well drawn and put in action. A knight and a lady riding,
though by the French hand first mentioned, and far inferior
in artistic delicacy to the last, make a pleasing picture; the