Description
SEVENTY-FOUR PAGES OF LATE MEDIEVAL IMAGINATION IN COMMENTED IMAGES
This delicate German manuscript makes the impossible possible and also credible for the 15th century’s reader. 37 leaves are decorated with delicate full-page miniatures on the right, complete with short verses of an emblematic nature in German and Latin on the left. These goldheightened visual gems of illumination are juxtaposed with explanatory texts. The reasoning in picture and text follows a particular logic. If the gods of pagan antiquity are thought to have worked miracles, how much more credible are the miracles of the Christian world? How can anyone possibly doubt Mary’s virginity? If it is true that in Cappadocia mares are impregnated by the wind, then the Lord’s maid may also have conceived as a virgin. If Jupiter made Danae pregnant by a golden rain, then no one can doubt that Mary had a virgin birth. If in a temple of Venus, the oil lamp never goes out, this is a sure sign of Mary’s eternal virginity.
ENCHANTING MINIATURES OF THE COLOGNE SCHOOL
The miniatures were painted in an enchanting style by an unknown artist who obviously took particular joy in this
unusual text. He loves genre painting and dealing with antique figures that he outfits, however, with the clothing and appearance of his own day. Impressive interiors and atmospheric landscapes of a refreshing colourfulness are distinguishing features of his style, as is the love for details, which requires calm and patient contemplation by the viewer. It is truly amazing how well he manages to illustrate the inconceivable. The provenance from Cologne is furthermore underpinned by the marginal decoration: it shows the golden panicles so typical of the Cathedral city on the Rhine, twigs and foliage of gold, thickly applied to the parchment, with exquisite flowers in delicate colours.
MEDIEVAL IMAGES OF THE UNIMAGINABLE
It is actually quite amazing that even experts of the medieval mind discover ever-new ideas and thoughts in this book. Wonders of antiquity, conceptions taken from the Bible or the Apocryphal writings, and selected ideas of Albertus Magnus or Isidore
of Seville are all woven into a Marian vision of the world, which in this book is aimed only at one thing: proving the virginity of the mother of God. The entire book is based on simple, but frequently also enigmatic thoughts. The author of the text, a Dominican monk in Vienna named Franz von Retz (1343–1427), created a particular form of late medieval typology and emblemology, which due to its vividness could only be transposed and explained in painting.
