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| Figure 1 |
Scroll - A is for Axes
Description:
Scroll of a historiated initial A depicting a centaur spearing a man opening psalm 77. Inspired by folio 101r of the 12th century Hunterian Psalter. [1] Also known as the York Psalter. Gouache and ink on Arches 140 pound, hot-pressed, cotton paper.
Details of the original image:
Vellum, 11½ x 7½, ff. 202, originally ff. 204, beautifully written in one hand (except the last 33 folios, in XIV. Cent. hand), in single cols. of 21 lines (in Kalendar 35 lines), each 8½ x 4¼, ruled and margined with plummet, 13 full-page pictures, one full-page illumination, gilt, historiated or illuminated initials begin the first verse of each Psalm, small gilt initials (ornamented in Ps. xcvi.) begin the second and following verses, no signatures or catchwords, partial foliation, modern (in pencil), the Kalendar is written in black, red, blue and green, cropped, marginalia (first three folios only), fol. sec. Martis. Cents. XII. (and XIV.)
Binding: Millboards, covered crimson morocco, richly gilt-tooled inside margins, edges and sides (lines), panelled back, title (gilt): PSALTERIUM | UETUS | IN MEMBRANIS. Late Cent. XVII.
[For detailed collation see: John Young and P. Henderson Aitken, A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of The Hunterian Museum in The University of Glasgow. (Glasgow, 1908), p. 170.]
Although much of the early life of the Psalter remains a mystery, its acquisition by Glasgow University is quite clear. It came as part of William Hunter’s magnificent library in 1807, along with the rest of his wonderful collections. Dr William Hunter (1718-83) was a famous anatomist and physician, and renowned collector of books, manuscripts, coins, medals, paintings, shells, minerals, and anatomical and natural history specimens. Under the terms of his will, his library and other collections remained in London for several years after his death - for the use of his nephew, Dr Matthew Baillie (1761-1823) - and arrived at the University in 1807.
Hunter’s collection of books contains some 10,000 printed books and 650 manuscripts; it forms one of the finest Eighteenth Century libraries to survive intact. Hunter acquired this volume at the sale of the library of Louis-Jean Gaignat in Paris on 10 April 1769, along with several other books. His French agent, Jean B. Dessain, bought it at the auction on Hunter’s behalf for fifty livres and one sou; it was described in the sale catalogue as a ‘codex pervetustus’ (‘an antiquated book’). Now regarded as the greatest treasure in his library, Hunter was paying three times as much for early printed books at the time. [2]
Technique:
This was the first scroll in my alphabet challenge: twenty-six scrolls featuring inhabited initials; in alphabetical order. It was fitting to start the challenge off with something for the Rhydderich Hael. Thus, this scroll: A is for Axes.
This project was an attempt to reproduce this beautiful manuscript, only with the colors of the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael instead those on the original image. I used gouache and ink on paper rather than vellum and period pigments as I am still a novice and have not mastered the basic materials. Working from a high resolution image of the manuscript, [3] I removed the background colors and printed out the image. The design was transferred to the paper by tracing over a light box. {figure 2} This scroll was made for the 2014 Baronial Champion for thrown weapons. The image was picked as it contained both an axe and a spear. And I really liked the image.
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| Figure 2 |
Instead of making an exact copy of the original image, I used it as a guide to help me select new colors that would stand out better and highlight the Barony’s, and Kingdom’s, colors. The human figure is wearing green and black while the centaur is wearing red and white and wielding a shield of green and black. No symbolism was intended, the red and white provided a contrast to the green and black.
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| Figure 3 |
The scroll is Arches 100% cotton, 140# hot-press watercolor paper. This scroll is 9x12". I used gouache: Reeves for colors and Holbein for the gold. {figure 3} I went heavy on the gold to give it some texture. For the figures and background, I used a very watered down base coat all over, with three layers over each area; each layer thicker and thus, darker, than the previous one. Once the paint was dry, I added the white work. I have found that with the Reeves gouache, the added white really makes the paint pop, especially the dark paints. I applied the paint so that if the virtual light source came from the upper, left-hand corner of the page, the darkest shades would fall into the right most corners, producing shadows. {figure 4}
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| Figure 4 |
The background of the ‘A’, leaves and the border were painted with ultramarine blue gouache and highlighted with white dots: no highlighting or shading was used. Several layers of gold paint were used to make the objects stand out. The goal was to produce an image that would stand out and be visible when it was displayed in court.
Once the all of the paint had dried, I outlined all of the sections with black ink to make the image stand out, then added white ink to the highlights, to give the figures a sense of depth. {figure 5}
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| Figure 5 |
The calligraphy is also by my hand, poor as it is. Instead of trying to use the same hand as the original scribe, I used a secretary hand: essentially a neat [4] print using a calligraphy nib. The words were also by myself, picked for the occasion and not inspired by any period source.
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| Figure 6 |
[1] Glasgow, University Library, MS. Hunter 229
[4] Neat for me.
References:
Caballero, Rosario; Díaz Vera, Javier E. Textual Healing: Studies in Medieval English Medical, Scientific and Technical Texts. Peter Lang, 2010
Gibson, Margaret T.; Heslop, T. A.; Pfaff, Richard William. The Eadwine Psalter: Text, Image, and Monastic Culture in Twelfth-century Canterbury. Penn State Press, Jan 1, 1992
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