A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF EARLY PRINTS. t p A DESCRIPTIVE :atalogue of early prints IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. VOL. I. GERMAN AND FLEMISH SCHOOLS. BY WILLIAM HUGHES WH.LSHIRK. MP. Kdin, LONDON, 1879: PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. LONGMANS & CO., Paternoster Row; B. QUARLTCH, 15, Piccadilly; A. ASHER & CO., 13, Bedford Street, CcvENT Garden ; TRUBNER & CO., 57 & 59, Ludgate Hill. CHISWICK PRESS: C. WHITTINGHAM, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. IHe Quvf mm MONG the numerous works in the Museum Collection of Prints are many early cuts from both wood-blocks and metal plates, which, though often not possessing qualities of artis- tic value, are of importance in relation to the history of engraving as illustrating the religious and social aspects of their time. Many of them being unique, all being scarce, and their congeners fast disappearing from the print market, it has been deemed advisable to bring them together and de- scribe them under their characteristic features. By this means it is trusted that these early efforts in an important branch of Art may be rendered more interesting and more instructive than they could be while left undistin- guished and dispersed among the general collection. The examples described in the present work are anony- mous prints chiefly of the German and Flemish schools of the fifteenth and the first quarter of the sixteenth century. It is intended that the Catalogue now placed before the public shall be followed by other volumes containing the works of Masters of the same schools. The present Catalogue is the work of Dr. W. Hughes Will shire. Geokge William Reid. Muy^ 1879. vi P BE FACE. In tlie performance of the duty which has devolved on the author, he has endeavoured to lighten somewhait the dryness of mere technical details by occasional referenc^es to the symbolism and legendary histories which many of the examples described directly illustrate. These references are but limited in extent, it is true, but to have widened the field of commentary would have been to depart further from the legitimate object of the Catalogue than was justifiahle. In carrying out his intentions the author has freely had recourse to the important work of Messrs. T. 0. Weige l and Zestermann, " Die Anfange der Druckerkunst in BildI und Schrift," &c., Leipzig, 1866. In this work, both archaBO- logical and technical information were ready to the hand of the writer, as well as descriptions of many of the prints formerly in the cabinet of Mr. T. 0. Weigel, and now among the treasures of the British Museum. Another writer to whom much is due is the late Mrs. Anna Jameson. Of her several interesting volumes on Sacred and Legendary Art free use has been made. To omit mention of the obligations which the author has been under to Edward Maunde Thompson, Esq., the Chief of the Manuscript Department, of the Museum, in helping him to the decipherment of some obscure texts and inscriptions, and to Robert E. Graves, Esq., of the Department of Printed Books, for valuable aid, would be as uncourteous as unjust. William Hughes Willshire. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3V-~^«) <9><»^-~>« PAGE I^^T^^^ NTKODUCTION 3 ^1 DIVISION A. '^^S^ Special Incunabula . . . - . . 13 «^-A,J^*C:^5 Corona Lucis of Aix-la-Chapelle . 15; Appendix, 333 The '• Passion " of the Master of the year 1457 ..... 30 The Virgin and Child, by Wolfgang, a.d, 147 7 . . 42 ; Appendix, 335 DIVISION B. Prints in the Maniere Criblee .... 47 Ten Commandments, and the Trespass of them . . . . - SI A " Passio Christi," fragment of . . . . . . . .64 Christ on the Cross 74 Crucifixion of the " Mazarine " or Gutenberg Bible .... 79 " Ecce Homo ..... 85 Scenes from the Life of Christ . . . . . . . .87 " Salvator Mundi " 89 Archangel Michael .......... 90 " Madonna in Gloria " . . . . . . . . .91 Purification 92 Death, &c., of the Virgin . . . . . . . . • 93 Saint Andrew ........... 96 „ Anthony ........... 97 ,, Beriihardino of Siena ......... 98 „ Christopher . . . . . . . . . .100 „ Francis of Assisi . . . . . . . . .103 „ George of Cappadocia . . . . . . . . .105 Mass of Saint Gregory . . . . . . . . . 1 06 Saint Jerome . . . . . . . . . . .110 ,, Laurence . . . . . . . . . . .111 „ Mai'tin . . . . . , . . . . .112 „ Eoch . , . . . , . . . . .113 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 PAGii Saint Sebastian , . . . . . . . . . .114 Barbara . , . . . . . . . . .115 „ Catherine of Alexandria . . . . . . . .117 Dorothea . . . . . . . . . .121 „ Female, unrecognized . . . . . . . .122 A Judicial Duel .122 Modifications of the Maniere CrihUe . . . . . . . 1 24 Christ adored by a Monk . . . . . . . . . 1 24 Virgin and Unicorn . • . . . . . . . .125 Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara . . . . . . • 1 3 1 Various Male and Female Saints . . . . . . -132 Tree of Consanguinity , . . . . . . . .136 DIVISION C. Metal cuts . . . . .141 Holy Trinity . . . • H5 Infant Chi-ist on a Flower . . . . . . . . ,146 Christ before Herod . . ....... .148 The Flagellation of Christ 149 The Stripping of Christ 1 5© Christ on the Cross . . . . . . . . . .151 Instruments of the Passion . . . . . . . .152 Sacred Cipher .......... • ISS Vu-gin and Infant Christ . . . . . . . . .156 " Hortus Conclusus," &c. . . . . . . . . .158 Saint Jerome . ...... ... .160 „ Nicholas of Tolentino . . . . . . . ,161 „ Sebastian 162 „ Female and Martyr 1 63 Cuts from the " Horace " of the year 1498 . . . . . .164 DIVISION D. Woodcuts . . . . .166 Biblia Pauperum . • . . . . • . • .174 Apocalypsis Sancti Johannis . . . . . . . .183 Der Entkrist 185 Quindecim Signa " 19' Dat Sterfboeck 191 Speculum Hiunanse Salvationis . . • 193 Meditationes de Turrecremata . . . . . . . . 1 94 Saint Christopher 194 „ Brigitta of Sweden ... 1 96 Christ on the Cross . . . • . . . • • • 197 Various Saints at St. Ulrich's, Augsburg 198 Alphabet in Figures .......... 200 Moses 209 Sacrifice of Abraham . . . . . . • • • .211 TABLE OF CONTENTS. ix PAGE Jesus on a Bank . . . . . . . . . .211 Jesus as a Franciscan . . . . . . , . ,212 Raising of Lazarus . . . . . . . . . .213 " Ecce Homo " 215 The Flagellation and Mockery . . . . . , . .218 Virgin and Loin Clotli . . . . . . . . .219 Christ on the Cross .......... 220 A"Pietk" 227 Christ as the Gardener . . . . . . . . .228 Last Judgment .......... 229 Christ Enthroned . . -. . . ... . . .231 Saint John . . . . . . . . . . . 23 1 Chi'ist before Caiaphas . . - . . . . . . . 232 Cuts from a " Passion 233 Christ on a Tau .......... 234 Sacred Cipher, &c. .......... 235 Instruments of the " Passion 237 Scenes from the Life of Christ . . . . . . . . 238 Angelic Sahitation . . . . . . . . , .238 " Madonna in Gloria 239 Virgin and Child .......... 240 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin . . . . . . . 240 Vu'gin, Infant Christ, and St. Anna . . . . . . .241 Virgin and Child .......... 244 " L'Incoronata " .......... 245 The Nativity ........... 246 A " Reposo 247 Virgin and Child in Glory ......... 248 Virgin, Infant Christ, and St. Anna ....... 249 " Maria addolorata " . . . . . . . . . .250 Instruments of the " Passion " and Sacred Heart . . . . ,251 Saint John the Baptist ......... 252 „ James the Greater ......... 255 » Paul 255 Peter 256 Intercessory Saints . . . . . . . . . .2j6 Saint Anthony ...... ..... 259 Saint Anthony and Saint Sebastian . . . . . . -259 „ Bernhard of Clairvaux . . ..... 261 „ Christopher . . . . . . . ... .261 „ Florian 262 „ George and Dragon ......... 262 Mass of Saint Gregory . . . . , . . . .264 Saint Jerome ........... 268 „ Hubert . . ^ 274 „ Peter Martyr .......... 275 „ Sebastian ........... 275 „ Wolfgang 278 X- TABLE OF CONTENTS. TAGi: Saint Barbara . . . . . . . . . '. .279 „ Bridget, of Sweden ......... 280 „ Catherine, of Alexandria . . . . . . . .281 Assumption of Mary of Egypt . . . . . . . .283 Saint Rosalia ........... 284 Genealogical Tree of the Dominicans . . . . . . .285 Various Religious Subjects . ....... 289 Apparition of Christ . . . . . . . . . .290 Rosary and Indulgence . . . . . . . . .291 Ten Commandments . . . . . . . . . .292 Mirror of Penitence . . . . ... . . . .294 A Pastoral Directorium . . . . . . . . .296 Hermits . . . . . . . . , . . .297 Ten Periods of Life .......... 298 Seven Ages of Man . . . . . . . . , .301 Kalendars ........... 302 Emblem of the World ......... 30.5 Tabula Cebetis ........... 306 Mirror of Death .......... 309 Henry and Kunigunda . . . . . . . . .310 DIVISION E. Exceptional Processes . . . .311 An Impression in Paste . . . . . . . . '313 Forms Black on a White Ground . . . . . . .314 Composite Effects . . . . . . . . . •317 Forms White on a Black Ground . . . . . . .318 A Sepulchral Brass . . . . . . . . . .324 Composite Effects .......... 325 Lights becoming Darks ......... 3^7 Appendix. . . . . -331 A Processional Cross .......... 333 Mary with the Child, adored by the Abbot Ludwig .... 335 LIST OF PLATES AND REFERENCES TO THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR SUBJECTS IN THE VOLUME. LATE 1. Frontispiece. The Crucifixion of the Mazarine or Gutenberg Bible. Re- ^ ducecl in size. Page 79, B. 7. PLATE 11. The "Last Supper" from the "Passion" of the Master of the Year 1457. Page 32, No. 3. PLATE III. Saint Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata. Reduced in size. Page 103, B. 23. PLATE IV. Saint Roch. Page 113, B. 32. PLATE V. Saint Dorothea of Cappadocia. Page 121, B. 41. PLATE VI. The Holy Trinity. Reduced in size. Page 145, C. 1. PLATE VII. Virgin and Infant Christ. Reduced in size. Page 156, C. 11. LIST OF PLATES, ETC. PLATE YIIl. Tlie Letters E, F, L, and ornamental cut of " An Alphabet in Figures." Reduced in size. Page 201, Nos. 5, 6; page 202, No. 11; page 203, No. 24. PLATE IX. The Mass of Saint Gregory with an Indulgence. Reduced in size. Page 264, D. 80. PLATE X. The Lover. Page 315, E. 3. INTRODUCTION. B INTRODUCTION. S the series of early prints hereafter described passes in review before the student, he can scarcely fail of being struck by certain pecu- liarities which it possesses. In the first place, he wiU be impressed most likely by the character of the subjects represented in it. Secondly, by the particular manner in which these subjects have been designed and artistically treated. Thirdly, his attention may be arrested by the various technical processes through which these designs have been developed on the wood blocks and metal plates from which the impressions before him have been derived. As regards the character of a large majority of the subjects represented, it will be seen that it is of a religious nature, the sub- jects being chosen from the Old and New Testaments, from the traditions of the Church, and from the Lives of the Saints. As relates to the manner in which these subjects are treated, the ob- server can hardly avoid being impressed by the stern realism with which the stories have been told, and by the often almost repulsively exaggerated manner in which that realism has been expressed. In a few examples he will meet with, it is true, ideality, suavity, and a certain sensuous yet pathetic grace associated with a refinement in the forms appealing to a like spirit of feeling and culture in those whom such examples may attract. But in general both artist and spectator would appear as if they felt called upon chiefly to affirm that sorrow is physical pain, and that physical pain compels our humanity to make known by physical signs what it suffers. That suffering if of endurancy entails bodily degradation, that torture is torture, thorns are ttorns, blood is blood, and that insult, contempt, and mockery both have and exhibit unmistakable signs of their intent and pur- pose. Simply to hint such things through a veil of ecstatic feeling 4 INTRODUCTION. or mystic symbolism was elearly not the self-imposed duty of the authors of these works of Art_, or if a Christian symbolism have been resorted to it was in union with such an unmistakable mate- rial expression of its underlying realities as to constitute rather a dramatic than a spiritual representation of the incidents meant to be conveyed. While examining the various technical processes by which the designs afterwards described have been worked out by the engraver, even those persons not unfamiliar with ordinary technical procedures might find themselves at fault in tendering a satisfactory account of some of the methods which have been there adopted. As to the manner in which the ordinary woodcuts of Division 4 (D) , for ex- ample, were executed on the blocks, and of that by which these blocks were made to yield impressions, not any difficulty could be experienced, but when the examples under Divisions 2 (B) and 5 (E) come under notice, the rationale of their technic may not be so apparent, even if it be not felt to be quite unexplainable. Another striking feature connected with the technical execution of the incu- nabula before us is the particular manner in which many of them have been coloured. It may be asked. What explanation can be offered for the preva- lence of these peculiarities among the rude witnesses to the Art of engraving in Germany and other Northern countries during the fifteenth century, and now under notice ? In the first place it should be borne in mind that in the countries this side of the Alps that particular phase in the general movement of the Renaissance, as the latter related to Art — viz. the classical Renaissance, had been up to the middle of the fifteenth century in Germany and neighbouring regions rather destructive or obstructive than constructive in its work. In Italy, on the contrary, it had not only broken down the limits within which the religious system of the Middle Ages had encircled Art, but had overflown the artistic manifestations of Christian sentiment with a flood of ideas and imagery drawn from the legends of classical poetry and of pagan life. The new-born oflFspring of this rejuvenescence formed already tangible results to the Italian kingdoms, which though now deprived for ever of many of the hands which had expressed the faith in pic- tures of mystic passion and religious reverie, were then beginning to reap the fruits of the new evolution in Art, as they had already done in literature. This evolution, though compromising for a time the earlier severities of Christian Art, yet dealt with its subjects' in a manner which, while satisfying the demands of the Church and the people now influenced by the humanistic studies of the classical literary Renaissance, was nevertheless destined at a future period to lose altogether its hold of the spirituality of Art, and to find its INTRODUCTION. S home only "in the life of the senses and the blood — blood no longer dropping from the hands in sacrifice, as with Angelico, but as with Titian^, burning in the face for desire and lore." (Pater's " History of the Renaissance_," p. 200.) To the Northern nations not any such garnerings of new harvests were yet practicable. Destined to receive the impetus of the Re- naissance from the South, Germany and the Low Countries had to wait for any substantial gifts it had to offer, until, e. g. adventurous countrymen penetrating beyond the Alps, and becoming animated with tbe spirit of the New Evangel, should return to the levels of the Lower Rhine, where the Yan Eycks would open out the new pathway, and the German masters of Niirnberg, Ulm, Augsburg, and Kolmar would follow in the train. It is thus apparent that before the new influence revolutionizing Southern Art could be felt in the North, a shock had to be expe- rienced. This was the unproductive break between the old medias- val Christian Art and the Art of the new or classical Renaissance. The ancient thoughts of mediaBval Christianity, as represented in the architecture, sculpture, and painting of a former period, no longer flowed in from Italian sources to beyond the Alps, and the peoples left to themselves were as yet unable to evolve anything from the new influences then vivifying the more cultured minds of Italy, All that the North made of Art for itself it still made Gothic, the artist still acknowledged the direction of the Church, which continued to act under the direction of the Great Gregory, as to the instruction of the less literate by pictorial representations — " nam quod legentibus scriptura, hoc idiotis prcestat pictura cernenti- hus, qida in ipsa eliam ignor antes vident quid sequi deheant, in ipsa legunt qui litteras nesciunt. TJnde et prcecipue gentibus pro lectione pictura est." (Migne, Pat. cursus, torn. Ixxvii.) Thus does it happen that such remains of German Art as have reached our time from the fifteenth century generally partake not only of the religious but of the medieeval or of the Gothic religious character. In replying to the next legitimate inquiry, — Why this character was portrayed in the exaggeratedly realistic and bizarre way in which it appears in the class of engravings at least now under con- sideration ? — we must retrace our steps somewhat. In the evolution of Art, or before the development of the Italian ' Renaissance, painting began as the handmaiden of religion and of the Church, more particularly under the fostering care of the two great and popular Orders of St. Francis of Assisi and St, Dominic. Guided by this directive influence the artist strove to represent the more mystical ideas of medigeval Christianity, and from the middle of the thirteenth to that of the fifteenth century we find its thoughts r 6 INTRODUCTION. and emotions embodied in the spiritualized conceptions of a Cimabue, Orcagna, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Filippino Lippi, and a Francia, and at an after-period in the more secularized ideas of a Raphael, Michael Angelo, and a Da Vinci, It happily fell to the lot of many of these great workers to have at their command full scope and opportunity for the exertion of their talents. The walls of palaces, of churches, of monasteries, cemeteries, and convents, and which were more or less open to the people, were at their disposal, and the higher and more cultivated minds were at once the helpers and the helped, for what the former gave to Art the latter bestowed much upon them in return. In the North these advantages were wanting. The people lived at home and not abroad; their life was more domestic than public ; their rooms were small, wall space for decoration was limited, and the climate was inimical to works in fresco and tem- pera. The minds of the people, too, had not been influenced by Dante and Petrarch, and their thoughts and emotions were those of the North, not of the South. Hence, such indigenous Art as existed was small in character from domestic requirements, and of a type conformable to the predilections of a Northern race. As the Church in the North could not offer opportunities for rival- ling the frescoes and temperas of its Southern sister, it remained satis- fied with directing the energies of Art towards the religious educa- tion of the mass of the people by the plentiful distribution among it of such inferior artistic produce as is hereafter described, and with the decoration of places of limited extent with interrasile, chased silver, and other metal plates, and ornaments of religious character, and plates engraved in the maniere crihlSe, from some of which im- pressions were afterwards printed off on parchment and paper, thoiigh the plates were not originally intended to serve such a purpose. In thus forwarding the religious culture of the people, the Church was forced to be satisfied with Art of a very unidealized quality, except when the subject became purely decorative in treat- ment. Art continued Gothic and often of a grotesque form, the old Italian influence was prevented from idealizing the parts beyond the Alps, and as the modern Renaissance feelings were not yet in operation among either princes or people, the spirit of Art became gradually lost in its matter, and grew more realistic and outre day by day. Nevertheless, the Church accepted the position; for by this same realistic treatment the thoughts and legends intended to be conveyed went forcibly home to the minds of a certain and extensive body of the faithful, and hence Art did not fail in its results. If the earlier Italian masters shed an influence over the cultivated as well as on the ruder minds of their period, it must not be forgotten that the INTRODUC TION. 7 bulk of the more realistic productions of the North was to exert a power over such persons as could not come under the spell and teaching- of frescoes and temperas, except to a very limited extent. That these productions did exert a power, and a great one too, is scarcely matter for astonishment, for, as remarked by Mr. Symonds — " Tke most prized among the Christian virtues had no neces- sary connection with beauty of feature and strength of limb. Such beauty and such strength at any rate were accidental, not essential. A Greek faun could not but be graceful, a Greek hero was of neces- sity vigorous. But Saint Stephen might be stedfast to the death without physical charm ; Saint Anthony might put to flight the devils of the flesh without muscular force, and supposing that the artist should abandon the attempt to exclude ugliness and discord, pain and confusion from his representation of the ' Dies Irse,' bow could he succeed in setting forth by the sole medium of the human body the anxiety and anguish of the soul at such a time ? " {" The Eenaissance in Italy vol. iii. p. 15.) It is at the two extremes indeed of Art dealing with Christian topics that the more legitimate and vivifying effects of it may be seen. Between these two, the spiritual and the almost cruelly realistic — the one which implies that the more or less spiritual feeling in the artistes manner should be the test of his degree of excellence, the otlier ignoring everything but a painful reality — there comes an epoch in Art in which the worship of personal beauty merely and sensuous enjoyment in the embodiment of Christian themes become antagonistic rather than productive of serious thought. Eeligion in the representations of the Venetian painters, e.g. becomes either a magnificent parade or a sensual poem, as distant from what it is on the mystic panels of the Master of Siena, breathing an ecstasy of adoration and depth of fervour, as was the life of the recluse of Camaldoli from that of the Lord of the Adriatic. It not being, then, in the power either of the artist or his patron to spread abroad idealized conceptions of the dogmas of Christianity and of its legendary history, and the Church finding that its pur- pose could be well answered by the promulgation among the general public of such realistic expressions of them as the artistic feeling of the time could readily produce, eagerly welcomed these productions. Nor were they less acceptable to the common people, to whom such literal and forcible transcripts of religious history spoke with an energy and interest commensurate with their powers of intellec- tual appreciation. Thus was put in circulation a mass of small subjects of religious character, in the treatment of which neither the mystic idealism of the early Italian schools nor the sensuous beauty of the classical Renaissance had any part, but interpenetrating 8 INTRODUCTION. which everywhere might be seen a realism and common-life render- ing of all subjects sanctioned b}'- the Church, a rendering too often, it must be admitted, which passed into the grotesque, the offensive, the absurd. It is important, however, that it should be borne in mind that underlying the realistic treatment of the scriptural and religious subjects by the early Northern schools were to be found the same legends and traditions as lay beneath the spiritual and refined transcripts of the more poetic schools of the South. The Life of the Virgin, the Passion of Christ, the acts and sufferings of the saints and martyrs, formed the chief topics of both schools, however diffe- rently they might be treated artistically. Whether, then, to under- stand the meaning of the frescoes of Giotto and Orcagna, or of the coarsely coloured wood and metal cuts of the Northern masters of the fifteenth century, an acquaintanceship with the devotional history and legends of the Middle Ages is as necessary as a knowledge of the heathen mythology and fable is requisite for the comprehension of the subjects represented on the marbles and vases of Greece and Etruria. But besides the knowledge of the subjects and traditions, that of the technical symbolism which was employed by the artist — or of " Christian Iconography " — is of essential need, or otherwise mediaeval Art addresses- the spectator in an untranslatable tongue. Added therefore to the descriptions hereafter given of the prints comprised in the present Catalogue, some details may occasionally be met with in illustration of their legends and symbolism. They are necessarily limited, however, in amount and scope, and therefore for the full appreciation of such early pictorial transcripts of Christian Art as are here described, the student is recommended to peruse the following and analogous works — DiDEON, M. " Christian Iconography, or the History of Chris- tian Art in the Middle Ages.^^ Translated by E. J. Millington, for Bohn's "Illustrated Library .^^ London, 1851. HusENBETH, F. C, D.D., V.G. " Emblems- of Saints by which they are distinguished in Works of Art.^' Second Edition. London, 1860. Jameson, Mes. Anna. Sacred and Legendary Art.'' " Legends of the Madonna.'' " Legends of the Monastic Orders." Jameson, Mes., and Lady Eastlake. " The History of our Lord." Several issues of a^ove works. Wessely, J. E. Iconographie Gottes und der Heiligen." Leipzig, 1874. To these may be added with profit the works of Cahier, Piper, Rohault de Fleury, Twining, and Tyrwhitt. Many other names might be recorded, but the above are sufficient indications for all ordinary purposes. INTRODUCTION. 9 Lefaving the subjects and their general designs and composition treatedl of in the incunabula before us^ we pass on to notice their technical execution. Since the religious teaching — as far as Art was comcerned — of the middle and lower classes in the North could not be' provided for by the temperas and frescoes of church and converut walls, nor by the illuminations and miniatures of costly manuscripts, and as the sculpture and symbols of ecclesiastical buildinigs could have with these classes but a limited influence, it was lefft to be effected by the dissemination of small and cheaply producible pictures, image-prints, or " Helgen/^ These were mainly indebted for their production to the gradually developing proces.'S of engraving in various methods, on wood blocks and metal plates. That in this new executive branch of Art good designers and faiir draughtsmen, as also excellent technical workmen, were engaged during at least the second half of the fifteenth century, those persoms who are acquainted with early German and Flemish Art must be well aware. The Masters of 1464, of 1466, Martin Schon- gauer, Franz von Bocholt, Michael Wohlgemuth, Lukas van Leyden, and otihers, will at once occur to them. They will recall too the " Apo(calypse " of Albert Diirer — not to mention anything else — as showing what could be effected during the latter portion of the fifteenlth century as regards both design and technical execution on wocod. Even if we do not take cognizance of these Masters, but regard- those only whose names and exact residences are unknown, as e.g.. the authors of the first edition of the " Ars Moriendi,'' of the Biblia Pauperum Preedicatorium,^^ of the " Canticum Cantictorum/^ of the Figured Alphabet, and of other works afterw;ards described or alluded to — all works having their origin probably during the first half of the fifteenth century — we are justificid in our previous statement as to the capabilities of certain of the) designers and engravers of the time. In some of the works of the Masters who have been mentioned there is either a sublimity of thought, a grace, or a refinement combined with techni(cal execution which have not been surpassed to the present day. Nevertheless, it must be readily admitted that ideality, re- finemc'nt of design, goodness of drawing and equivalent technical execution were not the usual characteristics of that time. The artists employed were of inferior capacity, often in fact more crafts- men than artists in all departments^ though seemingly well suited to certain requisitions of their age. They produced quickly, abun- dantly, and cheaply pictorial conceptions which appealed to and held firmly the religious feelings of the people at large. Their technical execution was of a very formal kind, often both bad in itself and made worse by gratuitous negligence, and this added to the meagre- lO INTRODUCTION. ness of the forms in the designs^ served to bestow on these early re- cords of the engraver^s art an archaic and rude character. Such records could not be justly stated^, by any means, to represent the whole circle of the engraver^s power of the time_, though they might serve as its popular representatives. In addition to these drawbacks, the aids to print off the im- pressions were of the most primitive kind, and to attract the attention and please the taste of the class for which these prints were chiefly intended the latter were generally coloured, but in a crude and careless way, and had frequently spread over them a gummy varnish which, while it tended perhaps to fix the more fugitive tints employed, served also as an additional attraction. Yet there was more than this intended to be expressed in the colouring of these early prints, for in some instances a regular system was adopted in its execution, since different local schools of Northern Art followed distinct systems, and so steadfastly adhered to them as to permit of their use in modern times in determining the probable places where such coloured prints were produced. Some peculiar features of certain of our early cuts (Division 3, C) arose from the circumstance that the original engravings from which the impressions have been obtained were executed in relief on metal plates, instead of on wood blocks. The results hence arising will be afterwards noticed. A marked trait in the records herein given of early German prints, is that which relates to the number of impressions which have been printed from metal plates engraved in the style known as the manure crihlee, or " large dotted manner Perhaps there are not any more strange looking productions than these in the whole range of engravings. Some of them were worked off from plates never intended by their authors to be printed from. Hence here every- thing is en rehours, or in reverse ; that, e.g. which is naturally a right-handed action becomes in the impression a left-handed one, and vice versa, while all inscriptions appear as if written backwards. Even on those impressions obtained from plates apparently pro- duced for being printed from, the admixture of various technical processes, such as intagliate and relief engraving, punch and rou- lette work, scraping, fraying, and point technic, on the original and same plates, has stamped an individuality and character as outre as they are remarkable. Finally, and still in reference to this portion of the subject, it may be observed that the engraver followed occasionally an opposite method to that generally adopted for producing the necessary effects on the original metals. Thus, on the impressions being worked off, the lights on the metals became darks on the impressions, and the darka appeared lights if the plates were inked and cleaned in the INTRODUCTION. 1 1 ordinary manner. In other instances plates engraved after the usual methods were yet inked and worked off in such exceptional ways as to give rise to impressions very puzzling in their character. The examples of early Art described in the following pages have been arranged under five heads — viz. Divisions A, C, D, and E. Under Division A are included three interesting illustrations of engraving in intaglio, not well arrangeable elsewhere, and each example having a special interest of its own. Under Division B are contained impressions from metal plates engraved in the maniere criblee, or large dotted manner." Under Division C may be found described impressions from metal plates engraved in relief, as in the manner of wood engraving. Under Division D are placed. ordinary woodcuts. Under Division E have been described some illustrations of ex- ceptional and peculiar methods of engraving the original plates and blocks, and of exceptional ways of producing impressions from original plates and blocks which have been themselves engraved in an ordinary manner. In the arrangement of the several items which come under these divisions the following sequence has been adopted, viz. — Subjects connected with Old Testament History are placed first. Secondly come those illustrative of New Testament History. The Life and Passion of Christ have here the first place. Archangels, angels, and other heavenly personages follow. The Blessed Virgin comes next, and then in a regular sequence, according to name and sex, follow the Evangelists, the Saints and Martyrs of the Church, other holy persons, pious subjects, profane subjects, &c. DIVISION A. SPECIAL INCUNABULA. CORONA LUCIS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. A. I. a. SERIES of sixteen impressions from engraved Copper-Plates, forming parts of a " Corona Lncis " in the Cathedral of Aix-la- Chapelle. LATTER THIRD OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. NORTHERN GERMANY. A. I. b. ER Kronleuchter Kaisers Friedrich Barbarossa im Karolingischen Miinstcr zu Aachen und die formverwandten Lichterkronen zu Hil- desheim und Combm-g, nebst 20 erklarenden Holzschnitten und l6 von den Original -Kupferplatten des Aachener Kronleuchters abge- zogenen Darstellungen beschrieben von Dr. Fr, Rock, Ehren-Stiftsherrn, etc. etc. Aachen, 1863. Polio. The scries of prints niow to be described are bound in A. 1. a,, as a folio volume, and is preceded by a printed description taken apparently from a book or sale catalogue. PLATE L CHRIST AS SAVIOUR OF THK WORLD. ilTHIN a circle of 7|- inches in diameter, and having an inner l)order | ths of an inch wide, is a design representing our Lord as Saviour of the world. He is seated on an upper rainbow and rests His feet upon a lower one. He is clad in a bordered toga-like mantle, drawn tightly in round the waist. A cruciform nimbus encircles the head, the hair of wbich divided along the middle falls down in curls upon the shoulders. A short beard is on the face. Our Lord holds in the right hand' an open book, and in the left' a globe. Above the globe and beside Christ's head is the Greek ^ It must be borne in mind tliat the reverse is the case in the original metal plate from which the impression has been taken. i6 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. Alpha surmounted by a cross, and above the book on the other side is the Oviega, with a like addition. Laterally by the book and globe kneels an angel vitli circular nimbus, looking up to Christ as if in intercession, and raising the hmds covered with drapery. All these parts of the composition are contained witlin a large quatrefoil. Within the spandrels of the latter are the symbols of the fom- Evangelists : St. John and St. Matthew above, St. Luke and St. Mark btlow. The border is decorated with a series of lanceolate serrated leaves runiing obliquely. In the other issue by Dr. Bock (A. 1. b), of impressions from the original plates, and which will be alluded to more particularly afterwards, this design, No. 1, is placed as No. 8, and is commented on by the learned writer as follows — " The eighth and last of these metal discs exhibits the concluding act of the Redemption, and also the close of Creation, in other words, reward and punishiiient at the end of time. It is the figurative conception of that moment when the Lord as Judge and Recompenser returns a second time. Old chronicles and inventories term this representation (so frequently occurring in the middle ages) of et iterum venturus est cum gloria, commonly ' majestas domini.' We are not of the opinion of our learned predecessor, the Abbe Cahier, who assumes that Christ is here represented as Lawgiver and Teacher (Christus legislator). It is probable that this assumption is based on the circumstance that the Saviour under similar circumstances frequently holds with the left hand an open book, bearing the inscription ' ego sum lux mundi.' We reply, on the other hand, that just as often Christ in his glory — termed also thronus domini by old authors — may be found on medieval monuments with the open book of life, on which may be read distinctly the words liber vitce, by which the coming of the Saviour to reward and punish is clearly indicated. The circumstance of Christ being seated on the rainbow, and the presence around him of the four creature-symbols of the Evangelists, harmonize with this idea. In unison also with this view may be read by the head of the Lord the Alpha and Omega, indicating that Christ includes within himself the source of all being, the principium finis of all things. Ministering angels with veiled hands svirround the Judge of the World, who holds in the right hand the open book of life, and in the left the terrestrial orb" (p. lo). In reference to the creature-symbols of the Evangelists, Mr. Tyrwhitt observes, " the adoption of the four creatures of the Apocalypse (cli. iv. v. 6) as images of the Evangelists does not seem to have taken place generally, or is not recorded on Christian monuments before the fifth century. It involves of course the peculi.arly impressive connection between the beginning of the visions of Ezekiel, and the first sight of the unveiling of Heaven to the eyes of St. John." .... ''Nor was it till long after the four creatures had been taken as prefiguring the four Evangelists, that a special application was made of each symbol to each writer. St. Matthew has the Man, as beginning his gospel with the Lord's human genealogy ; St. Mark the Lion, as testifying the Lord's royal dignity, or as con- taining the terrible condemnation of unbelievers at the end of his gospel ; St. Luke the Ox, as he dwells on the Priesthood and Sacrifice of Christ ; St. John the Eagle, as contemplating the Lord's Divine Nature An ivory diptych of the fifth century is the earliest known representation of this emblem." (" The Art Teaching of the Primitive Church," by the Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt, M.A., P- 332.) The same writer remarks concerning the Alpha and Omega : " Of these symbolic letters the w is always given in the minuscular or small form. They are generally appended to the monogram of Christ, or suspended from the arms of the Cross. .... These letters are found with or without the monogram on all kinds of works of Christian antiquity, on sepulchral monuments, especially those of ancient France ; on cups, on rings and sigils, and on coins immediately after the death of Constantine. Their use amounts to a quotation of Revelation xxii. 13, [ego CORONA LUCIS OF AIX-LA- CHAP ELLJE. 17 sum a et w, primus et novissimus, principium et finis],' and a confession of faith in onr Lord's assertion of His own Infinity and Divinity." . . . . " No doubt the symbol was more common after the outbreak of Arianism, but it seems j)retty clear from the above-mentioned cup in Boldetti and from the inscription by Victorina to her martyred husband Heraclius, that it was used before the first Nicene Council. It will be found in the Psalter of Athelstan and in the Bible of Aleuin, both in the British Museum." (Op. cit. p. 307.) PLATE 2. THE ANGELIC SALUTATION. HE design is contained within a circle of 7-|- inches in diameter, having an inner border nearly |^ths of an inch wide, the ornamentation of which is different to that in Plate 1 . On the right stands the Angel of the Annunciation, saluting the Virgin with " Ave Maria," which is inscribed on the scroll he holds in the right hand, while the left hand is raised as if in the act of benediction. A circular nimbus is around the head of the Angel — Gabriel — and large wmgs are on his back. On the left stands the Blessed Virgin with raised hands and head slightly inclined towards the Angel, as if answering to his announcement " fiat mihi secundum verbum tuixm." On the left of the Virgin is part of a building, while both figures stand as if on a flowery bank. " This mode of artistic conception and representation was the universally accepted one in Oriental Christendom dm'ing the 1 2th and 1 3th centuries. It was not until the 14tb century that the practice arose of either putting the lily in the right hand of the Angel of the Annunciation, or of placing it in a flower vase, in reference to the well-known saying of the prophet Isaiah, xi. 1 [et egredietur virga de radice Jesse et flos de radice eius ascendet]." (Bock, op. cit. " In the early representations of the Annunciation .... the Virgin stands ; (she is very seldom seated, and then on a kind of raised throne), the Angel stands before her at some distance, .... in the Greek pictures the Angel and the Virgin both stand . . . . but from the beginning of the fourteenth century she becomes not merely the principal person, but the superior being ; she is the ' Regina Ange- lorum,' and the Angel bows to her or kneels before her as to a queen." (Mrs. Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art," p. 71, ed, 1850.) PLATE 3. THE NATIVITY. V^j-^^^HE design is contained within a circle 7|- inches in diameter, having * ' ^ ' — 1* an inner border nearly an inch wide, and of different ornamentation to that of the borders in 1 and 2. In the foreground reposes at length the Blessed Virgin, supporting her head with the left hand. A nim- lius is over her head, and she is swathed in bed-clothes. At her feet on the left id kneels Joseph with uncovered head, and pointing with the index finger of ^ In Latin quotations from the Bible in this work the Vulgate is always jrefcrred to. i8 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. the left hand towards the infant Saviour, who, lying swathed in a manger above His mother's bed, looks over at her as if with curiosity. The Virgin looks up at her Divine Child as it were in anxious inquiry. Above the manger appear the heads of an Ox and an Ass, the expression in which seems to warrant the state- ment of the old Christmas Carol — " Agnovit bos et asinus Quod Puer erat Dominus." Beyond the manger and animals runs a semicircular embattled wall with towers. " The 2nd [here the 3rd] circular medallion represents the birth of the Saviour in that artificial style of its apprehension which was general during the early part of the Middle Ages, not only in the Latin but in the Greek Church. First in the 1 5th century disappears from Art this old traditional representation of the Birth of the Lord, which is repeated in a naively pious manner on Plate 2 [3]. The sublime moment of the Nativity was from that time represented both in painting and in sculpture as it is embodied in the words, ' quern genuit adoravit,' that is to say, the ever-blessed Virgin kneels as Dei genitrix in adoration before the new-bom infant Christ in the stall, and in the background the holy Joseph along with a troop of ministering Angels complete the group." (Bock, op. cit. p. 9.) PLATE 4. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI OB THREE KINGS. V^j-^^^HE design is within a circle 7f inches in diameter, having an orna- mental border |^ths of an inch wide. On the left sits the Virgin Mother stiffly upright, supporting with the right hand the infant Saviour, who stands erect on His mother's right knee. A plain cir- cular nimbus is around the head of the Virgin, a cruciform nimbus over the head of her Son. The Holy Mother raises her left hand, at the wrist of which the tunic is exposed, as the foreai'm protrudes from a large loose and bordered sleeve. The infant Saviour blesses in the manner of the Latin Church with the left hand, and holds in the right what appears like a small scroll. On the right the three Magi crowned as kings — Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar — kneel, each on one knee, and present their gifts. Caspar, of whom all the figure is visible, has a full beard, Melchior is but slightly bearded, while so much of Balthasar's face as can be seen appears to indicate he would be beardless. Above and between the Virgin and the Magi appears an eight-rayed star, " et ecce stella, quam viderant in oriente, antecedebat eos usquedum veniens staret supra, ubi erat puer." (Matth : ii. 9-) . . " Reges Tharsis, et insulse munera efferent : reges Arabum et Saba dona adducent." (Psalmus Ixxi. lO.) " The names of the three kings appear for the first time in a piece of rude sculpture over the door of Sant' Andrea at Pistoia, to which is assigned the date 1 166 In the legends of the 14th century the kings had become dis- tinct personages under the names of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, the first being always a very aged man with a long white beard, the second a middle-aged man, the third is young, and frequently he is a Moor or negro, to express the King of Ethiopia or Nubia The difference of ages is indicated in the Greek foi-mula." (" Legends of the Madonna," p. 233.) CORONA LUCIS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. PLATE 5. CHRIST ON THE CROSS. HE circle of the medallion is 7~ inches in diameter ; the inner and ornamental border |^ths of an inch wide. Within is represented " the Crucifixion of the Lord, and in that hieratic and confirmed manner which — as inclining to old Byzantine models — was generally followed for several centuries in the Latin Church. The Redeemer is as if standing on a ' suppedaneum,' in the act of blessing; the loins are girded with a ' perizonium' of many folds. Above the two transverse limbs of the Cross do not fail to appear the allegoric half-figures, representing the Sun and Moon sorrowfully veiling their faces, borrowed from old Greek Art. John and Mary also stand as a sorrowing group by the Cross, yet in our design the beloved disciple is conceived and repre- sented as a bearded man, and not as beardless and of youthful age, as he is fre- quently in similar representations since the 14th and 1 5th centuries." (Bock, op. cit. p. 10.) Lady Eastlake has observed that " the Crucifixion is too vast a theme to be rendered with any prominence of the principal idea in one picture. From the earliest times therefore Art laid down the principle of selection, while the faith of the period dictated in what it was to consist and the Art traditions of the time how it was to be expressed. We see, therefore, the darkness over the whole land symbolized by the classic images of the Sun and Moon — the hiding of the greater planet having of course affected the lesser — on each side above the Cross. The one, Sol, with rays, the other, Luna, with the crescent .... each with the right hand to the cheek, an antique sign of affliction." (" History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 143.) " From the sixth century down to the fifteenth the figure of the Crucified is successively divested of every kind of drapery until reduced to a state of almost complete nudity In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the robe becomes shorter, the sleeves disappear, and the breast is ah-eady uncovered in some in- stances, the robe being scarcely more than a kind of tunic. In the thirteenth century the tunic is as short as possible, in the fourteenth it is nothing more than a piece of stuff, or rather linen rolled round the loins, and up to the present time the figure of Christ upon the Cross has been constantly thus represented." (Didron, op. cit. p. 260.) PLATE 6. THE HOLY WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE, ITHIN a bordered circle of like dimensions to those of No. 5) ar© represented the three Maries at the Sepulchre of the Lord. On the cover which is placed obliquely across the tomb, sits the angel with a staff of fleurs-de-lis in the right hand and making a gesture with the left, as he bends slightly towards the Holy Women opposite, as if saying, " non est hie : surrexit, sicut dixit. Venite et videte locum ubi positus erat Dominus." (Matth : xxviii. 6.) The fleur-de-lis is the attribute of the angel Gabriel, who, having foretold the birth of the Redeemer, is considered to have been the announcer of His Resur- rection. On the right hand approach with anxious countenances the three Holy Women with cups of spices — " portantes quse paraverant aromata." (Luc : xxiv. 1.) 20 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. It is noteworthy that the llesurrection is not represented in the present sequence, a circumstance in conformity with the practice of early Christian Art ; but the immediate subject, as Lady Eastlake remarlcs — " the Three Maries at the Sepulchre, or as the Greek Church terms them, les ti'ois Myrrhophores, from the spices and myrrh they carried, are as invariable in Christian as the Three Graces or Fates are in Pagan Art." History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 273.) " This subject — which served, as we have remarked, as a representation of the llesurrection — Avas on that account an unfailing incident in the brief series of the Passion during the centuries which preceded Giotto, when having fulfilled its purpose it yielded the place to the actual scene of the rising of Christ, and retired in great measure from the domain of Art." (Op. cit. p. 272.) " This arrangement continues to the time of Giotto, and is seen perpetually repeated in tlie form of ivories and small miniatures. But the Angel sits on an open tomb, and by a fine action observable in many representations of this scene, points aci'oss himself into it — ' See where the Lord lay.' " With the beginning of the fourteenth century this subject, like all others in Christian Art, underwent a change. . . . From this time the Women at the Sepulchre is a subject seldom seen in the higher forms of Art, and when it appears it bears that theatrical impress common to all these subjects from the sixteenth century." (Op. cit. p. 276.) PLATE 7. THE ASCENSION. HE diameter of the cii'de of the medallion is 7|- inches, and the width of the floriated border |^ths of an inch. " The 6th [7 th here] medallion represents the ascension of our Lord from the Mount of Olives surrounded by his sorrowing disciples. The artist here seized the moment of the ascensio domini, when the Saviour on the Mount of Olives with the banner of the Resurrection in his right hand as a flag of victory, raises his eyes towards Heaven and the clouds receive him. The hand of the Father in benedic- tion, the recognized symbol for the first person of the Godhead, projects from the clouds. This old manner of representing the ascension of Christ also recalls the Greek types, and completely deviates from the conception and reproductions of the artists of the fifteenth century, where the feet only of the ascending Saviour project from the cloud of light, and the impressions of which as evidence of his Ascension are yet visible on the Mount of Olives. Attention may be drawn — en passant — to the markedly conventional manner in which the clouds are repre- sented, as also to the ideal treatment of the foliage, which, after the old types, is treated purely as ornament in settled conventional form, and not in a natural manner as during the Gothic Art period." (Bock, op. cit. p. lO.) On tlie symbol of the first person of the Trinity as here representcMl, Mr. Tyrwhitt writes: "For the first centuries at least no attempt was ev( 11 made at representing the actual presence of the first pei'son of the Trinity. 1 ( was indicated invariably by the symbolic hand proceeding from a cloud. Martigny quotes the words of St. Augustine, Epist. cxlviii. 4 : ' When Ave hear nl' his Hand we ought to understand his working,' from which it would seem that the great Western Father foresaw a tendency to anthropomorphic misajiplication of the words. Hand and Eye, or Ear of God, as they are frequently used in the Old Testament." (Op. cit. p. 343.) » CORONA LUCIS OF AIX-LA-CHAPE LLE. 21 PLATE 8. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLT SPIRIT. HE last of tlie designs within a circle. The latter is inches in diameter with an ornamented border |^ths of an inch wide. " The disciples are associated together in sitting altitudes, and the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove descends upon them. The modern way of representing flames over the heads of the Apostles is not yet had recourse to here, but from the nimbus of the Holy Spirit proceed rays which descend u]ion the head of each one present. Here also, deviating from later representa- tions, the Twelve only are visible, the Blessed Virgin and Mother of our Lord not continuing in their midst." (Bock, op. cit. p. lO.) In connection with this absence of the Virgin on the Pentecost, Mrs. Jameson observes, " The Descent of the Holy Ghost is a strictly scriptural subject. I have heard it said, that the introduction of Mary is not authorized by the scripture narrative. I must observe, however, that without any wringing of the text for an especial purpose, the passage might be so interpreted. In the first chapter of the Acts (verse 14), after enumerating the Apostles by name, it is added : ' These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with*, the Women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.' And in the commencement of the second chapter the narrative thus jiroceeds : ' And when the day of Pente- cost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.' The word all is, in the Concordance, referred to the previous text (verse 14), as including Mary and the Women ; thus they who were constant in their love were not refused a participation in the gifts of the Spirit." (" Legends of the Madonna," p. 325.) If the true sovxrce of the ability of the Christian or believer to enter the Heavenly Jerusalem — typified, as will be shown presently, in the Corona Lucis — after the completion of his course on earth is to be found in the Life and Passion of the Redeemer, as represented in several of their phases on the eight medallions just described, so do the compositions on the eight following copper-plates of the lai'ge towers of the corona remind the observer that not Faith alone in the works of Christ and his merits will open to the Christian the door of the Heavenly Zion ; but that therewith he must practice the Works of Faith and Love if he would enter the Eternal City, the semblance of which is represented in the lumi- nary, some adornments of which are now being described. In conformity there- fore with the Clnu'ch's teaching the artist has supplied the Works of Faith as they are expressed in the eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. PLATE 9. THE FOURTH BEATITUDE. HE design is contained within a quadrangular space 6|- inches high by 6i inches wide. This square is placed over a quatrefoil, the lunettes of which project two inches beyond the upper and lower sides of the square, and l|^ths of an inch beyond its lateral margins. The angles of the central s 8.) As a glance at a geometric ground plan of the Crown luminary at Aix-Ia- ChapeUe will show, the eight smaller towers introduced at the notches of the eight- leaved rose are kept circular in form, the other eight towers and their bases are in one half their number rectangular in plan, and in the other half quatrefoil in shape. Beneath the socle of each of these sixteen tower-like structures lies a strong plate of " red-copper," on which an engraver has intagliated with powerful instrument various designs. As these terminal plates which close the entrances below to the ornamental towers take the shape of the ground-forms of the different towers, it foUows that in the impressions worked off from them, and now before us in the series of sixteen prints just described, there are eight engraved plates of circular form, four rectangular ones, and four medallions in the shape of quatrefoils. On the eight smaller circular discs are engraved various scenes from the Life of the Savioiu* from the Annunciation to his return at the Last Day. " In all probability," remarks Dr. Bock, " the artist who in red-copper worked with sure hand these masterly plates, had the designs of a clever painter or architect before him, after which with broad graver he developed his compositions " (p. 9). . ..." It cannot be denied that, as regards design, arrangement, and also technical- execution, these numerous compositions are equally masterly and for their time highly finished. From prolonged observation of these many life-like and vivaci- ously executed figures, we have not been able to arrive at the conclusion that the 28 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. idea and plan of these cleverly composed representations can justly be regarded as the creations of a technical engraver, however gifted. On the contrary, ve believe that the noble scheme of these numerous figurative representations pro- ceeded from an habile painter, one who stood at the summit of the art of his time. Thus might a practised and artistic copper-plate engraver intagliate with broad tool in the metal the models placed before him coming from the hands of a higher componist. This view of the subject does not exclude another hypo- thesis, which assumes that in correspondence with the typically fixed characier of painting during the Romanesque Art epoch, a talented engraver copied in reduced size, and transferred to copper these particular designs which he had come across as monumental paintings executed by an eminent master of his time. Although the luimerous engraved figures bring to mind from their pose, action, and cast of their drapery the traditional Byzantine treatment, it must yet be allowed that close observation perceives so much freedom and move- ment in the dispositions of the figvires, and self-conscious striving after individuali- zation in the characteristic heads of these saintly forms as sufficiently to indicate that the master in question, Avhiie undoubtedly continuing steadfast to the old typical figure-designs of the Art of the period, yet did so without sacrificing his own independence as an original artist. The casting of the draperies throughout is especially masterly to the ends in view: it does not degenerate either into formal vagary or stiffness, as it so frequently does in pictorial compositions of the same epoch. If the anatomic representation of individual parts leaves much to be desired when viewed from the present stand-point of Art, it must yet be uncon- ditionally allowed, that in spite of the many hard and objectionable features of these intagliated compositions, an inexpressible dignity and majesty of expression and execution are here present, and t)iat the spiritual element born of a deep- rooted faith which breaks forth from these often naVve designs is so intense and riveting, that one willingly overlooks the many errors and imperfections of the school of the time." (Op. cit. pp. 14, 15.) From the peculiar interest this series of impressions from engraved metal plates of the twelfth century must necessarily excite, the following remarks by Schnaase may be acceptable to the reader. " The style of these compositions permits of our forming a very high opinion of the artistic ability which was at the service of the Emperor and his consort ; at the same time it leads to the conclusion that two different masters were engaged on the work. In the scenes from the Life of the Redeemer, the conception is naive and dramatic; in the Crucifixion the Sun and Moon, Mary and John are represented in the usual way, while near them are trees treated somewhat naturally. In the Nativity the Child turns towards its mother. Joseph converses with raised hand, and even Ox and Ass appear to regard the infant Saviour with some consciousness of the importance of the occasion. The ground [? border] is always indicated by semicircular scales, each bearing a flower. The heads are more square than oval, the feet very large. On the other hand, the attitude and bodily form of the Angel of the Annunciation are nobler and more in typical manner, with pure oval shape of countenance, well disposed symmetrical curls, small and elegant feet, and a very fine cast of drapery is present, which permits of tlie form of the body being easily made out. The adjacent figure and accessories remind one rather of the drawings in miniatures of Byzantine character. We thus perceive the work not only of two masters of different endowments, but of two different purposes in contiguity with each other. The master of the Gospel History is influenced by the naturalism which made itself so apparent in miniature painting, the other master partakes of the tendencies of the severe style which at that time prevailed in sculpture. The coincidental occurrence to be noted clearly shows the influence which both forms of Art — painting and sculpture — exercised over the workshops of the workers in metal. The architecture is everywhere of the circular-arch character, and even the ornamentation of the borders and of the bands of the CORONA LUCIS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 29 trelllsed grounds, as also the wreathlike bands bearing the inscriptions, and which encircle the ring of the luminary, have throughout a Romanesque character. The ornamentation consists for the most part of rather simple winding forms, foliage and like patterns, but all varying and giving — golden on a ground covered with a brown varnish — a very rich appearance to the whole." (Op. cit. vol. v. p. 793.) On passing to the intjuiry — Who was the actual manul'acturer of this mag- nificent light-bearer in the Church of Aix-la-Chapelle, which has now illuminated on special occasions its noble vestibule for longer than seven hundi'ed years ? — we are informed by Dr. Bock that Death and Gift Registers of the Cathedral furnish tliis information — " Under the 9th entry before the Kalends of the Month of April (24 March) apparently in the last (quarter of the 1 2th century, our Death register records the demise of a certain Riker, and remarks that the same was the father of Stephans, a Canon on the Aachener foimdation. From an item following this entry it appears that the Aachener Clergy commemorated along with the obse- quies of Ricker those of a brother of the latter, viz. of Wibert, of whom the Death register fully records ' that he had presented to the Cathedral Church of Notre Dame in that city two silver chalices, also two houses situated close to the Church of St. Foillan. It is further noted and with praise that this Wibert had devoted much time and labour to the preparation of the corona, that he had undertaken the repairs of the roof of the whole church, of the work of the gilt cross on the tower, and of the founding of the bells, and that he had carried out everything most satisfactorily." . ..." As far as relates to our Corona, Master Wibert appears to have been active not only as componist in the design of the same, but also to have taken in hand its technical execution. The one expression, ' maximam operam adhibuit,' may be presumed to refer to the conception and plan of the corona, and the other, ' maximum laborem ad opus coronaj,' to relate to the technical production or manufacture of the same. Unfortunately the day only and not the year of the Aachen Master and metal worker is indicated in our Death Register, otherwise we should possess a maijen de phis for the more perfect determination of the year in which the pliarus of Aix-la-Cliapelle had its origin. The result is therefore that we are obliged to infer its chronology from its inscription." Relative to the peculiar appearances which the versos, especially of the latter eight impressions, exhibit. Dr. Bock observes, " Deviating from the eight pre- A'iously described circular discs, the base plates of the eight towers are as opera inteseratilia, so pierced through by four (or more) cornered openings, that the greater number appear as if formed of regular lattice- work, in the midst of which the particular heatitudo is placed as a standing figure. This latticed work, formed of narrow bands of red copper, has been decorated through the diligence of the engraver with conventional floriation of Romanesque character, yet of very varied patterns, deeply intagliated." .... "This [PL 15] elegantly pierced lamina with its several fignirative representations may be regarded as the most perfect and beautiful among the sixteen terminal plates here described. Unfortunately — as the impression shows — in the course of more than 70O years the original metal has sufiered rather severely from oxidation, and in consequence an impression could not be worked off from it in such purity and clearness as have been more or less attained in connection with the other prints." (Op. cit. pp. 12, 13.) ^ " O(biit) Rickerus pater Stephani fratris nostri." " Item (obiit) Wibertus pater ejusdem Stephani. S. Dei Genetrici II. ampullas argenteas donavit et duas domes qiiae adherent Eccl. S. Foillani ; insuper maximam operam et maxi - mum laborem ad opus coronse, ad tectum totius Ecclesiae ad crucem deauratem in turri, ad campanas adhibuit et omnia feliciter consumpsit." (Op. cit. p. 34.) 30 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. The results of the damage done to the original copper of PI. 15 by time and oxidation are mainly to be observed in the deficient inscription as given in the first issue, A. 1. a, while in Dr. Bock's own version (A. 1. b) the chief figure and other parts have suffered. In the latter version the inscription comes out more distinctly than in the Museum Series A. 1 . a. This may result from the circum- stance that the thin layer of enamel varnish — email hrun of the French archso- logists — with which the letters appear to have been covered, was more perfectly removed when the second series of impressions was worked oflf. "This plate also [PI. lo] has become somewhat oxidated in the course of time, and thus the impression from it also is spotty and unclear." "On Plates 14, 15, and 16 the forms of the letters on the scrolls do not seem deeply engraved, as they do in the other inscriptions, but to be indicated merely by a layer of the before -mentioned varnish. Hence these inscriptions also have come oif imperfectly in the impressions." The numerous small circular white spots to be observed in the prints on the outer limits of the borders, and here and there about the middle of the im- pressions, correspond to the holes through which the metal plates have been fixed to the bases of the ornamental towers of the corona. Around many of these circular spots are indications of the oxidation which the copper has there under- gone and left permanent traces. [Dunensions variable.] - [Uncoloured.] A. 2. THE "PASSION" OF THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. LOWER GERMANY. A Series of Twenty-eight Compositions illustrative of the Passion of Our Lord. EPRESENTATIONS of events in the Passion of the Redeemer follow- ing in each series a regular sequence, characterized Art particularly from the thirteenth to the middle of the sixteenth century. The cause for this has been found ^ in the impassioned cry to contemplate the suffer- ings of Christ, which arose from the founders of the two important orders of Domini- cans and Franciscans. Not only did this desire influence the arts of design, but the dramatic art also was called into requisition ; miracle, mystery, and passion plays were exliibited in most countries, and to this day " Dass Passionsspiel " is perforrtied every ten years in the Bavarian Highlands of Tyrol. In this latter drama, the " traditional rendering of each scene with its types is retained, and the close connection between these religious mysteries and the art which is exem- plified in the ' Biblia Pauperum ' is demonstrated." The pictorial representation of the " Passion " was especially a favourite duty with the early German and Flemish Masters of the fifteenth century. These were ^ " The History of our Lord as exeinplified in Works of Art, &c.," by Mrs. Jameson and Lady Eastlake, vol. ii. p. 1. THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 31 followed by Martin Schongauer, Albert Diirer, Franz von Bocholt, Israhel van Meckenen, Johann von Koln, Lucas van Leyden, the Master S, and others who are familiar to us, chiefly by their woodcuts or copper-plate engravings illustrating incidents in the Life of Christ, from His entry into Jerusalem to His appeai'ance to the Disciples at Emmaus. The series of the Life of Christ was made aftei-wards to include other events, such as the Holy Women at the Sepulchre, the Last Judgment, and the Mass of St. Gregory. " Germany with her princes and potentates, indifferent to Art, and the great mass of the population depressed by poverty, gave but few commissions for pictures, and far less for works on a monumental scale to her great painters. They therefore gained their bread chiefly by the exercise of forms of Art more accessible to an humbler class of patrons." (Lady Eastlake,op. cit. p. 2.) The merit of such work as they produced mainly consists in its busy and dramatic character, there being more story in their designs and more allusion or foreshadowing of what is to come than in compositions of more artistic and refined character. The series of prints about to be described is of much interest as regards the early history of the Art of engraving. On one of these prints occurs the third earliest date as yet recognized on an impression from a metal plate engraved in intaglio. This date is 1457. The first or earliest date on such an impression hitherto recorded is 1446, this is upon a piece — the flagellation — of a Passion formerly in the possession of the well-known iconophilist M. Renouvier, ofMont- pellier. The second date is that of the year of 145I) inscribed on an engraving by the Master P, of the Virgin and Child, a date, however, which in the opinion of some good authorities is not sans peur et sans reproche} On the composition representing the " Last Supper," in the present sequence occurs the inscription " Ivii. jor," which may be accepted in all surety we believe as signifying the year 1457. It should not be forgotten that there occur earlier dates than any of these on certain woodcuts, e.g. 1 4 1 8 (but of doubtful genuineness) on the so-called "Brussels print ;" 1423 on the "Buxheim St. Christopher," and 1437 on the St. Sebastian of St. Blaize. The twenty-eight little prints under consideration are upon thin vellum, and have been cut out of a MS. in German, as the writing on the versos proves. At first sight many of them appear as if they were the ordinary illuminated miniatures common to MSS. decorated not in the highest style of the mmiatori . On close inspection, however, the outlines of the figures are seen to have been engraved and printed off in dark ink. The forms have been strongly coloured, the nimbi illuminated with leaf gold, and the armour of the soldiers and other metallic objects illuminated with silver, now tarnished from oxidation. From these operations, and the painting of some of the accessories and broad shadows in black, any more delicate work of the graver if present — which is not likely to be the case — would be quite imperceptible. NO. I. THE YOUTHFUL CHRIST TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE. HIS design is a curious exception to the commencement of the " Passion " as it is usually represented. The first incident recorded is generally that of Christ's entry into Jerusalem, but here we have an event conventionally belonging rather to the " Life of the Virgin," the latter seeking her Son " sorrowing," and finding Him in the Temple. * On these two examples, see Passavant, vol. ii. pp. 3-6. Also Weigel, " Anfange, etc.," vol. ii. p. 335. 32 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. In the present composition both the exterior and interior of the Temple are shown. On the right hand the inner part is exposed, allowing our Saviour to be seen on an elevated seat expounding the law from a book before him. Five figures as if engaged in discussion are around the seat, three of whom have books in their hands. Four of the figures are seated, one is standing. The event takes place beneath a groined and vaulted ceiling, two of the supporting columns of which are represented. On the left hand the Virgin Mother and St. Joseph — a diminutive figure — are seen standing at the outer door, the knocker on which St. Joseph raises, as about to seek admission, while the Blessed Virgin — a full head taller than St. Joseph — looks anxiously towards the door. A circular nimbus, with slight indications of its cruciform character, is over the head of Christ, and a nimbus over the head of the Virgin ; both nimbi are illuminated with leaf gold. NO. 2. JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCTPLES. N the foreground kneels Christ, directed towards our right, with the forearms bare and " the towel wherewith he was girded." From the action of the Disciple on whose feet Jesus is engaged, the former appears to be Simon Peter hesitating at the act, to which hesitation our Lord has replied, " Si non lavero te non habebis partem mecum " (Johan : xiii. 8). Simon Peter raises his hands exclaimmg — " Domine non tantum pedes meos sed et manus et caput." With the left hand our Lord grasps the right leg of the disciple seated on the right, between whom and Christ is a shallow tub, over which the latter holds His right hand, as if about to wash the disciple's foot held in the other. Li a semicircle around and beyond the central figures are visible eleven of the disciples. Of some of these not more than small portions of their nimbi can be seen. The first and nearest disciple on the left is seated. All the figures have illuminated nimbi, the nimbus of Christ being large and cruciform. NO. 3. THE LAST SUPPEK. IIRIST and His disciples arc seated at a round table in the front of which are two low seats, one on the right and one on the left hand. On the seat at the right hand is seated Judas Iscariot, who raises his hands and throws back the head gesticulating. His mouth is open, and the Devil — in the form of a large fly^ — is about to enter it. On the sides of the seat upon which Judas is seated appears the date 1457 the following form — THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 33 Opposite to Judas, and on an exactly similar seat, but without any inscription upon it, sits another disciple raising his hands in astonishment at the behaviour of Iscariot. Christ is seated at the further and central point of the circle of dis- ciples, while that one of the latter "whom Jesus loved" inclines his head upoix the table before our Saviour. NO. 4. CHRIST ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. N a bank in the foreground our Lord lies extended with face to the earth and with outstretched arms. Somewhat before yet beyond Him is a chalice on an eminence, above which projects from the clouds the hand of God the Father holding a small tau cross. The heads of the three disciples rise from behind the bank on the left. Above their nimbi may be seen the entrance to the Garden, the wattled fence enclosing which is in part visible. NO. 5. THE BETRAYAL BY JUUAS. jST the centre of the composition stands Christ in the act of being kissed by Judas, who stands on the Lord's left hand, and has a large purse at his side. A soldier from behind places his hand on Christ's chest, while another prepares to throw a rope over our Saviour, who from His action appears as if saying to Simon Peter, " Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam ; Calicem quem dedit mihi Pater non bibam ilium ?" (Johan : xviii. 1 1.) Immediately in the foreground sits Malchus, who has dropped his staff and lanthorn, and raises his left hand to the right ear. More or less of the persons of three other disciples may be observed near our Lord. NO. 6. THE PROSTEATION OP THE COHORT BEFORE CHRIST. N the left stands Christ with raised right hand directed towards three of the guards prostrate on the bank before Him. Our Lord appears to have just uttered the words, "Ego sum," when the guards, "Abierunt retrorsum et ceciderunt in terram." (Johan : xviii. 6.) Behind Christ and on the left stands a disciple, and on the right hand above the prostrate guards is the open door of the Garden. The account of the Betrayal of Christ — speaking in reference to pictorial relations — presents more circumstances than Ai't can express at once, for "looking broadly at the recital there are two separate ideas — that of treachery in the kiss given by Judas, ' one of the twelve,' and that of supernatural power in the effect of those few smaU words, ' I am He,' an answer so gentle, yet which had in it a strength greater than the Eastern AVind or the Voice of Thunder, for God was in that still voice, and it struck them to the ground." " Both these ideas were adopted by Art ; that view of the Betrayal which is given by the prostrate guards being from its greater reverence adopted first. For early Ai-t never lost sight of the fundamental conditions on which every event D 34 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. in our Lord's course on earth, and especially of this portion of it, was based, narftely, the voluntary nature of all His acts." . . . . " The prostration of the troop is almost an anomaly when seen in Art, for the guards seem at this moment to be the captm-ed and betrayed, not our Lord." ..." Generally the prostration of the guards is given in a very simple way. A few figures with weapons, and often in armour, are lying flat on the ground in parallel lines, whilst our Lord stands erect above them, the image of calm power." (" History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 35.) NO. 7. JESUS BEFORE CAIAPHAS. N the right stands the High Priest Caiaphas on the lowest step of the judgment seat. On his head is a mitre ; he is clothed in a long red tunic girded round the waist, and he tears open the vestment at his chest. He has interrogated our Lord standing with bound .hands before him, " Tu es Christus filius Dei benedicti ?" etc., and observed to his persecutors ("scindens vestimenta sua")," Quid adhuc deslderamus testes?" after what Jesus has replied. A soldier has raised his right hand, which holds a short club, as if about to strike our Saviour, while another soldier takes him by the left arm, thus illustrating the statement, " Hajc autem cum dixisset, unus assistens ministroi'um dedit alapam Jesu, dicens : Sic respondes pontifici?" (Johan: xviii. 22.) NO. 8. THE MAID-8EBVANT OF THE HIGH PRIEST ACCUSING PETER. I N the left hand stands Peter with the right hand raised and turned towards the servant of Caiaphas on his left, who with both hands uj)~ lifted and with expressive countenance, is accusing Peter of having been with Christ — " et ille negavit eum dicens mulier uon novi (Luc : xxii. 58.) Above the head of Peter is a niche in the wall in which stands a cock, and towards the right through an archway may be seen our Lord led away by soldiers to Pilate. ilium." NO. 9. CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. [LATE is seated on the right hand ; before him stands Christ, guarded by soldiers. Pilate raises his hand as if in the act of saying, " nihil invenio causae in hoc homine." (Luc : xxiii. 4.) THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 35 NO. 10. CHRIST BEFORE HEROD. EROD clad in royal robe, with sceptre in the left hand and crown upon his head, is seated on the judgment seat, having behind him a richly embroidered curtain. He raises his right hand and looks towards Christ, who stands before him guarded by soldiers. Our Lord looks passive and unanswering, and has His hands bound before Him. The guards around Him look insolently and inquisitively at the face of Christ, as to how he may reply to Herod, who " interrogabat autem cum multia sermonibus, et ipse nihil iUi respondebat." (Luc : xxiii. 9.) NO. II. CHRIST MOCKED. HRIST has been placed in mockery and blindfolded on a seat of im- portance. A mock sceptre is in His hands. An attendant on the left hand spits in our Lord's face and lifts his right hand open to strike Him ; another on the right is about to strike Him in the face with the palm of his right hand, while a third standing with outstretched legs before Christ, jeers at and mocks Him in illustration of Mark's account, " et coeperunt quidam conspuere eum et velare faciem ejus et colaphis eum csedere et dicere ei: Pro- phetiza : et ministri alapis eum cedebant." (Marc: xiv. 67.) NO. 12. THE FLAGELLATION. ENEATH the middle of an archway suppported by columns stands a tall pdlar, extending the whole length of the composition. To this Christ is bound by the legs and arms. He is undraped with the exception of having a loin cloth. His body is covered with drops of blood. A guard on the right hand raises above His head with both hands a rod, intended to strike our Lord with great severity. Another man on the left hand is about to strike Christ with a scourge raised in the right hand, while he holds in the left a rod. The action and expression of these prison officers are highly indicative of their intentions to carry out in fuU the orders of Pilate, " Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Jesum et flagellavit." (Johan: xix. 1.) NO. 13. THE CROWNING WITH THORNS. ENEATH a kind of vaulted chamber widely flattened at the top sits our Lord on a seat of circumstance. His body has been clothed in a purple robe of royalty from which protrude the bare arms, covered with blood drops from the scourging. On His head is a crown of thorns, and in His right hand a reed. A prison attendant stands on each side of 36 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. Christ pressing down by means of a long staff the thorns upon His brow, from which long drops of blood course down upon His face. The man on the left seems to express his enjoyment of the duty he is performing. A third man is kneeling before Christ mocking Him, thus illustrating the statement of St. Mark, " Et induunt eum purpura et imponunt ei plectentes spineam coronam et cceperunt salutare eum : Ave rex Judseorum. Et percutiebant caput ejus arundine et con- spuebant eum, et ponentes genua adorabant eum " (xv. 17). NO. 14. THE " ECCE HOMO." N the higher step of a doorway to the Prsetorium stands Christ, with a scarlet robe thrown over His otherwise naked and bleeding body, which is exposed as Pilate draws away the vestment from it with his left hand. On our Lord's head is the crown of thorns, and around His loins a cloth ; His hands are tied before Him ; an attendant behind and within the building appears as if pushing forward our Lord. Pilate stands on the left hand, and as if saying to the people near, " Behold the Man;" an attendant kneels on one knee before the steps of the doorway mocking Christ, and as if about to take off his cap in derisive honour to him. " Exivit ergo Jesus portans coronam spineam et purpureum vestimentum. Et dicit [Pilatus] eis: Ecce Homo." (Johan : xix. 6.) NO. 15. PILATE WASHING HIS HANDS. HRIST in long robe, crowned with the wreath of thorns, with drops of blood on His face and hands bound before Him, stands again before Pilate, seated on a judgment seat. The latter turns his head towards Christ and the soldiers guarding Him, whUe he washes his hands in oriental manner, illustrating the account by Matthew (xxvii. 24). " Videns autem Pilatus quia nihil proficeret, sed magis tumultus fieret : accepta aqua, lavit manus coram popnlo dicens : Innocens ego sum a sanguine justi hujus, vos videritis." Behind Pilate stands the attendant, sent by Pilate's wife ; he looks anxiously and points downwards towards Christ, as if repeating his mistress's caution : " Nihil tibi, et justo illi ; multa enim passa sum hodie per visum propter eum." (Matth: xxvii. rg.) The soldiers guarding Christ are in armour, bearing lances with pennons. NO. 16. CHRIST BEARING HIS CROSS. ESUS stooping somewhat supports with both hands the Cross upon His ba«k, directing His steps towards the right. Before Him is a man pulling our Lord forwards by the rope by which He is girded. Simon of Cyrene in a low stooping posture bears up the Cross at its lower end. The Blessed Virgin with raised and joined hands follows her Son, and a man behind seems to be pushing her back again. A soldier with a short staff presses down the thorns on Christ's head. THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 37 Thus is St. Matthew's description illustrated: — " Et postquam illuserunt ei, exuerunt eum chlamyde et indnerunt eum vesti- mentis ejus et duxerunt eum ut crucifigerent. Exeuntes autem invenerunt lioniinem Cyrensexim nomine Simonem, hunc angariaverunt ut tolleret crucem ejus" (xxvii. 31). * NO. 17. THE DISROBING OF CHRIST, AND VIRGIN APPLYING THE LOIN CLOTH. UR Lord is nearly stripped of His garments by a soldier on the right, showing the body marked with the effects of the flagellation. His Holy Mother stands behind our Lord, around whom she is about to tie a loin cloth. " This subject is rarely seen, but may be traced to a passage from a dialogue on the Passion of our Lord, much after the fashion of St. Brigitta's ' Revelations,' by one Dionysius a Richel, a Carthusian, who makes the Virgin say, ' Panniculum capitis mei circumligavi lumbis ejus,' i.e. ' I wrapt his loins round with the cloth from my head.' " (" History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 126.) Behind the Virgin stands St. John ; beyond him appears the nimbus of another disciple. NO. 18. CHRIST DISROBED AWAITING THE PREPARATION OF THE CROSS. HIS also is an unusual representation in the series of the Passion or Stations : our Lord is seated upon His vestment thrown down on the ground towards the left. A loin cloth only girds Him. His hands are tied in front ; His countenance expresses subdued pain and grief. Behind and on the side of an acclivity lies the Cross, in which one man is boring a hole where the feet of the Crucified are to come, and another is boring a hole at one of the ends of the cross-beam. Pilate with an attendant is looking on and giving directions. NO. 19. CHRIST BEING NAILED TO THE CROSS. HE Cross lies on the side of an acclivity; upon it is stretched our Lord, His right hand already nailed to it, and His legs bound to it by a rope. An executioner drives a nail through Christ's left hand, while another nails the feet to the Cross. Pilate with an attendant is looking on giving orders. Christ appears looking up towards heaven as if saying, " Pater, dimitte illis : non enim sciunt quid faciunt." (Luc : xxiii. 34.) I 38 SPECIAL INCtTNABULA. NO. 20. CHRIST ON THE CROSS. UR Lord IS iipon the now elevated Cross ; on tlie right hand side of it stands the Blessed Virgin with joined hands and looking slightly downwards towards the body of her Son. On the left of the Cross stands St. John holding a book in his right hand, which is hidden nnder his mantle. Blood drops from the wounds in the hands of Christ and issues from the puncture in the right side of the chest. This is a very simple and early form of representing the Crucifixion — one in which the Vu-gin and St. John stand alone by the Cross and where the presence of the thieves is omitted. NO. 21. THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS. HE right hand of Christ has been detached from the Cross and falls over the left shoulder of Joseph of Arimathaga, who receives in his arms the body of our Lord just above the loins, which he info.ds in a large piece of drapery. On the right hand an executioner has ascended a ladder in order to remove the nail which secures the left aand of the Crucified to the Cross. On the left stand the Virgin Mother and St. John, the former with raised and joined hands. "Rogavit Pilatum Joseph ab Arimathea — ut toUeret corpus Jesu, et jerinisit Pilatus. Venit ergo et tulit corpus Jesu." (Johan : xix. 38.) NO. 22. THE HOLY WOMEN LAMENTING OVER THE BODY OF CHRIST. HIS incident (Station 13), which does not receive mention in the Gospels, is described by St. Buenaventura as follows : " Tae nail being extracted from the feet, Joseph descended and all receixed the body and placed it on the ground. Our Lady sustained the head and shoulders on her lap ; the Magdalen the feet, next which she had former!/ found such grace ; others stood around, all making great lamentations — all weejingj for him as bitterly as for a first-born." In the composition before us, St. John is represented in the middle, kneeling with joined hands over the body of Christ. On his right hand kneels the Biassed Virgin, on his left Mary Magdalene. Behind, yet looking between the Virgin and ' St. John, may be perceived St. Martha. THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 39 NO. 23. THE ENTOMBMENT. HE body of Christ as received from the Cross is being lowered into a tomb by means of a large sheet, held beneath it by Nicodemus and Joseph of ArimathjEa, as they assist in the performance of their sacred duty. Nicodemus stands on the left supporting om- Lord's head and slioulders as His body is placed in the tomb. At the feet is Joseph of Arimathsea. The Blessed Virgin stands with joined hands in the centre of the group behind the tomb. " Erat autem in loco, ubi crucifixus est, liortus : et in horto monumentum novum in quo nondum quisquam positus erat. Ibi ergo propter Parasceven Judjeorum, quia juxta erat monumentum, posuerunt Jesum." (Johan: xix. 41.) NO. 24. THE DESCENT INTO LIMBUS. T was a legend of the seventh century that our Lord between the times of His Crucifixion and His Resurrection passed on to " Limbus," a border place for the unbaptized, as distinct from Purgatory, the temporary abode of those who had received the Sacrament of Baptism. From Limbus a wail had issued on the completion of Christ's Sacrifice, " Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift vip ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." To which answered the Prince of Darkness, in his assump- tion of mock ignorance, " Who is this King of Glory ?" when the Spirit of David replied, " The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle — the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." (Psalm xxiv.) Then appeared Christ before the gates of Limbus, which fell to pieces at His approach. In the representation before us of this incident, our Lord is seen on the left hand clad in royal scarlet vesture, holding in the left hand a cross and labarum, or banner of victory, and with the right grasping the arm of Adam, whom He leads forth from Limbus. The latter person is followed by Eve and the Saints of the pre-Christian period, while David the Royal Prophet is supposed to exclaim, " O sing unto the Lord a new song, for He hath done marvellous things ; His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory." (Psalm xlviii.) The doors of Limbus lie in fragments on the ground, and on these our Lord stands. Flames issue from the open doorway, and surround the bodies of the Saints. Through an arched opening in the wall on the right may be seen the head of a demon gazing in anger at Christ. In representing this assumed event " we should greatly err in restricting the aim of the artist to the supposed deliverance of certain sovils from hell. In earlier times at all events the illustration of a great principle as well as of a legendary fact was his object. It was Christ having overcome the sharpness of death and opening the kingdom of Heaven to all believers." (" History of our Lord," vol. ii. V- 257.) 40 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. NO. 25. THE RESURRECTIOX. HOUGH tlie Gospel narratives do not afford an account of any of the details of the actual Resurrection, since not any mortal eye had wit- nessed it, yet from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Art took upon herself its representation. Taking the account of St. Matthew as the text from Avhich to proceed — " Convenerunt principes sacerdotum et Phai'isaji ad Pilatum dicentes : Domine, recordati sumus, quia seductor ille dixit adhuc vivens : post tres dies resurgam" (xxvii. 62) — our Lord is seen rising fi-om the tomb, giving benediction with the right hand, and bearing the cross and banner of victory in His left. A scarlet drapery covers partly the body. Three guards are near the tomb, two of whom are represented asleep ; one is prostrate on the ground before the tomb. It may be observed that the tomb is closed and elaborately sealed, while above it ascends the Lord. NO. 26. THE HOLT WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. N illustration of St. Mark's account — " Et cum transisset Sabbatum, Maria Magdalene, et Maria, Jacobi, et Salome emerunt aromata ut A'enientes ungerent Jesum — et introeuntes in monumentum viderunt juvenem sedentem in dextris — qui dicit illis nolite expavescere Jesum quaeritis Nazarenum crucifixum : surrexit, non est hie, ecce locus ubi posuerunt eum" (xvi. 1-6) — within and at the right hand end of the now open tomb stands an angel, who lifts with the left hand the empty winding sheet of the Lord, and turns as if addressing the Holy Women. A long scroll proceeds from the hand of the angel, but not any inscription is upon it. From the angel's forehead rises a smaU gold cross. The three holy women are seen descending to the tomb bearing vases of precious ointments in their hands. NO. 27. CHRIST APPEARING AS THE GARDENER TO MARY MAGDALENE, OR THE " NOLI ME TANGERE." N the right stands Christ with head turned towards the left ; He I'ests the right hand on the handle of a spade, and bears a cross and laba- rum in the left hand. On the left kneels Mary Magdalene Avith raised hands looking towards Christ. Both persons are in red vestments. Behind them runs the wattled fence of a garden, and on a hill in the distance is a large tree. The marks of the wounds from the nails are shown on the feet and hands of our Lord. " Dicit ei Jesus : noli me tangere, nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum." ( Johan : xx 1 6.) " In this action ' Touch Me not' needs no vindication. He has passed the gates of Death. She is still on our side of them. She is the same, yet myste- riously changed, for mortality has put on immortality. A narrow space only divides them, but yet it is ' the insuperable threshold.' " (" History of our Lord," vol. ii. p. 280.) THE MASTER OF THE YEAR 1457. 41 NO. 28. THE INCREDULITY OF ST. THOMAS. EXE AT H the groined and vaulted ceiling of a chamber supported hj columns stands Christ on the right, bearing in His left hand the cross and labarum. He places His right hand on the forearm of St. Peter, who kneeling at His side applies his hands to the wound in the chest of Christ. Here is illustrated the statement of St. John. " Dicit Thomse : Infer digitum tuum hue, et vide manus meas et affer manum tuam et mitte in latus meum: et noli esse incredulus sed fidelis." (Johan: xx. 27.) The various pieces of the series which have been now described are, as before remarked, strongly coloured, the nimbi illuminated with gold, and the armour and implements with silver. The latter is now black from oxidation. All the grounds whether of in or outdoor scenes are of deep green colour, and the skies are coloured at the upper parts deep blue. The high lights have been left to be formed by the white ground of the vellum in the draperies of the Vii-gin, St. Thomas (No. 28), and of some of the other figures, the effect of which in certain of the prints (No. 1 2, e. g.) is that of a miniature on ivory. In style of Art, and in the still soft folds of pure taste, these little prints recall the small Passion by Meister Wilhelm in the Berlin Museum. At the same time the treatment is very simple, and does not extend beyond a pale outline. Most of the compositions have something awkward ; on the other hand, single motives are speaking. The powerful colouring applied, and the large glories laid on with gold leaf, with borders and decorations painted in black, bring these little prints in close affinity to miniatures. Here evidently we see a kind of transition from the art of miniature painting, to that of engraving on copper." . . . " These engravings appear to have been executed in the Rhine country, probably in Cologne ; they afford a fresh proof of the early exercise of the art of engraving on copper in Germany." (" Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, etc.," by Dr. Waagen. Murray's Edition, 1857. Supplementary volume, p. 49.) It may be observed that the designer and colourist have adhered to two con- ventional rules, followed when Judas Iscariot was represented, — " by an exaggera- tion of the Jewish cast of features combined with red hair and beard, they [the painters] flattered themselves that they had attained the desii-ed object. But as if this were not enough the ancient painters, particularly in the old illuminations and in Byzantine Art, represent Judas as directly and literally possessed by the devil. Sometimes it is a little black demon seated on his shoulder and whispering in his ear ; sometimes entering his mouth : thus in their simplicity rendering the Words of the Gospel, ' Then entered Satan into Judas.' " " The colour proper to the dress of Judas is a dirty dingy yellow, and in Spain this colour is so intimately associated with the image of the arch-traitor, as to be held in universal dislike ; both in Spain and Italy malefactors and galley- slaves are clothed in yellow, at Venice the Jews were obliged to wear yellow hats." (" Sacred and Legendary Art," p. 1 54.) Each composition is enclosed within a border, rather more than |-th of an inch wide and coloured deep red. [Size including border 3|- X 2|.] [Coloured.] 42 SPECIAL INCUNABULA, A. 3. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ADORED BY AN ABBOT. LAST QUAKTER OP THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. GERMANY. ITHIN a chapel of Gothic architecture stands the Blessed Virgin, bearing on her right arm the infant Jesus. She is draped in tunic and mantle, very large and full in their folds, concealing the low wall, the seat behind her and the ground at her feet. A plain nimbus encircles the head of the Virgin and her long and waved hair falls over the shoulders to below the arms. In general action she is directed slightly to the left, and her head is inclined somewhat over her right shoulder. The infant Saviour on the Virgin's arm holds in His extended right hand a flower, while He grasps with His left hand the left foot, pressing both against the body of His Mother. A circular nimbus with cruciform rays witliin it surrounds the infant Saviour's head, the hair of which is curled in such way as to resemble somewhat a wreath of rosebuds. A piece of drapery is thrown over the lower part of the body, which otherwise is nude. To the left kneels a tonsured ecclesiastic with joined hands, as if in adora- tion. A pastoral staff with inverted crook rests on his right arm and shoulder. He is draped in a full and caped mantle with collar and tassels at the neck and cord around the waist. This personage is probably intended to represent a mitred abbot — the Abbot Ludwig. From above the shoulder of the latter rises a broad and waved scroll, extending over the entire length of the window behind him, and on which is inscribed in reverse — %zm berbum sumi patne Serua Scruoe tue iBattig," The scene is regarded through a broad, rounded archway, supported at each side by short clustered columns. In the background behind the Virgin is a sort of cloister having four small circular arched windows. The ground is marked out as pavement in perspective, and the stony character of the walls is indicated by the technic. On a margin at the top of the print, above the mouldings of the archway, is inscribed in Gothic character in reverse — ILutitDicua jc abbae jc anno % liomini j: ]8AA, On a margin below the composition are the words in like character — 2iaHoIfean0U0 jc aurifabcr x. A certain amount of cross hatching may be observed in parts of the drapery and elsewhere. The work in places is coarse in character, but in portions of the drapery of the Virgin it is comparatively delicate, and in lightly worked-ofi" impressions, the delicacy of the technic in the large folds of the Virgin's mantle THE VIRGIN AND CHILD OF 1477. 43 appears such as to be out of keeping with much of the work elsewhere, giving rise to a suspicion as to the genuineness of the original plate from which the impres- sion has been taken. The impression itself is confessedly modern, having been worked off, according to Heller (" Practisches Handbuch flir Kupferstichsammler." Leipzig, 1858, p. 83), from a plate found fixed on the wall of the sacristy of a church connected with the Prgemonstraten Convent of St. Luclen, in Graubunden. This plate came afterwards into the possession of Hertel, an art publisher at Augsburg, who at the end of the last century, remarks Heller, " according to his own statement had twenty-four impressions only worked off from it, and had the impudence to ask a subscription of six ducats for each impression." The original plate is assumed to have been from its position when found, either a votive one or an ornamental appendage to a tabernacle or other piece of church furniture. The marks of the holes through which passed the screws by which the plate was fixed, are visible in the impression, and as the inscriptions on the latter are in reverse, the plate was evidently not intended to have been printed from. From the lower inscription it may be inferred that the plate was the work of one Wolfgang, a goldsmith, and from the upper that the decoration was the gift of Abbot Ludwig in the year 1477- There is a modern copy of this print in reverse, all the inscriptions reading right therefore. The question may be asked, Was the original metal plate itself from which the impressions in reverse were printed off really what it pretends to have been,^ and the genuine chai-acter of which was accepted by Bartsch (vol. x. p. 1 6, n. 1 3) and by Passavant (vol. i. p. 264, p. 352)? A bare suspicion of the genuine character of this print had more than once come across our mind, but in the face of the authorities mentioned we hesitated to give it value. It has been freshly revived, however, since we met with not long ago the following notice in Rudolph Weigel's "Kiinstlager-Catalog" (Leipzig). Number 8725: — " .... Wolfgangus Aurifaber — Die Madonna mit d. kinde, von einem Bischoff verehrt, 1447? foh Neuer Druck einner von Bartsch (P. Gr. T. X. S. 1 6.) beschrieben Blattes von der Gegenseite. Beide ofters vorkom- menden Bl. Nr. 13 sind alt xi. existiren in neuen Abdrucken, sind aber fast werthlos ; da es compilationem aus altern Bliittern sind, dazu weder Kunst noch Interesse des Alterthums sie auszeichnet." Though there is to us some obscurity in the above statement, we have come to the conclusion that in Weigel's opinion the original plate itself is a compilation in modern times from older plates, and that both the first impressions as well as the copy in reverse are " almost worthless." Reference has been made ah-eady to a certain discrepancy in the work of different parts of the engraving- — the technic is out of keeping as a whole. At first sight such may not be apparent, but let the larger folds of the Virgin's mantle be closely examined, and then other parts of the print, and it must appear ' we think as if the engraver forgot his assumed (?) old-style of work — a style associated in the mind with coarseness or want of delicacy — when he worked on the folds of the mantle. The inscriptions are en rebours, yet the Virgin sustains the ChUd on her right , arm, and the latter holds the flower in His right hand — ^both actions being repre- sented on the original metal by the artists as performed by the left hand of course. It may be said, however, that it is more natural for a mother to hold her child on the left arm than on the right, and as under such circumstances the left arm of the Child would be the free one, the Child would extend that arm with the flower in the hand, and not the right one. Further, whatever might be said of That is, a plate worked by a goldsmith in the year 1477- 44 SPECIAL INCUNABULA. the face of the Infant Saviour, of the features of the Virgin and of the adoring ecclesiastic, little could be advanced in favour of their being such as we might expect from an engraver who worked the folds of the mantle. [lli X 8.] [Uncolonred.] A. 4. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ADORED BY AN ABBOT. Copy. NINETEENTH CENTURY. GERMANY. COPY in reverse of the engraving before described [A. 3]. In this inferior production the actions are performed with the right arms and hands, and the inscriptions read properly. The lower in- scription is wanting and the marks of the holes of fixature are absent. We assume this print to be the one first referred to by R. Weigel in the notice of his Catalogue (No. 8725) previously quoted. [11 X 8.] [Uncoloured.] PREFATOEY REMARKS. Prints in the " Maniere Griblee." ^^^W^^^HB examples now to be described present to the eye a very peculiar appearance. In the novice they give rise to much curiosity as respects the mode of their production, a curiosity the satis- faction of which many experts would consider to be still a desideratum. The most striking feature ill the appearance of the majority of these prints, is the important part which white dots (of variable size) on a dark ground have been made to play in the technical exe- cution of them. From the preponderance of this particular technic, the engravings in question have received the names of " Dotted prints,^^ Schrotbldtter, and prints in the Maniere Cnblee. When attention was first drawn to them, they were con- sidered to bo impressions from engraved wood blocks, and to this opinion some authorities still adhere. More recent in- vestigations have led, however, to a prevalent conclusion that these prints have been worked from metal plates (of rather soft material), which have been engraved in a composite manner, a manner partaking of some of the characteristics of both wood engraving, or engraving in relief, and ordinary metal plate en- graving, or engraving in intaglio. It must be admitted, however, that the large dotted manner^' was occasionally performed on wood; but whether as only an experimental imitation or not of the original process on metal is a doubtful matter. On reference to a print of the Last Judgment from a wood block in the Derschau and Becker collection,^ it may be seen that the original engraving was treated ^ " Holzsclinitte alter deutscher Meister, etc." Gotha, 1801, plate A. 1 1. 48 PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIBLEE. in parts in a manner like that practised^ it is assumed^ usually on metal plates. In the print referred to^ the drapery for instance of Christ and part of that of John the Baptist are treated as ic the maniere criblee. It is probable^ also^ that some at least of the cuts having crihle grounds to be met with in the French Livres d^Heures " are from wood blocks, though it is known now that in many instances they are really from metal. As we examine various impressions in the maniere crihlee, we cannot help feeling that certain of the forms in the designs appear to be given by white parts on a black ground ; while other forms, and particularly the shadow lines, seem to be produced by black parts on a white ground. Close and repeated examinations have led us to the belief that those forms in the composition which may be considered as given by white are en creux or in intaglio on the original metal, while such parts as depend on black forms are mostly in relief on the metal. We state mostly, because in certain shadows and textures there is displayed such fine and delicate frayed, lined, and cross-hatched technic black off a white ground, as to lead to the supposition that in these parts of the engraving the black lines have been executed in intaglio, as in ordinary metal or copper-plate work. With these exceptions, it may be laid down that all forms, lines, and parts which are black in the impression have been in relief on the original metal and received the ink, while those which are white were en creux (as in wood engraving) and escaped it. The exceptions made in respect to certain black delicate frayed and lined work, assumed to have been in intaglio in the metal, involve of course,the reception there of the ink as in ordinary copper-plate engraving, while the adjacent white ground in relief must have had the ink cleaned away from it before the impression was taken. This strange mixture of work and effects gives rise, as M. Hymans remarks, '^to a combination more singular than agreeable.^^ To quote Passavant, " The ground remains in relief in order to be printed off black, varied with a dotted work, or a work in the manner of tapestry. After a like way the draperies are frequently orna- mented with points or dots of various sizes, imitating the embroidery in pearls and in silk of church hangings; or with stars, oblong granules, &c., punched out over very fine hatchings or on the black ground, the lights being graduated towards the shadows by removal of the metal. The result is a particular play of ornaments and of light and shade which is not devoid of a certain charm, though this kind of work cannot pretend to occupy a distinguished place as an object of Art.^' {" Peintre-Graveur," vol. i. p. 84.) The view which we have taken of the method of engraving adopted in the maniere criblee may appear a somewhat involved one, yet it is in the main we believe right, and is supported bj the PREFATORY REMARKS. 49 statements of M. Hymans of the Department of Prints^ &c., at the Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique. M. Hymans writes : — " We are indebted to the kindness of an amateur at Malines, M. Aug-, de Bruyne, of having been able to append to our memoir a proof from a plate of copper which he has in his possession, and which offers a valuable document for the study of the ' travail crible/ and is perhaps the only one of its kind known. This plate, engraved in copper, is executed both en creux and en relief. It represents Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, patrons of shoemakers and cobblers .... In this plate the lines of the features, the rays encircling the heads of the saints, the folds of the draperies — in a word, everything that defines is in relief as in wood engraving, but otherwise la taille douce has been made to contribute largely, and gives to the impression white lines on a black ground. (" Documents Iconographiques et Typographiques de la Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique,^^ 1 serie, deuxieme livraison, par M. H. Hymans, p. 171.) M. Renouvier also alludes {" Gazette des Beaux- Arts,^^ 1860, vol. vii. p. 331) to a plate of copper engraved in relief, representing the Vision of St. Bathilde with an inscription of three lines in Latin, and of which M. Longperier has given a description (accom- panied by a proof worked off from the plate) in the " Cabinet de I'Amateur.'^ From the inscriptions on some of the prints under discussion being in reverse, and from actions being performed with the left hand which are ordinarily carried out with the right, it is evident that the original plates of such prints were not intended to have been printed from. They were engraved probably as ornamei;tal plates to adorn small articles of ecclesiastical and altar furniture, judging from the marks on the impressions of the holes in the original metals through which the screws passed by which they were affixed, and which marks are occasionally numerous. In other instances from the inscriptions and actions being right (as opposed to en rehours), it may be concluded that the intention of the engraver was that his work should be made to furnish impressions. The persons who produced these plates were more craftsmen than artists, probably goldsmiths or other ornamental metal en- gravers who essayed to combine with their own decorative work some of the more usual characteristics of ordinary engraving, as they found that their own particular style was more or less in disaccord with the conditions requisite for the working off of impressions. The earliest actually dated print in the present manner yet known — the Sanctus Bernardinus of the Paris Cabinet (B. 19) — bears figures which have been variously deciphered — viz. as 1414, 50 PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIBLEE. 1454, and 1474. We read these figures as 1474. That older im- pressions than this last date would imply have reached our time must be allowed, but it may be questioned with justice if we have a print in the maniere criblee which was produced before the middle of the fifteenth century. M. Leon Delaborde was of opinion that engraving in la maniere criblee gave rise to all other styles of engraving. The first impres- sions ever taken must have proceeded, he thought, from the ateliers of engravers on metal, and not from those of engravers on wood. These workers in metal engraved in relief, and in that form of tech- nic which has yielded our gravures crihlees. The eminent writer mentioned considered that among the goldsmith workers in the Pays-bas or by the Rhine, must have been several who printed off " dotted prints " at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and that the woodcuts usually described as the more early examples of the art of engraving were in reality but the results of a process which was only a reform of, or modification of another process already existing. M. Henri Delaborde has sought to substantiate these opinions Gazette des Beaux- Arts,^^ 1869) in proving that the Paris Cabinet possesses two prints en criblee which were certainly executed by the year 1406. We have elsewhere ^ discussed the validity of this opinion, in which we cannot coincide. Sufficient therefore will it be to state here, that while we cannot place the time of the production of such dotted prints as have come down to us as far back as would MM. Leon and Henri Delaborde, we agree with M. Hymans that when we consider the styles of their ornamentation, and of the nimbi and diadems that encircle the heads of the Saints, and parti- cularly the character of the drapery, we feel that we are nearer in most instances to the end than to the beginning of the fifteenth century. It may be observed also, that under any circumstances a like absence of a certain character may be noticed in prints of the maniere criblee, as is apparent in other works assuredly ancient, a few of which are as old, or it may be anterior in origin to the St. Christopher,'^ and which serves to limit the date of their produc- tion much before the fifteenth century. The character here absent and to which allusion is made, is that of the Byzantine or Romanesque style. The style of design and drawing present is, on the contrary, the Gothic, or the style of which the schools of Cologne and the Van Eycks have preserved the types. That style, the Byzantine, which may be found in the manuscripts and bas-reliefs of the twelfth. ' " An Introduction to the Study and Collection of Ancient Prints," second edition, vol. i. p. 30. London, 18 77. 2 A.D. 1423. PREFATORY REMARKS. 51 thirteenth, and of a considerable portion of the fourteenth century/ is never exhibited in these early prints, a style which may be seen however in engraved ornamental metal work, executed at a time when the art of taking impressions would appear to have been un- known. In illustration of this fact, the reader has but to study the style of the design and drawing, which characterizes to some extent the work on the ornamental engraved metal plates of the " Corona Lucis^' of the cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle [A. 1], which work was executed towards the end of the twelfth century. It must be admitted nevertheless that the craft source, if we may so speak, whence engravings in the maniere crihUe originated, dates back much beyond the time when from that same source sprang the particular examples now under consideration. Though the dotted prints were first produced during the second half of the fifteenth century, they are no doubt intimately linked to earlier eftbrts of the goldsmith^s art, efibrts, however, which were never made to give their impress either to vellum or to paper, and which were the more in disagreement with the conditions required for such a process the further they receded in time. Much of the technical methods of the execution of the original metals for the prints in the dotted manner appears to be described in that curious and valuable tractate of the Monk Theophilus, a MS. first written at the beginning of the twelfth century probably. The account therein given is of so apposite a character that no apology is required for its introduction here.^ In the " Liber Tertius,''' caput Ixxi., " De Opere interrasili " is treated, and the following method of procedure laid down : — " Attenuate tibi laminas ex eodem cupro sicut superius sed spissius, quas pertractas quocumque volueris opere fodies ut supra. Deinde habeas ferros graciles et latiores, secundum quantitatem cam- porum, qui sint in una summitate tenues et acuti, in altera obtusi qui vocantur meizel, ponensque laminam super incudem campos omnes perforabia cum supradictis ferris percutiens cum malleo. Cumque ^ It may be met with in a MS. of the commencement of the fifteenth century even; e.g. in the MS. of Jean de Stavelot, executed at Liege, a.d. 1428, and com- mented on by M. Alvin in his " Commencements de la Gravure aux Pays-bas." Bruxelles, 1857. 2 Our extracts are taken from Albert Ilg's edition of the oldest copy known of this MS. " Theophilus Presbyter, Schedula Diversarum Artium." l Band Revidirter Text, ubersetzung und Appendix von Albert Ilg. — Wien, 1874. The work forms one of the volumes in " Quellen Schriften fur Kunstgeschichte und Kunsttechnik des Mittelalters und der Renaissance." Herausgegebeu von R, Eitel- berger von Edelberg. The MS. is in the Grand Ducal Library at Wolfenbiittell. The date of its execution has been placed as far back as the tenth or eleventh cen- tury, and brought forward to the thirteenth. Ilg places it in the twelfth century. 52 PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIBLEE. omnes campi tali modo fuerint perforati, cum limis parvulis sequabis eos per omnia usque ad tractos. Quo facto deaurabia et polies laminam ut supra. Eodem modo fiunt tabulae, et laminae argenteae super libros, cum imaginibus, floribus, atque bestiolis et avibus, ex quibus pars deauratur, videlicet coronge imaginum et capilli atque vestimenta per loca atque pars remanet argentea. Fiunt etiam et laminae cupreae et fodiuntur et denigrantur ac raduntur ; deinde in patella liquefacto stagno mittuntur, ut rasurae albae fiunt quasi dear- gentatae sint. Ex his ligantur cathedrae pictae et sedilia atque lecti ; ornantur etiam libri pauperum." Caput Ixxii." treats " De Opere punctili " as follows : — Fiunt etiam laminae de cupro, modo quo superius et fodiuntur gracili opere imaginum, florum sive bestiarum et ita disponitur opus, ut campi parvuli sint, deinde purgantur cum subtili sabulo et cum ferris ad hoc opus aptis, poliuntur sicque deaurantur rursumque poli- untur et incolorantur. Post haec ferro punctorio punctatur, quod hoc modo formatur. Ex chalybe fit ferrum ad mensuram digiti longum in una summitate gracile, in altera grossius. Quod cum in gra- ciliori parte aequaliter limatum fuerit, cum subtilissimo ferro et malleolo percutitur in medio ejus subtile foramen deinde circa ipsum foramen diligenter limatur, donee ora ejus in circuitu aequa- liter acuta fiat, ita ut quocunque percutiatur brevissimus circulus appareat. Post haec ipsum ferrum modice calefactum ut vix can- descat, temperetur in aqua. Deinde tene ipsum ferrum sinistra manu et malleolum d extra, sedeatque puer ante te qui laminam teneat super incudem, et aptet in locis illis in quibus percussurus es, sic que mediocriter percutiens super ferrum cum malleolo imple campum unum subtilissimis circulis quanto propius possis conjungere unum alteri. Impletis campis omnibus in hunc modum pone laminam ipsam super prunas candentes, donee percussiones illae fulvum colorem recipiant.^^ Prints in the maniere crihlee ceased to appear soon after the beginning of the sixteenth century ; they are very rarely associated with either MS. or typographic text,^ andrep/^'c/ieofthemareof very unfrequent occurrence. A considerable number have been coloured. ^ The author has a German MS. book of prayers of the sixteenth century, in which two prints of the crible class have been inserted along with other engravings, but these prints were of course executed long before their insertion into the MS. For an example in which dotted prints are associated with typo- graphic text, reference should be made to B. 2, described hereafter. Further details connected with this point may be found in the author's " Introduction to the Study of Ancient Prints," vol. ii. p. 67. Since that work was published (London, 1877) has been indebted to Mr. F. S. Ellis for the inspection of a copy of Molina's translation into Spanish of the Epistles of St. Jerome, printed at Seville in 1532, in which were two impressions of a print in the dotted ma„nner, though they were of inferior technic, and hjad been badly printed off. PREFATORY REMARKS. S3 These prints rarely deal with any other than religious subjects. Such examples as we have seen have mostly proceeded — as we believe — from a German source ; one or two of French origin have oome under notice. During the last decade of the fifteenth century and the first of the sixteenth, many of the engraved border cuts, as also some of the larger illustrations to those attractive volumes the " Livres d'Heures/' or Books of Hours, which were published in France by Pigouchet, Vostre, Yerard, Kerver, and others, had the dark grounds of the designs finely crible or dotted white. Some of the beautiful initial capitals in the works of Geofroy Tory, and in books printed at Lyons, as also a large print illustrating the " Tree of Consan- guinity,^^ in an edition of the " Decretals of Gratian^' [B. 49, pos^ea], printed probably at that place, had the grounds crible in like manner. This method of " killing the black " to render the grounds less heavy than they otherwise would be, gave a rich and sparkling effect to the volume when it was continued through many pages, as was usually the case. It may be fairly assumed from the style and character of the designs in the " Books of Hours" that these decora- tive compositions — the best of them at least — were drawn and engraved by French artists. Some of the later and coarser cuts in the Kerver "Hours'*^ may have proceeded from Flemish and German workers. These cuts with crible grounds are of course in association with typographic text, and it has been very generally assumed that they have been taken from engraved wood blocks and not from metal plates. These circumstances appear on first consideration to militate against certain of our previous statements. But it is appearance only. It should bo borne in mind in the first place that in the cuts mentioned the grounds only are crible, there is not any attempt at developing the general forms in the dotted manner," though some- what of the style and feeling of the ornamentation of the true crible prints is evolved through the influence of this ground in relieving the accessories. Secondly, while it must be admitted that some of these cuts with dotted grounds appear to have been worked off from wood blocks, others have been impressed unquestionably from metal plates engraved in a more or less composite manner. MM. Firmin Didot and Passavant have urged strongly this view of the question, while Renouvier has opposed it. M. Passavant remarks, " The books which are richest in ' gravures sur metal ' are the French ' Livres d'Heures,' or books of prayers, and those particularly which appeared at Paris, and belong chiefly to the XVth century. They contain large compositions, single figures of \ 54 PRINTS IN THE MAN IE RE CRIB LEE. saints and rich borders in the style of the manuscript ' Hours adorned with miniatures^ and which MSS. these ' Livres d^Heures ' were destined to replace. We know not who were the designers of these various compositions, which must be due nevertheless for the greater part to miniature painters formed in the school of the celebrated Jean Fouquet de Tours, which acquired a great reputation in the style produced under the influence of the school of Van Eyck. The engravings on metal or on wood treated with much taste are in the majority of instances simple contours only, with very slight hatchings, the figures being relieved light from off a black ground studded with white dots .... One of the oldest printers of books of Hours of the French school having the finest engravings on metal, in the style of Van Eyck, was Simon Vostre, of Paris The editor who after Vostre issued at Paris the finest books of Hours between 1497 and 1522 was Thielmann Kerver, a German. In the production of his presses the borders, full of fancy and beauty, are principally admired. Antoine Verard, before mentioned, published between 1487 and 1512 more than twenty-five editions of his books of 'Hours.-* The 'gravures en metal ^ to be found therein consist of very slight outlines only, as they were generally destined to be coloured after the style in which they sometimes come before us. They have become very scarce and of high price We may add here that we find in the engravings on metal of the books of ' Hours ' the earliest employment of cliches from the original plates. In fact, we meet with in certain impressions on white ground, spots of ink which have resulted from the circumstance that the ground in the cliche was not kept sufficiently deep, or has not been repro- duced with the requisite exactitude, a circumstance never the case with impressions taken from the original plates (vol. i. p. 162). M. Didot, confirming the statement of Passavant as to the employ- ment of modified cliches, observes also, " This practice of engraving on copper the greater portion of the subjects intended for the ornamen- tation of ' Hours,' is now confirmed by the ' Book of Hours ' of 1488, in which the printer, Jean Dupre, thus expresses himself in the notice following the Kalendar — ' It is the repertory of the history and figures of the Bible — both of the Old Testament and of the New — containing therein vignettes of the present Hours, imprimees en cuyvre/ " {" Essai Typographique et Bibliographique sur THistoire de la Gravure sur Bois," col. 120.) This confirmatory volume — a small quarto containing twenty large plates and thirty smaller ones, independent of the borders — is now in the Library of the British Museum (c. 35, c). M. Bernard in his work on Geofroy Tory, when commenting on the Latin Bible in two volumes, folio, bearing the dates 1538, 1539, 1540, and the name of Robert Estienne, Paris, remarks. PREFATORY REMARKS. 55 The floriated letters which figure in this book are certainly by Tory, for we there find the forms praised by him in his Champ fleury. A fact worthy of remark is that these letters appear to have been cast (fondues) , or at least reproduced by cliches, for they are often repeated on the same page without variation of drawing." (Op. cit. p. 277.) Wessely asserts that " the Illustrations in the French Horaria are unquestionably Metallschnitte." {" Anleitung.'" Leipzig, 1876, p. 35.) On the other hand, M. Renouvier {" Des Gravures sur Bois dans les Livresde Simon Vostre." Paris, 1862) expresses himself differently, e.g. " A recent historian of German engraving who, among his novel opinions respecting early art causes engraving on metal in relief to play an important part, has been desirous of claiming for this procedure the ' Hours ' of Vostre, as also many other books of the same kind. For my part, I have not been able to discover in these engravings the signs he ascribes to work in relief on metal. I have found there rather those which he assigns to work on wood, though at the same time I admit that the one and the other are arbitrary and deceptive. There is not any necessity then for changing the received opinions on this point, nor for discussing the tradition of the texts and all the authorities who, in mentioning our ancient engravings in relief, understand them only as engravings on wood. The most recent authority that we can cite, Langlois, has perfectly defined their natu^re. ' These designs,* he writes, ' executed sur hois defil,^ by the difficult procedure of the point, are in all their cut lines and most elaborate hatchings of admirable freedom, deli- cacy, and purity.' " To all objections to the belief that many of the cuts with crible grounds decorating the " Books of Hours " are from metal plates, based on mere opinion, it is sufficient to oppose the statement (before referred to) of Jean Dupre himself in his " Hours'' of 1488, that the vignettes therein " are " imprimees en cuyvre." ^ " ' Sur bois de fil,' c'est-a-dire dans le sens longitudinal, que la gravure etait cxecutee tandis que maintenant c'est sur le bois coupe dans I'autre sens, c'est-a-dii'e sur bois debout qu'elle s'opere." (Firmin Didot, " Essai Typographique," etc., col. 278.) B. I. TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE TRESPASS OF THEM. LAST QUARTER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY (?). UPPER GERMANY. ^^8*^^ SERIES of twenty small prints engraved in the maniere criblee, illus- trating by designs and inscriptions the characters of ten command- inents, and the probable consequences of the transgression of them by The designs have been arranged in sequence in five rows of four pieces each row, the first commandment beginning at the left hand of the top row. Each row thus contains illustrations of two of the commandments, and of the two trespasses of them. The engravings have been worked off" on a folio sheet of stout paper, having a small bull's heaid and cross for watermark. Each print is rather more than 2|- inches liigh by 1 1. inches wide ; within these dimensions are marked ofi" an upper and lower margin or border, containmg inscriptions in strongly marked Gothic letters, which are white on a deep black ground. The inscriptions on the upper borders are in Latin, and of a single line in extent ; those of the lower are in German, of the Swabian dialect, and consist of two lines each. The upper and Latin inscriptions of each commandment and its trespass rhyme together, e.g. (3.) Sabatham sanctifices Ne cimices Isedant flores. while the lower two and German lines of each piece are in verse, e.g. (1.) Glaub in einen Gott Diess ist das erst Gebot. The orthography of the Latin inscriptions is often very imperfect, and the con- tractions frequently unmarked. The limits of these borders are indicated by thin white lines, the lateral ones being extended to form along with narrow black margins lateral borders, of rather less than -^^th of an inch wide to the print. The remainder of each plate is occupied by the design or composition to which the inscriptions relate. That the inscriptions may be readily understood, two persons at different times have transcribed them in the cursive characters of their day above, below, and at 58 PRINTS IN THE MAN I ERE CRIB LEE. the sides of each pj.nnt. The older MS. is of Gothic cursive character, and gives both the upper and lower engraved inscriptions ; the writing is large and distinct, the ink now quite brown. This handwriting is probably of the commencement of the sixteenth century. The later MS. gives the lower inscriptions only, and is of modern German cursive form. It also renders the dialect of the inscriptions in accordance generally with that of recent time. FIRST COMMANDIilENT. a} HE first print of the series illustrates the Commandment, "non habebis Deos alienos coram me. Non facies tibi sculptile .... non adorabis ea." (Exod : xx. 4.) On the right hand is a column on the capital of which stands the Golden Calf, before which kneel three persons worshipping it ; by their side stands a fourth person, the upper part of whom is wanting from damage this piece has received, but which person we presume to be Moses. The background is white, with a small amount of frayed work by the head of one of the figures. The ground is parqueted in squares, showing five faces or facettes. Not any punctated work is to be seen. On the tunic of the erect figure the roulette, cradle or toothed chisel has been employed. Of the upper (Latin) inscription, the word -1- adora only can be read on account of the damage the print has received. The lowpr (German) inscription is as follows — • gleube + in + einen + got + diz -t- ist dz -t- erest + gebot + TRANSGRESSION, a. ARGE and small pearl-like drops of blood descend from a double row of small clouds above, on the earth below. A river runs in front, beyond it rising a grassy bank on which blood drops have fallen. In the immediate foreground are a narrow flowery bank and stones. The drops of blood and clouds are relieved by a deep black ground. The technic of the banks is mainly punctiform, the water is marked by waved hoi'izontal lines. The upper inscription is — Veniet + we + sanguis + hora. the lower — man + brach -5- dis + gebot daz + mere + wart + blutrot. SECOND COMMANDMENT. /3. HE design refers to the law, " Non assumes Nomen Domini Dei tui in vanum." Before a small Gothic chapel on the right hand stands a man , extending both arms and looking upwards as if making oath. He is bare-headed, has a short coat girded at the waist, from which hangs a dagger. By his side stands Moses, horned and bearing in his hands the tables of the Law. * On the various divisions into ten commandments of the Law given to Moses, see "Der Bildercatechismus des Funfzehnten Jahrhunderts, etc., von Johannes Geffcken. 1. De Zehn Gebote." Leipzig, 1855, p. 58. Davidson's "Introduc- tion to the Old Testament." London, 1862, vol. i. p. 230. TEN COMMANDMENTS. 59 The background is white, on which is a small amount of frayed work. The ground is parqueted as in the former composition. Little or no punctiform technic is to be observed ; the border of Moses's mantle shows a line of dots, but this only as ornamental in character, not as indicating texture or quality as a painter might remark. The upper inscription runs thus — cum + male ■'i- juraret + the lower one — • das ander du solt lern by got nyt vppig swern. TRANSGRESSION. /3 ROM a stratum of conventionally formed clouds — a type common to engravings in the maniere criblee — descend large frogs and blood drops on the flowery earth below. On the top of the landscape ridge are two trees and other foliage. The sky is deep black ; the ground of punctiform technic. The upper inscription is — " Rane tunc apparuetur the lower — durch swern manigfalt regent frosch vngezalt. THIRD COMMANDMENT, y. HE design bears reference to the law, " Memento ut diem sabbati sanctifices." Two men are working on the Sabbath ; one man is felling a tree, tlie other is pruning a vine-stock. Moses stands on the right hand bearing the tables of the Law. The garden ground is of punctiform technic. The upper inscription is — Sabathum + Snfices + the lowor^ — das + iij + ich + dir + Sagen -!• vier + die + heiligen + dage + TRANSGRESSION, y. 1^^=^^R0M a stratum of conventional clonds descend a number of chafers ou ^ ripe corn, which springs up below from the edge of a flowery field. 1'^^ ^ ^®^P black, the ground punctated. The upper inscription runs thus — " ne + cinises ledat + Jlores " + tlie lower one — ■vm -I- diz + vergesse + lies + got + kefer + die + frucht ess. 6o PRINTS IN THE MAN I ERE CRIB LEE. FOURTH COMMANDMENT. ^. HE design i-elates to the precept, " Honora patrem tuum et matrem tixam." On a seat in front extending the width of the composition a father and mother are seated. A youth standing behind his mother is about to strike her with his right hand, while the father raises his left hand, as if in astonishment and sorrow. A daughter standing behind her mother looks passively on at the action of her brother. Behind the seat at the extreme right stands Moses with the tables of the Law. There is not any punctiform technic in this print ; frayed and lined work only are present. The background is white, with a small quantity of frayed work. The upper inscription is as follows — Parents + honores + the lower one — daz + iiij + du + solt + leren vatter + vn + mutter + ere. TRANSGRESSION. ^. ROM a line of clouds descend locusts on the earth. The latter bears upon it flowers and trees. The sky is of a deep black, the ground of punctiform technic. The upper inscription reads — ut + locustus + caras + the lower one — es -h wart + gebrochen mit -i- vyefalter + geroch. FIFTH COMMANDMENT, t. J HIS composition illustrates the commandment, " Non occides." In the foreground a man is slaying with a sword a person who is prostrate on the earth ; Moses stands behind and between tAvo trees,! holding up the tables of the Law. The background is white, the ground of punctiform technic. The upper in- scrijjtion is the following — neminem + occidas. the lower — das ich dir sage du solt nyman dot slagen. TRANSGRESSION, e. N the earth lie various large animals as if dead. The fky is of a deep black, the ground of punctiform technic. The earth bears both flowers and trees. The upper inscription is the following — aialm morte formid; TEN COMMANDMENTS. 61 the lower one — durcli dotsleg vngefug der schelm dz fych schlng. SIXTH COMMANDMENT, i^. HE design refers to the precept, "Non mjechaberis." A man and woman are lying together in bed. Moses stands on the left behind the curtain of the conch, and points with the left index finger to the commandment on the table of the Law, which he sup- ports with the right hand. The ground or floor is parqueted as described under Nos. 1 and 2. The upper inscription is — the lower one- marimomu + serva +. das + vi + du solt + gern + einss ander wip enbern. TRANSGRESSION. C N a chair within a vaulted room sits a naked man having ulcers on several parts of his body. Before him is a person who appears to be performing some surgical procedure on the naked man's left forearm, which is ulcered. The floor of the room is parqueted. The iijiper inscription reads thus — ne + patiar + ulceru pt va, the lower — gelust -J- fremder + wybe + kam + plage + dem + lybe +. SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. HE design illustrates the precept, "Non furtum facies." The impression has been placed out of its right position in the sequence, it being made to occupy that of Commandment eight. In describing No. 7, however, we remove it to its proper locality — the first place in the fourth row. To the right on a chest sits a man asleep supporting his head by his left arm and liand. On the left is a man opening another chest, from which he is about to lake money. Behind stands Moses pointing with his right hand to the command- ment on the table of the Law. The background is white, the ground parqueted. The up2)er inscription is — Nichil + furetur -t- the lower one — dz vii + ich + dir + bevelhe + dn + solt + nit + stelen + 62 PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIB LEE. TRANSGKESSION. »/. SIIOWEK of hailstones descends npon tlie ripe corn below. The background is black, the earth of punctiform technic. The npper inscription is in part not satisfactorily decipherable, the first two words are — ne + seges + the lower inscription is as follows — _^ dvrch + stein + vnfug -f der hagel -1- daz -f korn -i- slug -J- EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 0. HE design refers to the law, " Non loqueris contra proximnra tunm falsum testimonium." The impression wrongly occupies the place of No. 7. On the left stands a man raising his left hand as if in the act of accusing a person who stands opposite him of having been guilty of some fault. The accused appears as if astonished at the accusation. Behind a seat on the right hand stands Moses with the tables of the Law. The background is white, the floor parqueted. Not any punctated work is to be seen. The upper inscription reads — serva juramentu the lower one — dz + viij + behalt -V eben + nit + falsch + gezug + gebe TRANSGRESSION. 0. ROM a stratum of clouds above descends a shower of grasshoppers on the trees and flowers below. The sky is of a deep black, the ground of punctiform technic. The upper inscription seems to read — • det musca ne deliramt the lower one is as follows — durch -V meyneyd -i- spiel kam + heuschreke + fiel + NINTH COMMANDIVIENT. t. 'HE design bears reference to the law, " Non concupisces anciUam ' proximi tui." 1 A young man in hat and feather is coming from the left ; as he [ passes along he is about to stop to address a young woman standing at the doorway of a house on the right. To the left of the youthful gallant stands Moses bearing the tables of the Law. The background is white with a small amount of frayed work. The ground is parqueted. The stones of the house are indicated by punctiform technic. TEN COMMANDMENTS. 63 The upper inscription is the following — • nuquam + mecTiaris + the lower one — dzix -i- vns 4- ist + geben -^ kuschlick + zu -'r leben +. TRANSGRESSION, i. HE broad rays of the sun beam down upon the towers and houses of a city ; but the sun itself is not visible. The foreground is slightly hilly, and bears trees and flowers. Much punctated work may be noticed. The upper inscription is as follows — ut -V luce + solis + vtaris + tlie lower one — duzch + unkusch + ding der + sone + schyn + verging + TENTH COMMANDMENT, k. HE design is here made to bear reference to the precept, "Si pecuniam mutuam dederis populo meo pauperi qui habitat tecum, non urgebis eum quasi exactor, nec usuris opprimes." (Exod : xxii. 25.) Before a table on the left hand sits an old man acthig the part of a pawnbroker apparently. A man stands before the table on which he is about to place a girdle for the old man's consideration as to its value as a pledge. Behind the man who offers it stands his anxious wife. From above is suspended horizontally a bar, on which hang a girdle and necklace. Behind the usurer, seated at the table, stands Moses with the tables of the Law. The background is white, the floor parqueted. The upper inscription is — usuram + vita + the lower one — dz. + . ich + dir + gebiet Wach' soltu + nyet +. TRANSGRESSION, k. N the ground lie three persons, two of whom are dead, and the third seems dying. Trees crown the summit of the ground above them. There is much punctated work. The sky is white. The upper inscription is as follows — ree + moriaris -J- ita the lower one — + durch + wuchcr + not + + kam + der -{■ gehe + Dot + In the series of prints which has been described aU varieties of the technic common to the maniere criblee have been practised, but in variable amount on different pieces. In some punctiform work is quite absent. As a rule to wliich there are one or two exceptions, the background of the designs illustratino- the commandments themselves are left white, with here and there a small amount of 64 PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIBLEE. scratched or frayed work, to break the sameness of their surface ; while the back- ground of the designs referring to the transgressions are of deep black colour, from which the "plagues" are detached white. As all the pieces have been coloured, however, the originally white parts are variously changed in hue. The colouring has been conducted rather carefully, that is to say, relatively to the practice of the time of its performance. The ch'awing and proportions of the various forms are of a mediocre character. From a German catalogue of an " Antiquariat Biicherlager " which notices this sequence of engravings the following is extracted : — " Architecture, trees, costume, and in particular the folds of the draperies, point to an early period of production, while the same may be stated of the German rhymed text, which is printed in deep gothic letters, white on a black ground. This text, which is of Swabian Alemanic character, is linguistically very remarkable ; from it the series of prints may be presumed to have had its origin in the country between Basel and Strassburg, and certainly not after the year 1450 .... The present is as yet the only known example of the series, and has not been described hitherto by any Bibliographer nor Historian of Art." (" Catalog cxxix. von Fidelis Butsch Sohn." Augsburg, 1877, No. 288.) We should consider the time (before 1 450) here assigned for the production of these engravings as too early, and should assign it rather to the last quarter of the fifteenth century. It may be interesting to compare with this exposition of Ten Commandments another one under the division of woodcuts (D. 106). \_2\ X If in.] [Coloured.] B. 2. A "PASSIO CHRISTI "—EIGHT LEAVES FROM. CIRCA 1460. BAVARIA (?). (No. 338, Weigel).^ HIS fragment of a " Passion " consists of the following designs : — The Bearing the Cross ; The Nailing to the Cross ; Christ on the Cross with the Virgin and St. John ; Christ on the lap of his Mother ; The Entombment ; Christ in Limbus ; The Resurrection ; Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene. All have been executed in the maniere criblee. PLATE I. THE BEARING THE CROSS. HRIST advancing towards the right bears the Cross on His left shoulder. Simon of Cyrene behind, supports the end of the Cross with both hands. A soldier advancing before our Lord pulls Him by a cord fixed around our Lord's waist. On the left hand behind Christ, and above Simon of Cyrene, is a soldier in a coat of mail, who strikes our Lord on ' This and following like references have relation to " Die Anfange der Druckerkunst in Bild uud Schrift," etc., von T. O. Weigel und Dr. Ad. Zester- mann. Leipzig, 1866. A "PASSION." 65 the neck with the handle of an iron mallet. Our Lord has a cruciform nimbus and crown of thorns around His head, His hair is long and falls upon the shoulders, and the mantle is long with loose sleeves. The background is black adorned with arabesques in white ; behind the figures are rocks and two trees. The Cross is worked out by means of large white dots on a ground of much smaller punctations, its edge being slightly hatched. The trunks of the trees are indicated with diagonal lines, and the foliage with small coarse horizontal lines, white off the deep black ground. The drapery on our Lord is made out with large and small white dots, while in the dress of the attendants frayed and scraped work may be seen. A mixture of punctiform and scraped technic may be observed in the foreground and elsewhere. At the upper right hand, and lower left hand comers, are the marks of the holes through which the original plate was fixed to the block. The execution is sharp and defined, and the impression has been worked off black and clean. Such colouring as is present is but imperfect. The Cross, tree trunks, nimbus, and the borders of the tunic of a soldier are yellow ; the foliage, coat of Simon of Cyrene, and the wreath of thorns are green. The tunic of one soldier is madder brown, and some of the naked parts of the figures are of a pale- red colour. PLATE 2. THE NAILING TO THE CROSS. HE Cross lies diagonally across the composition, its foot reaching the left lower angle of the design. Our Ijord is extended upon it while three men drive nails through His feet and hands. A cruciform nimbus is over Christ's head, and a wreath of thorns around the brow, the lieiul being inclined towards the right hand. A narrow, close-fitting peri- zoniuin is present. The body is meagre and attenuated. The background as high as the top of the Cross ajipears like a bank of flowers, above this is an arabesque detached white from off a black ground. The Cross is worked out technically witli parallel waved and broken lines, the flowers amid the grass and of the fit-abesques are white dots, and the draperies are of punctiform technic. The grass and crown of thorns are coloured green ; the Cross, nimbus, and hair of the executioners are yellow, the dresses of the latt(!r madder brown. PLATE 3. CHRIST ON THE CROSS WITH THE BLESSED VIRGIN AND ST. JOHN. II E Cross with the Crucified occupies the centre of the composition, extending by the extreme limits of the former to nearly the entire length and breadth of the design. On the right hand side of the Cross stands Mary, on the left St. John. Christ has over the head a nimbus and wreath of thorns, one end of the perizonium flutters to the left of the spectator. Our Lord's head is inclined over His right shoulder ; death appears to have ensued. The Blessed Virgin with clasped hands regards her Son with pity. She is clad in long and full drapery, some of which passes over the head. Over the latter is a nimbus having an inner circle of" gouttes d'or." St. John stands with averted face and looking down. His left hand is raised, F 6b FEINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIB LEE. his right holds np his mantle, which is full and flowing to the ground. The nimbus above the head is similar to that of the Virgin. The background is diapered with lozenges containing four-leaved roses, the work being white from off a black grovmd. The Cross is w^orked out with large and small punctations, the perspective edges being hatched. The draperies are dotted and frayed, the inner discs of the nimbi are black with the circles and drops white. The Cross and nimbi have been coloured yellow, the mantle of St. John madder brown, the tunic green. The foregi'ound is green. At the lower right hand corner of the impression is the mark of a hole. This is the best design of the eight illustrations, and is of careful technic. PLATE 4. CHRIST ON THE LAP OF HIS MOTHER. N the centre of the composition sits the Blessed Virgin, bearing the extended body of our Lord on her lap. The head of Christ is towards the left hand, His left arm is held up by His mother, while the right hand has fallen to the knees. A nimbus and wreath of thorns are around the head. The Virgin looks tenderly down upon her Son ; her long and full mantle falls over her knees beneath our Lord's body to her feet and over the ground. On the left stands St. John, kneeling just sufficient as to be able to support our Lord's head upon his knees and his right arm. On the right hand kneels St. Mary, the mother of James, looking down on our I^ord's body and raising both hands as if in sorrow and surprise. The nimbus over the head of Christ is cruci- form, the nimbi over the other figures have white ornaments on black discs. Above the head of the central figure of the group rises the Cross, having the label of inscription at its top. On the stony foreground are bones and a skull. The background exhibits arabesques in white from a black surface. The technical expression and execution of the foreground are of inferior character. A striking feature in this piece is the use which has been made of a bright opaque azure blue in the mantle of St. John, and in the ornaments of the background. At opposite diagonal corners are marks of circular holes. PLATE 5. THE ENTOMBMENT. N the foreground is the tomb extending across the entire breadth of the composition. St. John on the left hand supports the head and shoulders of our Lord with his right arm, while Nicodemus on the right supports the feet. In the foreground, and stooping over the tomb, is Joseph of Arimatliaja, his back towards the spectator. He appears to support the body of the Crucified by the hips. These persons gently deposit Christ's body in the tomb, while the Virgin — in the middle between St. John and Nicodemus — bends over and gazes on it with anxious look. It should be observed that the crown or wreath of thorns does not appear on our Lord's head either in this design or in any of the subsequent compositions. In the present event and the following ones Christ comes before xis as having passed through the Passion and Sacrifice, and as now conqueror over Death. Above the tomb and group of figures rises the Cross with its inscription and extending its trans- verse limb over the entire width of the print. A ''PASSION:' 67 The general design is good and some of the details deserve comment. The nimbi are of an ornamental description ; Nicodemus is without a nimbus, his head having a tonsure; the head of Joseph of Arimathaea. is covered with a hood, the tail of which reaches to his knees. The tomb is of a Gothic character ; the background is enfloriated, and the foreground is marked with a chequered pave- ment. The technical execution of the Cross and draperies is like that in the pieces already noticed. The nimbi and mouldings of the tomb have been coloured yellow, the foreground and panelling of the tomb are green, and some of the draperies and arabesque flowers on the background are of madder brown colour At the upper left hand corner is the mark of a circular hole. PLATE 6. THE DESCENT TO LIMBUS. IIRIST has entered the confines of Hades. He stands in the centre of the composition directed towards the left. His left leg is bent, the foot resting on the broken up door of the purgatory, and which lies in the immediate foreground. In our Lord's left hand is the cross and banner of victory ; with His right He grasps the wrist of Adam, whose arm is raised nearly as high as his chin. Below and beneath Adam kneels John the Baptist, with shaggy garment and leafy girdle ; between these two figures and by the side of the upright support of the roof of the purgatorial prison may be perceived the head and chest of Eve. To the left and between the supporting uprights of the roof is a demon ejecting flames at Christ. Flames ascend from above the head of Adam and the roof of Limbus. The backgroimd behind the figure of Christ is enfloriated above, and rocky below with punctiform work. The girdle of John the Baptist and some of the arabesques of the background are of a green colour ; yellow and madder brown are present elsewhere. At ojiposite comers diagonally are marks of circular holes. PLATE 7. THE RESURRECTION. CROSS the middle of the design is placed the open tomb, the cover of which is on the left hand, protruding half of its surface from the sepulchre. Christ rises from the middle of the latter, stepping out with the right foot ; He elevates the right hand in benediction, and holds the cross and banner of victory in His left. The drapery has fallen from the right shoulder of the Saviour, but conceals entirely the left shoulder, arm, &c. In the foreground directly before the tomb are two soldiers semi-recumbent and asleep. By one lies a partizan, by the other a long naked sword. The soldier on the left hand is in armour, the other one has on a jacket and flat cap. In the background on the left above the cover of the tomb are some trees ; the rest of the background is enfloriated with arabesques. The colours present are yellow, green, and madder. At the upper right hand corner is the mark of a circular hole. 68) PRINTS IN THE MANIERE CRIB LEE. PLATE 8. CHRIST APPEARING AS A GARDENER TO MARY MAGDALENE. N the right stands our Lord, who raises His right arm, extending tlie fingers as in benediction over Mary, who kneels on the left. Christ's left hand rests on the handle of a spade, the blade of which comes down to the lower right hand corner of the composition. Our Lord has a cruciform nimbus and full drapery, but permitting the right shoulder and both feet to be seen. Behind the two figures, and at the height of Christ's hips, a wattled fence runs across the composition, behind which on a hill and OA'er the head of Mary is a tree, while to the right of Christ rise the cross and banner of victory, the latter floating towards the left above our Lord's head. The fore- ground is grassy and flowery ; the background enttoriated with arabesques. Over tlie head of Mary Magdalene is an ornamented nimbus ; she is clothed in tnnic and mantle, and her long hair flows down her back. In her left hand she holds the alabaster pot of precious ointments, and raises the right as she looks up anxiously towards Christ. The tunic of Mary, the foreground and tree foliage have been coloured green ; the mantle of Mary, the banner and arabesque flowers of the background are of madder brown; the fence, trunk of the tree, spade handle, and circles of the nimbi yellow. On the ?)erso of each print which has been described are fourteen lines of early German typographic text, the type of which resembles in a general way that used by PHster, thoiigh iL is somewhat less primitive in character. The letters m-ay be considered as small, fine, and sharp missal letters, somewhat like those of the Bible of the year 1460, of thirty-six lines. There has not been any crowding in the typographic composition, and the impression is distinct and clear. On the verso, print No. 1 (the Bearing the Cross), is the following text — 3Dpi0 ceerusset Hu ijeUigs antlucj ungers fjern \i)zm txxstz Has lia cetrucfet tst • cm toeijEj tuecf) unti ist gegc ben Her fratnen tjerantce tjurcl) cjaicfjen Dcr Iteb 2Dli fees antlucj txmi iljesu pis una tin trost unD dn erqiutf)ung unu ein stcJ^erc lias un0 nil gcfjauen ptinQsc ties tcufel0 geepcnt Das toir praucben Her etois en rtoe unti tieinca antluc? npmer bergessen amen. The above text refers of co