Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/674

 develop all the eventa of the life of the Bleaaed Virgin untU the birth of Christ (cf. the mosaics in the narthex of the KahriiS-Djarai at Conatantinople). Thir- tomA to Fifteenth Century.— The studios of iniiiiu- ture paintings for a long time felt the effects of the catastrophe of 1204, and after the thirteenth century the monks ceased to iUuminate luxuriously liturgical M8S. One of the AIS8. mtat characteriiitic of this period is that of the "Chronicle" of Skylities (Madrid, National Library, tliirteenlh century). The colour* are clear in tone and very fresh, but the artist liavuig no ancient model before him and left to his own nv sources, has executed veritable bona-hommes, which nevertheless charm by the vivacity of their movc- ntentu and their picturesque attitudes. The imitation of antiquity however was not abandoned, as is shown by the portraits of Doaiades aiid of Theocrilua (Cod. Paris, Ur. 28-.'i2) composed iu the fourteenth century, but probably copied from Alexandrian originals of the third and fourth centuries. Lastly attention is culled to certain fourteenth-century MSS. of Western or even Italian inspiration (Cod. Pans, Gr. 135: dated l:(02 ; on thisMS., written by ascribeof JohnVCantacuzcnus, there ia a Gothic monster, a knight with buckler orna- mented with fleur-de-lis, etc.). In the ijlavic coun- tricBj the illuminated MSS. of the Bulgarian, Kuiisian or Servian monasteries belong to the Byzantine school, but have also been directly inRueuccd by the Orient,

3 HAHUSORIPTS

of the human form in Irish M^^S. miiy be compared to what we find on certain ('optic monuments, buildings, or l^a-reliefs. In Ireland as in the Orient, itncient ornamentation finds little place; foliage is entirely ab- sent from this

.clui

ely;j5-53). Scandinavian influences appear in Russian MS3. (monsters and intcrlacings of initials); and one of the most remarkable monuments of Slavic miniature painting is the Servian Psalter of Munich, in which the paintings are executed by an impression- istic artist, who uses contmating colours instead of pen designs.

IV. WBSTERN MisiATUttEB,— The cvolution of min- iature fainting in the Occident n-aa quite different; the imitation of ancient models was never as complete as in tho Orient, and as in all other arts, the time came when the illuminator of MSS. abandoned tradition and attempted to copy nature. In the Occident even more than in the Orient, it is possible to follow a real development of illuminated books. Sixth U> Eighth Cenlant- — Until the Carlovingian epoch the sole orig- inal school of illumination is to be sought in the Irish monasterie.s, or in those founded on the Continent by Irish monks. The works of the Irish school are char- acterized by wonderful decorative sense, far removed from naturalism. Nothing ia moic graceful than the lar^ initials formed by libbtHis ornamented with inter- lacings, in the midst of which are sometimes human heads or animals. Some borders decorated with

tillibrord" {d. 730), Apoft-

ils, rose-work, and interlacings recall, hy their lUa- ay of fancy, pages of the illuminated Korans. Jn- l«eil there are m Irish art elements which are frankly

Slay of fancy, pages of the illuminal eeil there are in Irish art elements t .^

Oriental, and the geometrical and symmetrical aspect

'venth century; the "Evan-, belonging to the Diocese Lindisfame (British Museum, Cotton M^., Xcro D. IV), copied in honour of St. Cuthljcrt bv Bishop Eadfnth (fia3-721), Imund by Bishop j^thilwatcl, and ornamented with precious stones by the monk Billfrith, is also of great value. Althouga copied in an English monastery it possesses all Iho chanicterislicH of Irish art; l:irg<; initials ilccoratcd with iaterlacings and without foliage, tltc predomi- nance of simple colours (violet, green, yellow, red) absence of gold and silver, portraits of the evangelists similar to those on Byzantme MSS. Beginning with the sixth century this art of illumination was brought by Irish monks, not only to England but also to the Continent, where the mona.<leries of Ijuxeuil. W'ilri- hurg, St. Gall, and Bobliio bec:imc centrw of Irish art. .\a specimens of this pxii^msinn may be citc<t: the

" Evnngeliarium of St. Will ~

tie of the Frisians (Cod. Paris, supp. Lat. 693), of which the initials resem- ble those of the MS. of Durham; the " Evangeliar- iumof Macsevck" (Belgium) eighth century; the MS. of the Bible called Codex Bigotianus (Cod. Pans, Lat. 281 and 298), the work of the Abbey of Fecamp, eighth centuty; the so- called St. Cainim MS. (now with the Franciscans of Dublin, but origi- nating in Italy), in reality of the t«nth and ele venth centuries. Several MSS. of St. Gall contain miniatures of thissclKH>l, but nhowing foreign inHuonw.

Ill the re-it uf ICuroi>e, ;<i[iuni; tin' Visigoths, ths Franks, anii tlic Burguiirliuns, there w.'«^« v^<bk^ 4.