DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22421#0234
170
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter VI.
mourning synagogue and the triumphant Christian Church, with
the model of a church, and David and Solomon, Moses and a
prophet, probably Elijah. P. 85 a, properly speaking, the frontis-
piece—the Nativity, conceived in the English fashion. The
Virgin is nursing the swathed Child ; Joseph at the foot of the
bed. At the sides St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan-
gelist, St. Peter, St. Paul, and two other apostles. Below, in the
B commencing the psalm, is David playing the psalter, and, as
sign of his inspiration, the dove with a glory, which occurs in
some earlier pictures. Here commence those representations on
the lower border above mentioned, of which I shall only mention
the most remarkable, many of them being indicative of the legends
of an insular people. P. 89 b, a sea monster, who is watched from
a ship. P. 90 a, the lamentation for a death, excellent. P. 96 b,
the legend of the mermaid, so rife in the middle ages, here repre-
sented in the usual way, with the tail of a fish and the body of a
bird, in the style of the antique syren. Sleeping figures in a ship,
of extraordinary truth. In the following page we see two mer-
maids surprising the sleeping figures. P. 100 b, a combat between
the elephant and the unicorn ; in the following page the unicorn
killed in the lap of the Virgin. This representation has a strong
affinity to the same subject in a manuscript in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, equally remarkable for its English miniatures,
and of which I shall give an account in the proper place.
P. 112 a, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, a large picture of
very peculiar conception. The Adoration of the Kings, with the
Child in the act of blessing. Notwithstanding the conventional
Gothic stoop of the figures, this piece is very remarkable for ani-
mated and speaking motives. At the sides are six female saints.
As the elephant was looked upon as a kind of wonder in the
animal world, it seems to have excited the fancy of the first artist
mentioned in this manuscript. A picture of this animal, with its
calf, recurs in p. 118 a, and again in the next page, with a
tower, in which are three armed men. P. 125 b represents a
monster under a tree, with four figures playing him to sleep, on
harp, cymbal, violin, and lute. P. 131 a, above, the three Kings
before Herod ; and also all three sleeping in one bed, with the
angel appealing to them. On the lower border a very animated
picture of a tournament, with a combatant thrust from his horse.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Letter VI.
mourning synagogue and the triumphant Christian Church, with
the model of a church, and David and Solomon, Moses and a
prophet, probably Elijah. P. 85 a, properly speaking, the frontis-
piece—the Nativity, conceived in the English fashion. The
Virgin is nursing the swathed Child ; Joseph at the foot of the
bed. At the sides St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan-
gelist, St. Peter, St. Paul, and two other apostles. Below, in the
B commencing the psalm, is David playing the psalter, and, as
sign of his inspiration, the dove with a glory, which occurs in
some earlier pictures. Here commence those representations on
the lower border above mentioned, of which I shall only mention
the most remarkable, many of them being indicative of the legends
of an insular people. P. 89 b, a sea monster, who is watched from
a ship. P. 90 a, the lamentation for a death, excellent. P. 96 b,
the legend of the mermaid, so rife in the middle ages, here repre-
sented in the usual way, with the tail of a fish and the body of a
bird, in the style of the antique syren. Sleeping figures in a ship,
of extraordinary truth. In the following page we see two mer-
maids surprising the sleeping figures. P. 100 b, a combat between
the elephant and the unicorn ; in the following page the unicorn
killed in the lap of the Virgin. This representation has a strong
affinity to the same subject in a manuscript in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, equally remarkable for its English miniatures,
and of which I shall give an account in the proper place.
P. 112 a, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, a large picture of
very peculiar conception. The Adoration of the Kings, with the
Child in the act of blessing. Notwithstanding the conventional
Gothic stoop of the figures, this piece is very remarkable for ani-
mated and speaking motives. At the sides are six female saints.
As the elephant was looked upon as a kind of wonder in the
animal world, it seems to have excited the fancy of the first artist
mentioned in this manuscript. A picture of this animal, with its
calf, recurs in p. 118 a, and again in the next page, with a
tower, in which are three armed men. P. 125 b represents a
monster under a tree, with four figures playing him to sleep, on
harp, cymbal, violin, and lute. P. 131 a, above, the three Kings
before Herod ; and also all three sleeping in one bed, with the
angel appealing to them. On the lower border a very animated
picture of a tournament, with a combatant thrust from his horse.