DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22423#0092
80
OXFORD—BOD LEI AX.
Letter XXIV.
tapestry, with very delicate acanthus-like designs, producing a rich
and tasteful effect. On the border a scroll, on which is " Ave
Maria," and four angels playing on musical instruments, one of
whom below has a childlike and inspired expression which is per-
fectly enchanting. This is by the first Netherlandish hand. P. 128 b,
by the same hand, the very simply-treated Last Judgment.
Christ, in a light crimson mantle, is turning to the Blessed and
beckoning them to him, while he turns away from the Condemned ;
this motive is very delicate and speaking. The Virgin, in a violet-
white robe, is exceedingly tender. Besides St. John the Baptist
there are two angels blowing trumpets, a seraph, and two figures
rising from the dead, whose naked bodies are of full forms. Upon
the border, angels with the instruments of martyrdom. P. 129 a,
St. Michael overcoming the Dragon; p. 130, St. Peter; p. 131a,
the Conversion of St. Paul; and p. 132 a, St. Andrew, are tamer
in motives and gaudier in colour, and are the work of the French
hand. The same may be said of St. John the Evangelist, in
whose pale and noble features, however, the expression of religious
yearning is admirable. But the first Netherlandish hand returns
in the Stoning of St. Stephen, p. 134, and in the beheading of
St. Denys, p. 135 a. St. Nicholas and the three children in the
tub, p. 136 b ; St. Martin of Tours, p. 137 ; St. Anthony the
Abbot, p. 138 a, and Mary Magdalen, of great delicacy, arc by
the French hand. On the other hand, the Martyrdom of St.
Catherine, which ends the work, is by the first Netherlandish
hand.
A Prayer-book (Bodl. auct. D infra, 2, 13), large octavo, written
in one column in a large and full minuscule letter, and once in the
possession of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII., but presented
to the library in 1615 by Richard Conork. Judging from the many
English local saints, such as St. Guthlac, St. Dunstan, &c, in the
otherwise almost unornamented calendar, and also from the bor-
ders, which only occur on the same page with a picture and on
the page opposite, and which are very peculiar, and for the time—
1460-1470—very old-fashioned, there is little doubt that it was
executed in England. At the same time it is certain that the
chiaroscuro pictures before each prayer, and occupying each a
whole page, were executed by two excellent Netherlandish minia-
ture-painters of the school of Van Eyck, and under the strong
influence of Roger Van der Weyden the elder. The folds of the
OXFORD—BOD LEI AX.
Letter XXIV.
tapestry, with very delicate acanthus-like designs, producing a rich
and tasteful effect. On the border a scroll, on which is " Ave
Maria," and four angels playing on musical instruments, one of
whom below has a childlike and inspired expression which is per-
fectly enchanting. This is by the first Netherlandish hand. P. 128 b,
by the same hand, the very simply-treated Last Judgment.
Christ, in a light crimson mantle, is turning to the Blessed and
beckoning them to him, while he turns away from the Condemned ;
this motive is very delicate and speaking. The Virgin, in a violet-
white robe, is exceedingly tender. Besides St. John the Baptist
there are two angels blowing trumpets, a seraph, and two figures
rising from the dead, whose naked bodies are of full forms. Upon
the border, angels with the instruments of martyrdom. P. 129 a,
St. Michael overcoming the Dragon; p. 130, St. Peter; p. 131a,
the Conversion of St. Paul; and p. 132 a, St. Andrew, are tamer
in motives and gaudier in colour, and are the work of the French
hand. The same may be said of St. John the Evangelist, in
whose pale and noble features, however, the expression of religious
yearning is admirable. But the first Netherlandish hand returns
in the Stoning of St. Stephen, p. 134, and in the beheading of
St. Denys, p. 135 a. St. Nicholas and the three children in the
tub, p. 136 b ; St. Martin of Tours, p. 137 ; St. Anthony the
Abbot, p. 138 a, and Mary Magdalen, of great delicacy, arc by
the French hand. On the other hand, the Martyrdom of St.
Catherine, which ends the work, is by the first Netherlandish
hand.
A Prayer-book (Bodl. auct. D infra, 2, 13), large octavo, written
in one column in a large and full minuscule letter, and once in the
possession of Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VIII., but presented
to the library in 1615 by Richard Conork. Judging from the many
English local saints, such as St. Guthlac, St. Dunstan, &c, in the
otherwise almost unornamented calendar, and also from the bor-
ders, which only occur on the same page with a picture and on
the page opposite, and which are very peculiar, and for the time—
1460-1470—very old-fashioned, there is little doubt that it was
executed in England. At the same time it is certain that the
chiaroscuro pictures before each prayer, and occupying each a
whole page, were executed by two excellent Netherlandish minia-
ture-painters of the school of Van Eyck, and under the strong
influence of Roger Van der Weyden the elder. The folds of the