Traditions of Christian Art. Chapter V.

Mediæval Miniatures and Ivories

Author(s): Edward L. Cutts
Source: The Art Journal (1875-1887), New Series, Vol. 3 (1877), pp. 5-8
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20569003
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 THE ART JOURNAL. 5

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTIA
BY THE REV. ED\VARD L. CUTTS, B.A

CHAPTER V. legends are to be received-not

off the work of the imagin
MEDILEVAL MINIATURES AND IVORIES. legend writers of the middle a
) _'-=rmE have seen how the tradition of the three kings allowed, the same liberty that
gradually grew from age to age; we find it, took, of taking a scripture su
in the perfect form it attained at the close the spirit of it before the min
of the middle ages, in a MS. in the British realising all the accessories
Museum (Harl. 1704, f. 49, n.), which Mr. T. work of the artistic imaginatio
Wright has printed at the end of his edition of tural outline. \Ve praise the
"The Chester Mysteries." The story is told at before us in a vivid way, with
rather great length, but with much picturesque detail, and with significance, and with picture
occasional passages of considerable poetical beauty. WVe give a in the surroundings of the
few extracts from it here, which will illustrate several passages intion of the legend writer on t
the paintinos and sculptures of the fifteenth and sixteenth centufind much to adrnire in this wo
ries, and xziill show that the artists still did little more than realise, It is a very long narrative, an
in form and colour, what the thinkers and writers had previouslytracts from it. It tells us that
invented. But before we proceed to give these extracts from the "but aboute the tyme of the N
legend, we have a few words to say on the way in which these that hous was all destroyed, in

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Ri I I in ILI B I 011. I IMY It

I~ ~' Fmu

~~~~0E'-.

'/7/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~j

A~~~~~nl

Mg. I .-Frmn the Pulit in the Cathedral of Pis

left but brokyn walles of on oureevery

lady the blessed
side,virgine, withoutaony
and dissease or cav
littell sorow
erth, and a lytell unthrifty of her body, for
houssalvacion of alle mankynde.
before the Andcave,
in that hou
horses, and other bestis that
byfore come
the cave of toleft
old tyme was the market,
a maungere of the length
aboute that unthrifty hous a fadome ...made. in a valle, and to led
Joseph. that same
ouremaungere
lady was a
* forsaide place that no man oxe of atoke
pover mannes
kepe tyeddowne
that no maninto
*wold herbrough,
the lit an
hous, and there oure Lord besideJhesu
that oxe Joseph
Cristtied histhe
asse, and in the same
same maunger
nyght
our lady seint Marie wrapped hyr blessid child, our lord Jhes
* Continued from number for December i876. Crist, in clothes, and laide hym therin on lhey byfore the ox

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 6. THE ART JOURNAL.
and the asse, for ther was nowe of the
other place .... . sterre
The same w
*byrth
night and the same oure that God was bore, the sterre of begun Cris
They
to arise in the manner of the sonne bright shining [sey]
.... and it als
ascendit in the fourm of an egle that
.... as bright as the sun byfo
yede ....
they
and the sterre had in hym self a f6urm went
of. a likness of a yong out
childe, and above hym as signe -of the holy crois, and a voice
was herde in the sterre, saying, Natus est nobis hodie rex
Iudeorum, 'qui est 'gentium dominator, ite ad inquirendum eumn
et ad orandum, &c.
"Now when theis iij worshipfull kyngis, that in that tyme
reigned in Inde, Caldee, and Pers,
were sikyrlye enformed . . . . tho evry
of hem were farre from other,
NA
and none
knewe otheres purpose, yet in one tyme
r and in one oure, this sterre appered to
- them alle iij, and than thei ordeyned
I ;< | &1 M l and purposed hem anon with gret and
I 5 | riche yeftes, and with- Ilony riche and
I so 1 i2wX diverse ornamentes that were longing
to kyngis arraye, and also with mules
camelx, and hors chargyd with gret
Fig.2tIvory South Ken. tresoure, with nombre and multitude of
sington Museum: Circa peple, in the best array' that they myght
.300 goo to seke and worship the lord and
kyng of Jewes, that was bore, as the IP5~~~~~~
voice of the sterre had commaunded, spoken, and preched.
... . Melchior was cleped kyng of Nube and of Arabie, Bal
tazar was cleped kyng of Godely and of Saba, and Jasper was
cleped the kyng of Taars and of Egripwille the ile." Melchior
offered gold, Baltazar ' scence,' and Jaspar ' mirre ....." Then
these kingis riden through diverse londes, kyngdomes, citees,
townes; they riden over hilles, waters, valleis, playnes, and
other diverse and perilouse places, without ony dissease or
lettyng; for alle the waye that they ridene was semyng to hem
pleyne and evyn, and toke never no herbrough nyght nor daye, Fig. 4.-From a Picture by Giotto: Florence. r
ne by the way never rested hem self nor her hors ne other bestis
that were in her companye, ne never ete ne drinke after the
herd in the sterre. Melchior, that was kyng of Nube and
tyme that thay had take' her waye tille they come intoofBethlem,
Arabie, that offered gold to God, he was lest of stature and
ne alle this tyme semed to hem but one day; and thus ofthroughe
persone; Baltazar, that was kyng of Godolie and of Saba,
the grace of God and gret mercye of God, and ledyn
that of the encense to God, he was of mene stature in his
offered
sterre they come out of her londes, and kyngdomes person;
into Jeru
and Jaspar, that was kyng of Taars and of Egripwille,
salem the xiij day that Crist was bore in the uprisyng
that
ofoffered
the mirre to God, he was moste in persone, and was a
blacke
sonne, whereof it is no doute, for they found oure lady Ethiope."
seint
The legend goes on to tell how St. Thomas ordained these
three kings into priests, and afterwards into archbishops;
how they hallowed all the temples in their countries, and
. .~~~~ . 1 I ordained bishops and priests, and built churches, and gave
j great possessions to maintain God's service. Another MS.
a (Cott. Titus, A. xxv.) finishes the st6ry, and tells us how,
seventy years after, the star appeared again to the three
. kings, by which they understood that the time was at hand
h when they should pass out of this life into the everlasting joy
of heaven. And they had made a large tomb, and on the
D day of the circumcision Melchior said mass, and then laid
him down, and without any disease yielded up his spirit,
being one hundred and sixteen years old; and- the other
two arrayed him in bishop's robes and king's ornaments,
and devoutly laid him in the tomb; and on the feast of the
Epiphany Baltazar died, and passed to everlasting joy in
the year of his age one hundred and twelve; and Jasper
* arrayed his body as it should be, and laid him beside the
first king in the tomb. Then the sixth day after this Christ
took Jasper's spirit into everlasting joy, and the people took
his body and arrayed it worshipfully, and laid it in the
= same tomb where the other kings were buried. And after
wards they were taken and placed in divers chests, and
Fig. 3.-Pulpit in
borne to their the
own kingdoms. Helena found and Baptist
procured them,
carried them to Constantinople, whence they were translated
Marie and her childe
to Milan, and thence to Cologne. in th
Grist was bore and laide i
Of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the abundance of the
worthy kynges
works of Art of allriden
kinds which still remains to us, by
makes our th
-the same shepherdes
task one of some embarrassment. We might quotewere
examples
" Sum bokesat great
in the
length to illustrate Est
the way in which sey
the vast majority

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 THE ART JOURNAL. 7
Museum
of designs follow with great fidelity themakes
early it easily accessible
traditions; or we to m
Our
might select a series of examples toengraving
show the (Fig. i), taken from
interesting novela photogr
accuracy and produced
ties of treatment which were occasionally spirit the high artistic
by men of merit
one in
original power. Limited as we are of space
the panels
andisinthe Adoration of the Magi
illustrations,
we shall perhaps do best to notetraditional subjectsof
a few examples ofspecial
the history
merit of the Th
together in the same composition. At the
the left side are the three kings on horseba
as we have seen them in the eleventh cent
the British Museum, and the I3th Lansd
are grouped their train, with horses, came

.X;
Y~~~~~ top of the panel on the right hand is the A
is seated to the right, with Joseph behind:
r4 and kisses the foot of the Divine Child, an
henceforward becomes customary in the r
A~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ scene; an angel urges the second king fo
placed in the backgrouind of the group.
introduced that of the kings asleep, being
in a dream not to return to Herod.
We pass from a .great sculptor to a great p
example. The Florence gallery contains
Giotto (A.D. I276-1336) on a quatrefoil p
simple and elegant in its treatment (Fig. 4
architectural porch, or canopy, a feature re
rently for the first time from the Byzantine
by the whole line of later Artists. Beneath t
a footpace, sits the Virgin veiled. The trea
and her mode of holding him, is also n
the upper part of the body, the lower
Fz,o. 5.-P)-omn a Picture by A. Gaddi: Florence.
swathed. She holds him under his arms, an
which represent the steady maintenance ofher
betveen theknees, sotradition
earliest that he can with his
diction
down to the latest time of medi2eval just touch
Art, while the king,one
we introdtuce kneeling on th
king
or two illustrations of the exceptional has laid his crown on the ground b
designs.
The South Kensington Museum covered box
possesses anwhich
ivory represents
shrine ofhis present st
The second king still
the fourteenth century (No. 4086'58), on whose shutters are wears his tall hat, wi
carved
lower which
scenes from the life of our Lord, from part ofwe
it,take
and the
stands behind the firs
next
illustration of our subject. It is offer. The third
an admirable king of
example is in the backgrou
the
wears a(though
art of the time, and may be of English homely-looking coif on his head, o
it may perhaps
his crown. He holds
be of French) workmanship. The engraving will be found on his present
a in his le
preceding page (Fig. 4, p. 365, vol.up to the star with his right. Horses' head
ii.)
left, of
Another ivory carving of the subject, indicate
about the
the journey of the Magi; and
same date,
which may with more certainty of be
rocky scenery
assigned toin the
an background.*
English
There
workman, is in the same collection is6824'58);
(No. an Adoration in the Florence
its general
design greatly resembles the above, but there are differences of
treatment in the details. Several others of this century are in
the same collection, all exhibiting the like general features of
design. In No. 235,67 the subject is treated exactly as in the
English example last described. One, of Italian workmanship,
is remarkable for great delicacy and grace of design; it is attri
buted, but without any reliable evidence in support of the con
jecture, to Orcagna.
An ivory panel, of French workmanship (No. 2I3'65), gives us
one of the original variations of treatment, and is here represented
as an example (Fig. 2). The Virgin sits on the left with limbs
extended, which is an unusual position, and holds in her lap
the Infant, who bends forward to receive the offering of the first
king, who kneels before him. Joseph is introduced here, which
is rare in the treatment of the subject at this date; and the
empty cradle is placed beside the Virgin, a very natural passage
in the conception of the subject, but it is not found elsewhere.
The other kings stand behind waiting their turn to offer.
Another ivory carving, which introduces a picturesque variety
of treatment, is in a French diptych of the fourteenth century,
where a servant stands behind the three kings, holding the
horses from which they have alighted; he is striking, with a very
natural action, at the horses with a riding-whip (Fig. 3, p. 365,
vol. ii.) The same passage of the servant striking the horses is
* { THVSZIl-U NAC
found in more than half-a-dozen ivoriesFig.of about a
6.-From the sameby
Picture date
Eira Angelico:
in the British Museum and at South Kensington.
We have already noticed Niccola
GaddiPisano' s pulpit
(I325-90), ofsomewhat
which the resem
Baptistry at Pisa (vide p. 364, vol. above
ii), of described
which an engraving is gallery. Th
in the same
here introduced (Fig. 3). Fifty years later his son Giovanni
executed the pulpit for the cathedral of the same city (erected
* Engraved in the " Galleria dell' I. E R. Accademi
I302-I3II). The cast of the pulpit infol.
I 1845, the South
(British Kensington
Museum, pressmark 1261 e.)

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 8 . THE ART JOURNAL.
the right, under a shed attached to a sacred
stone group is full
building- of beauty, but th
the stable
inferior
of the inn, of the legend quoted at the beginning in interest and beauty, and look
of this chapter.
The ox and ass are introduced, for theto fill time
first up a since
large the
canvas.
fourth
A picture
century sarcophagus at Ravenna. Joseph also by Fra Angelico (A.D. 138
is represented
sitting on the ground in the right-hand gallery,
cornergives
of us
thean original conceptio
picture.
We have seen that Joseph, the protector either oforiginated,
the Virgin or andwas
thean early exam
guardian of the infancy of our Lord, treating
is introducedit, that
into was followed by ma
the very
The
earliest pictures of the subject; but, for centre
some of the picture
unexplained reason,is occupied by
in the Byzantine and mediaeval designs building,
he verywith a thatched
seldom appears. roof. A simp
With the first dawn of the renaissance cut through the plainto
he is restored wall,
theforms a kind
Virgin included.
design, and henceforward is almost always and Child, andfirst
The the dark interior
king kneels; he has laid his crown onup thethe figures.
ground, an The Virgin is seated w
incident
spectator,
whose significance is obvious, and kisses as in the
the Child's catacomb
foot. The paintin
Child holds the gift with his left hand,from andRome.
blessesand
the Ravenna,
donor before m
with his right. The other two kings-tallseatedandondignified
her knee. The first king knee
figures
stand behind the first. On the left are sees his right two
introduced profile,
horsesand kisses the
and an attendant, who is in an attitude twoas kings
if aboutdo to
not follow
strike him in file, as
one
are grouped
of them, and reminds us of the similar asin
passage inthe
thefour
fourteenth-cen
separated,
teenth-century ivories already mentioned. and stand one
A mountainous on the right an
back
ground is indicated. Our woodcut The
(Fig. 5) is reduced
attendants from chiefly on th
are grouped
the engraving by Ranalli. E there are two or three on the right; an
A picture by Gentile Faleriano (1370-I470) in the Florence
Joseph, standing on the Virgin's left ha
Another
Gallery places the Virgin on the left picture in
of the design, byfront
Fra Angelico, in
of a dilapidated building with a penthouse porch
sents another to it. Two
original treatment of th
female attendants are introduced behind the
seated onVirgin, who
the right are
under a penthouse.
different
opening and looking into the covered from the
vessel which the usual
first one. The fi
king has just presented. Joseph stands
paid beside the Virgin.
his worship The
and made his offering
ox and ass are seen behind. The first king conversing
ground not only kneels,
with Joseph. It
but has one hand on the ground, that is, he
is in the act has prostrated
of adoration, taking the C
himself. The second king bows, and
andkissing
has hisit: hand
while to
thehis
third king, wi
turban, ready to remove it and kneel in turn.
face The
(which thirdto
seems king
have inspired la
is still standing, and a page unbuckles his
ject), spur.on
kneels On the
one right
knee, waiting for h
is a crowd of attendants, with horses, dogs, and
are introduced on athecamel.
left of the picture
In the background is introduced the journey of the (Tokings. The
be con/inzued.)

SIM P LETO NS.

S. LUKE FILDES, Pinxt. a C. COUSIN, Sculpt.
S an example of the -work of one of the proached
younger his subject. He said; fu
painters of the English school, a contemporary
nothing; he had set down the f
_mF 5\ of George H. Boughton, the late Frederick a result, produced the startling
Walker, and other artists of that class, Mr.
lovely reality. These deformed
Fildes's ' Simpletons ' is very pleasing. for Theadmission to a miserable res
_____ two lovers in the boat have found a Art cosy nook
that is indifferent to beau
by the river's side, and are drifting into 'Simpletons,'
the cur he has made no at
rent among the rushes and water-lilies. Thee scene sparkles
but has with left it weird and repellin
sunlight, and from the action of the young couple it is evident that
fascinates the spectator in spite
they do not shun the light, but rather the intrusion of its
curious eyes
story. Art of this kind does n
as they float upoIn the tide. The maiden turns her head away as
pictorial beauty, but it teaches a
More
the tender words fall from her lover's lips ; the book rests in her lovable, and yet full of
lap unread; and her left hand is extendecl over the water, half un
'Widower' in the last Exhibitio
consciously, as if to stir the mirror-like surface which homely
reflects the cottage. The mnother is
emotions of her fair face. The subject is an old one, but credit is
returned from his daily labour
due to the artist for having inifused so large a measureand
of romance
holds in his arms a sick chil
and quiet grace into his lovers. The drawing is done withinggreat on the floor, the baby scram
precision, and the engraver in reproducing the subject has vely stands near the open door
sister
happily caught the inspiration of the painter. The picture
finds wasits way. This subject is si
exhibited in the Exhibition of the Royal Academy in I873.the heart as a story. drawn from
Mr. Fildes does not confine his attention entirely to these
In love
studying these several pictu
scenes. His great wvork entitled ' Applicants for Admission
the to a
remarkable versatility of h
Casual Ward '- " duimb, wet, silent horrors! Sphinixes set up
touch of Nature, a gleam of s
against that dead wall, and none likely to be at the pains of solving hearts are revelling, wit
young
them until the general overthrow," which was in the English he gives us the dark s
Again
department of the Centen-nial Exhibition at Philadelphia, represents
teaches a painfully moral lesso
another and more powerful motive and a bolder aim said, in Art. An the state of things he rep
English critic in a notice of this Mrarvellous picture ofmoved
beggars and than perpetuated, and i
tramps who stan-d shivering in the dIriving snow-stormshould
at the door be permanent, is rathe
of the work-house as they await their turn for admission, said in
striking picture of the ' Widow
substance that it is the most notable piece of realism that had
traordinary power, and one whic
been exhibited in a long time, and that the lines quoted ness, from as well as the pathos of
Dickens fairly described the mode in which the painter had ap
interest in the human mind.

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