"Of similar date is the picture on plate 20. It comes from a Gospel-lesson book, written in a mitred abbey on the German side of the Rhine, probably not far from Cologne, in the year 1548. The design of the company of monks headed by their Abbot, all in white raiment and kneeling before an unseen altar, is excellent German work. The landscape with distant towers, seen through the pillars of an arcade behind would look better than it does, if it were not for the floating cherubs who hover in the spaces, and support two armorial shields. The border is a close imitation of the late Flemish style. On a yellow ground, lighted with twining gold branchlets, cut flowers are vividly painted, along with figures of a bee, a fox, a bird, a rabbit, and a hybrid animal like an ape."
Plates from O. V. Palaeography: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
No comments:
Post a Comment