Bodleyan Library

 The famous library of Oxford University is one of the things to see when you visit that town. It was founded by Sir Thomas Bodley, one of the gentlemen of the first Queen Elizabeth, but it certainly contains books older then her time. Some are mediaeval manuscripts. A free exhibition there usually shows a couple of ancient manuscripts but these are certainly not always the same.

This I know because I visited the place several times and saw different books. First time I saw a book, written in Carolingian minuscule that supposedly belonged to Margaret queen of Scots, as well as a book by Christine de Pisan written in early 15th century bastarda. Unfortunately I didn't have a good camera with me, but I had something. Another time I saw an English Psalter from 14th century written in elegant textura. This time I had a better equipment to take a picture.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

DAPIFER CRACOVIENSIS

 The palace of bishop Erazm Ciołek in Cracow now houses a museum where one can see Cracow's Gothic painting. One of the pictures one can see there is the epitaph of Wierzbieta z Branic, which is not a stone monument but a framed painting with a pretty calligraphy on the frame. The inscription is of course in Latin, praising (as not unusual on an epitaph) dapifer Cracoviensis Wierzbieta de Branice. "Dapifer" was a high rank on the royal court, whereas Branice was the village the said dapifer was from.

There is no date but the style of the painting suggests the first part of the 15th century.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Calligraphy triptych in London's National Gallery

 In London's National Gallery there are, of course, plenty of pictures, but I spotted one triptych that had a picture in the middle but calligraphy on its wings. The description next to it says that it was by a Flemish painter and dated around 1485. It (the script) does look like a something between mediaeval textura and Baroque German fraktur. I have seen similar script, this time cut in stone, in a Flemish town of Bruges. It was undated (or at least I could not see any date) but this picture here gives an idea when the script was used.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Documents in Casa de Sefarad in Cordoba

 Not far from La Mesquita in Cordoba there is a little museum called Casa de Sefarad. The name implies it is something about Jews who were driven away from Spain by the Inquisition and of course there are some documents of the Inquisition on display. Whatever is written on them, they are excellent examples of the calligraphy of the time, which is Renaissance.

Interestingly, the two documents shown here say the same thing. They are both in Spanish, so whoever knows that language can actually read them. One is in fashionable at the time antiqua script, which was rather difficult to write (but despite it looking like print must have been written by hand). The other document is written in much easier to write corsiva script (often called italic outside Italy).

The two documents say the same therefore one has to assume that the decorative initial that looks like A must in fact be N.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Western calligraphy in La Mesquita in Cordoba

 La Mesquita used to be a mosque, there are plenty on examples of Arabic calligraphy there. They are all older than 1236, though, as in this year the city was conquered by Christians and the mosque changed into a Cathedral. Since that date all calligraphy there is Western. Few people notice them, but there some good examples of it.

The oldest are written in Lombardic versals. I can't see any date in them but the style is clearly mediaeval. What is peculiar is that both "A" and "E" have a double bar (the second example "E" only sometimes but "A" always). I don't understand what is written there, I guess it is in Latin.

Later epitaphs are written in classical capitalis, which means they are no earlier than Renaissance. Similar writing on arches above are dated. The letters on the epitaphs are very elegant, the ones on the arches less so, though both have typical Renaissance contractions, for example one letter being smaller and entirely inside another.

There are more epitaphs written in very graceful antiqua script. They are in Spanish and at least one is dated more or less the same as the rather cumbersome writing on the arches.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Czartoryski museum in Cracow again

 I already mentioned the Czartoryski museum in Cracow and presented some mediaeval documents there. 

The Czartoryski family was one of the richest aristocratic families in Poland who collected a number of pictures of various origins, not just from Poland. Therefore it is no surprise that there are some pictures in the museum painted in Catalonia or Italy. I present here some that have some calligraphy in them. The first two were painted in Catalonia in 1360, the third in Italy around 1410.

In the case of the pictures painted in Catalonia Lombardic versals were used on a fame above the saints' heads but textura for the inscription they hold in their hands, whereas St Jerome holds his text written in Lombardic versals.

St John, ca. 1360

Fragment of the inscription on the above picture

St James the Elder

Fragments of the above painting

St Jerome, Italy, ca. 1410

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Epitaph in Lincoln Cathedral

 Here is calligraphy in a floor epitaph in Lincoln Cathedral. Floor epitaphs were placed especially so people walk on them, but it of course contributed to their wear. It is written in Lombardic versals and dated, however, the date only says MCCC and thereafter it is worn out and not visible. So it could have another C, but certainly no more, as normally a "D" was written instead of five C's. So we have here an approximate date: 14th or 15th century. Still, better than nothing.

Interesting here is use of both "V" and "U" where we today spell "u".

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.

Turin museum

Manuscripts you don't normally appreciate these days. There may be some mediaeval book exhibited in a museum, but even if so, it is often open on one page in a glass case. This is the case in Turin Museum, where one can see an exquisite copy of a missal finished (so a comment next to it says) the very year Columbus returned from America. It is a perfect example of the Italian rotunda hand.

In the same museum I found an interesting reliquary with some calligraphy on it, I present it here, too.

There is a book available, based on this blog.  

On the blog there is, so to speak, more room, one can show more illustrations there. Blogs, however, come and go, there is no certainty that it will be there ten years from now. The book, on the other hand, once you acquire it, will last, one can be sure of that.