Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages Part 22

Perhaps more than any books executed in the better period, after the decline had begun, were the Books of Hours, containing the numerous daily devotions which form part of the ritual of the Roman Church. Every well appointed lady was supposed to own a copy, and there is a little verse by Eustache Deschamps, a poet of the time of Charles V., in which a woman is supposed to be romancing about the various treasures she would like to possess. She says:

"Hours of Our Lady should be mine, Fitting for a n.o.ble dame, Of lofty lineage and name; Wrought most cunningly and quaint, In gold and richest azure paint.

Rare covering of cloth of gold Full daintily it shall enfold, Or, open to the view exposed, Two golden clasps to keep it closed."

John Skelton the poet did honour to the illuminated tomes of his day, in spite of the fact that the aeesthetic deterioration had begun.

"With that of the boke lozende were the clasps The margin was illumined all with golden railes, And bice empictured, with gra.s.shoppers and waspes With b.u.t.terflies and fresh peac.o.c.k's tailes: Englosed with... pictures well touched and quickly, It wold have made a man hole that had be right sickly!"

But here we have an indication of that realism which rung the death knell of the art. The gra.s.shoppers on a golden ground, and the introduction of carefully painted insect and floral life, led to all sorts of extravagances of taste.

But before this decadence, there was a very interesting period of transition, which may be studied to special advantage in Italy, and is seen chiefly in the illuminations of the great choral books which were used in the choirs of churches. One book served for all the singers in those days, and it was placed upon an open lectern in the middle of the choir, so that all the singers could see it: it will be readily understood that the lettering had to be generous, and the page very large for this purpose. The decoration of these books took on the characteristics of breadth in keeping with their dimensions, and of large ma.s.ses of ornament rather than delicate meander. The style of the Italian choral books is an art in itself.

The Books of Hours and Missals developed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries into positive art galleries, whole pages being occupied by paintings, the vellum being entirely hidden by the decoration. The art of illumination declined as the art of miniature painting progressed. The fact that the artist was decorating a page in a book was lost sight of in his ambition to paint a series of small pictures. The glint of burnished gold on the soft surface of the vellum was no longer considered elegant, and these more elaborate pictures often left not even a margin, so that the pictures might as well have been executed on paper and canvas and framed separately, for they do not suggest ornaments in a book after this change had taken place. Lettering is hardly introduced at all on the same page with the ill.u.s.tration, or, when it is, is placed in a little tablet which is simply part of the general scheme.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHORAL BOOK, SIENA]

Among the books in this later period I will refer specifically to two only, the Hours of Ann of Brittany, and the Grimani Breviary.

The Hours of Ann of Brittany, illuminated by a famous French artist of the time of Louis XII., is reproduced in facsimile by Curmer, and is therefore available for consultation in most large libraries.

It will repay any one who is interested in miniature art to examine this book, for the work is so excellent that it is almost like turning the leaves of the original. The Grimani Breviary, which was illuminated by Flemish artists of renown, was the property of Cardinal Grimani, and is now one of the treasures of the Library of St. Marc in Venice. It is impossible in a short s.p.a.ce to comment to any adequate extent upon the work of such eminent artists as Jean Foucquet, Don Giulio Clovio, Sano di Pietro, and Liberale da Verona; they were technically at the head of their art, and yet, so far as taste in book decoration is to be considered, their work would be more satisfactory as framed miniatures than as marginal or paginal ornament.

Stippling was brought to its ultimate perfection by Don Giulio Clovio, but it is supposed to have been first practised by Antonio de Holanda.

One of Jehan Foucquet's a.s.sistants was Jehan Bourdichon. There is an interesting memorandum extant, relating to a piece of illumination which Bourdichon had accomplished. "To the said B. for having had written a book in parchment named the Papalist, the same illuminated in gold and azure and made in the same nine rich Histories, and for getting it bound and covered, thirty crowns in gold."

At the time of the Renaissance there was a rage for "tiny books,"

miniature copies of famous works. M. Wurtz possessed a copy of the Sonnets of Petrarch, written in italics, in brown ink, of which the length was one inch, and the breadth five-eighths of an inch, showing fifty lines on a page. The text is only visible through a gla.s.s. It is in Italian taste, with several miniatures, and is bound in gold filigree.

The value of illuminated books is enormous. An Elector of Bavaria once offered a town for a single book; but the monks had sufficient worldly wisdom to know that he could easily take the town again, and so declined the exchange!

With the introduction of printing, the art of illumination was doomed. The personal message from the scribe to the reader was merged in the more comprehensive message of the press to the public.

It was no longer necessary to spend a year on a work that could be accomplished in a day; so the artists found themselves reduced to painting initial letters in printed books, sometimes on vellum, but more often on paper. This art still flourishes in many localities; but it is no more illumination, though it is often so designated, than photography is portrait painting. Both are useful in their departments and for their several purposes, but it is incorrect to confound them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DETAIL FROM AN ITALIAN CHORAL BOOK]

Once, while examining an old choral book, I was particularly struck with the matchless personal element which exists in a book which is made, as this was, by the hand, from the first stroke to the last. The first page showed a bold lettering, the sweep of the pen being firm and free. Animal vigour was demonstrated in the steady hand and the clear eye. The illuminations were daintily painted, and the sure touch of the little white line used to accentuate the colours, was noticeable. After several pages, the letters became less true and firm. The lines had a tendency to slant to the right; a weakness could be detected in the formerly strong man. Finally the writing grew positively shaky. The skill was lost.

Suddenly, on another page, came a change. A new hand had taken up the work--that of a novice. He had not the skill of the previous worker in his best days, but the indecision of his lines was that of inexperience, not of failing ability. Gradually he improved.

His colours were clearer and ground more smoothly; his gold showed a more gla.s.sy surface. The book ended as it had begun, a virile work of art; but in the course of its making, one man had grown old, lost his skill, and died, and another had started in his immaturity, gained his education, and devoted his best years to this book.

The printing press stands for all that is progressive and desirable; modern life and thought hang upon this discovery. But in this glorious new birth there was sacrificed a certain indescribable charm which can never be felt now except by a book lover as he turns the leaves of an ancient illuminated book. To him it is given to understand that pathetic appeal across the centuries.

THE END.

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