Identifying Medieval Fragments in Three Musical Instruments Made by Antonio Stradivari

This article identifies ten fragments, used as reinforcements in the sounding boxes of three instruments made by Antonio Stradivari (Cremona, c.1648-1737), which are now kept at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (the ‘Cipriani Potter’ violin, 1683, and the ‘Hill’ guitar, 1688), and at the musée de la Musique in Paris (the ‘Vuillaume’ guitar). The fragments appear to come from a single book of hours, made in Italy no later than the mid-fifteenth century. This identification allows the documentation of the use of parchment fragments in the making process of Stradivari. The authors discuss what the common origin of parchment fragments found in three distinct instruments implies for the authenticity and relative dating of their making. Finally, this study sheds light on the potential of documenting reused parchment fragments, which are widely present in many string musical instruments produced in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

Visualizing Reading Practices in the Late Middle Ages: Images in a Book of Hours Held at Memorial University

This article studies the images and the Latin and French texts in a Book of Hours of Premonstratensian Use held at Memorial University Libraries. While the Annunciation scene in Books of Hours has been the subject of numerous studies, the Pentecost scene representing Mary reading to the Apostles has received limited attention in research. The article assesses the meaning of these images and their possible connection to reading practices in late medieval Europe.

On the Hierarchical Use of Colourants in a 15th Century Book of Hours

An illuminated Book of Hours (in use in Chalon-sur-Saône) currently owned by the Museo Civico di Arte Antica and displayed in the prestigious Palazzo Madama in Torino (Italy) was investigated by means of optical microscopy, fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy, fibre optic molecular fluorimetry, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy. The aim of the scientific survey was to expand the knowledge of the manuscript itself and on the materials and techniques employed by Antoine the Lonhy, the versatile itinerant artist who decorated the book in the 15th century. The focus was to reveal the original colourants and to investigate the pigments used in rough retouches which were visible in some of the miniatures. The investigation was carried out in situ by portable instruments according to a non-invasive analytical sequence previously developed. It was evident that the use of different pigments by the master was ruled, at least partially, by a hierarchical scheme in which more precious materials were linked to the most important characters or details in the painted scene.

Rabbit Uroscopy and the Virgin Mary with Christ Child

Objectives The depiction of a rabbit with a urinary matula on the same page with the Virgin Mary and the Christ child in a medieval text, the Book of Hours, has raised interests among art and medical historians. We will describe the complex interplay between the rabbit, the matula, and the Virgin Mary. Methods We studied the original illuminated texts from the medieval (ca. 1475) Book of Hours archived in the Morgan Library, New York. We reviewed articles and historical publications from art history and medical literature. Results The Book of Hours was composed for use by lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life. There was often an amalgamation of religious and secular themes within these illustrated texts. The use of uroscopy to diagnose ailments was prevalent and popular during the Middle Ages and the depiction of a matula was not uncommon in medieval manuscripts. As a result, the urine flask came to be identified with and used as a symbol of the physician, much like the caduceus is today. From the fourth century to modernity, the rabbit has been an averter of evil and bringer of good luck. Rabbits functioned as motifs in many medieval manuscripts. The physician rabbit in the Book of Hours depicted charity, healing, and scholarship. Conclusions The bespectacled rabbit holding a ‘matula’ is utilized in this Christian religious text as a symbol of the healing properties and resurrection attributed to Jesus, potentially contributing to the reader’s religious experience.

A Book of Hours in the Form of a Roll (Egerton 3044), Bruges Scribe Johannes de Ecclesia, and the Art of Writing

This article considers the art of Johannes de Ecclesia, a scribe who worked for the Catalan-speaking clientele in Bruges at the end of the fourteenth century and used some letterforms hitherto unattested in prayerbooks. A consummate experimenter, Johannes de Ecclesia stretched the boundaries of scribal practice. His extraordinary products put his own skills on display. No other scribe in Western Europe matches Johannes de Ecclesia’s prodigious creativity for two centuries. By analysing two of his manuscripts, this article argues that his outsider status, coupled with his exposure to a broad survey of manuscripts made in various times and geographies, inculcated him with ideas he recombined in unexpected ways. To understand and communicate Johannes de Ecclesia’s unusual and experimental practice, this article proposes under-exploited photography and imagery techniques (namely backlighting) and seeks audience participation levels uncommon in academic articles (namely, the DIY facsimile). It is hoped that the techniques of the reader/scholar are enhanced when they rhyme conceptually with the techniques of the maker and when there is physical engagement with the subject matter.

ENGRAVING "THE TRIUMPH OF OUR LADY" IN THE PARIS BOOK OF HOURS BY GEOFFROY TORY. IS IT A PAGAN PARADE OR CHRISTIAN PANEGYRIC?

The article focuses on the engraving “The Triumph of Our Lady” from the Book of Hours by Geoffroy Tory, 1531, kept in the collection of the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. That woodcut precedes the Hours of the Virgin Mary section, and complements the main row of images, most of which are related to the Mariological theme. An attempt is made to study possible sources for the rare iconography. Both Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The dream of Poliphilus) by Aldus Manutius, Venice, 1499 and The Triumphs (I Trionfi) of Francesco Petrarch are considered. The author also takes into account the printed products of Tory himself, such as: “Champ fleury” (Flowery fields), 1529, Triumphal Entry of Eleanor of Austria, 1531. The iconography of the engraving displays the elaborately developed in Italian painting and drawing scheme of Roman triumphs of emperors and pagan gods. It also includes the visual impressions of theatrical and religious ceremonies, solemn entrances that Tory could witness. But those patterns were transformed and given a new Christian subject matter related to the glorification of the Virgin Mary. That corresponded to both the type of a prayer book (BVM) and the section the engraving preceded.