Major Tendencies in Central European Manuscript Illumination:
From the 13th to the 15th Century
funded by the FWF, Elise Richter Programme, V 655
November 2018 - October 2022
How a work of art is anchored in time, place and society is a basic question, art historians are expected to answer. The search for methods to determine this, is older than the profession itself, and is still topical. For decorated medieval manuscripts art historical expertise has additional relevance, as books are not only part of the cultural heritage preserving works of art on their pages, they are also historical sources. Their placement is fundamental for any further research based on the pictures as well as on the texts. With the ongoing digitalization and online presentation of medieval manuscripts they become more accessible than ever before, for the scientific community and for the public at large. The mere number of these works is intimidating, and the need for a better understanding of the general lines in the development of their decoration - which can help to determine the context of origin for a good number of them - is apparent. The project sets out to open perspectives to facilitate the contextualization of Central European manuscripts from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, on the basis of their decoration and illustration.
Historical accounts that trace the artistic development of manuscript illumination over a prolonged period, generally start with major works and then move on to discuss precursors, particularities, and impacts. The problem with this method is that these works usually only come about as the result of specific conditions, and for the majority of the material that has come down to us one cannot simply assume that these conditions were the same. Therefore, production contexts were investigated for more substantial groups of books. Guiding questions were, how the making of decorated manuscripts was organised, who was the most important clientele supporting it, what kinds of texts were copied - and how this effected the layout of the books.
Another aspect that proved relevant to the study is the development of book illumination in neighbouring countries. Comparisons enabled a better evaluation of the special conditions in Central Europe, and competitive situations seem to have arisen again and again, to which the artists reacted in the conception of their works.
First published results:
Zwischen Eigenleistung und gewerblicher Serienfertigung: Psalter aus Augsburg und Regensburg. In: Christine Beier / Michaela Schuller-Juckes (Hg.): Europäische Bild- und Buchkultur im 13. Jahrhundert. Wien / Köln / Weimar 2020, S. 225-241, open access, FWF-E-Book-Library
Buchmalerei für St. Peter in Salzburg: Das 15. Jahrhundert. In: Cornel Dora und Andreas Nievergelt (Hg.): Fenster zur Ewigkeit. Die ältesten Bibliotheken der Welt. Wiesbaden 2021 (= Bibliothek und Wissenschaft 54), S. 193-220
Fleuronnée von Jaquet Maci, ein Autorenbild im Pucelle-Stil und die mitteleuropäische Konkurrenz für Pariser Buchausstatter in der ersten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts. Studie zur Exempelsammlung Cod. 472 in Innsbruck, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Tirol. In: Codices Manuscripti & Impressi. Zeitschrift für Buchgeschichte, Heft 140/141 (2022), S. 1-12