resumo - revistadehistoriadaarte.files.wordpress.com · revista de história da arte série w n.ºi...

r e v i s ta d e h i s tó r i a d a a r t e s é r i e w n.º i - 2 0 1 1 1 9

va l u e a n d b e a u t y : t o w a r d s a d o u b l e a e s t h e t i c o f c o l o u r s i n e a r ly r o m a n e s q u e b o o k i l l u m i n at i o n

Resumo

A investigação sobre manuscritos medievais iluminados é ainda muito dominada por uma análise baseada no estilo e na iconografia. Além disso, a maioria dos estudos sobre texto-e-imagem concentram-se no conteúdo e no significado simbólico da iluminura, enquanto questões ligadas à materialidade e paginação, que se situem para além da análise codicológica, são muitas vezes ignoradas. O mesmo acontece com a análise das cores: a investigação tem-se focado no seu significado religioso, dinástico ou ritual, considerando-as categorias abstractas sem uma materialidade específica. Mesmo um especialista em pigmentos medievais como Heinz Roosen-Runge (Roosen-Runge 1967), seguiu a tradição iconográfica da história da arte e interpretou as cores com base na sua função, por exemplo, como meio de represen-tação transcendental de ideias e ideais. Pelo contrário, historiadores como Michel Pastoureau (Pastoureau, 1990) trabalhando para «uma história social das cores», sublinharam a importância dos pigmentos e do seu simbolismo específico, e não de conceitos abstractos, para um melhor conhecimento da percepção medieval da cor.A tese de Pastoureau baseou-se principalmente na sua investigação sobre o papel da cor no vestuário e têxteis medievais. Com esta contribuição, desejo demonstrar que se tomaram atitudes semelhantes sobre a materialidade da cor em manuscritos iluminados. A recente investigação interdisciplinar sobre o «Codex Aureus Epterna-censis», produzido em torno a 1045 no mosteiro beneditino de Echternach, conser-vado no Germanisches Nationalmuseum em Nuremberg, lançou uma nova luz sobre a consciência que os iluminadores e seus patronos tinham da materialidade da cor e do seu valor. As minhas reflexões basearam-se na análise científica do «Codex Aureus» levada a cabo por Doris Oltrogge e Robert Fuchs (Fuchs and Oltragge 2009) e, nas minhas próprias pesquisas sobre o uso e estética das cores na Idade Média (Grebe 2007). O precioso Evangeliário contem mais de 40 miniaturas a página inteira, pin-tadas por vários iluminadores de oficina. Os iluminadores usaram uma paleta muito variada de cores e tons, por exemplo, o «vermelho» ou «púrpura» não são apenas representados por um, mas por dois ou mais pigmentos. Entre eles encontramos os muito raros e dispendiosos pigmentos «exóticos», como o lápis-lazúli ou o quermes, que foram abundantemente usados neste manuscrito quando comparado com ou-tros manuscritos românicos. Esta observação permite colocar como hipótese, que os iluminadores de Echternach e os seus patronos quiseram de facto usar o maior número possível de cores e as mais dispendiosas, para incluir a máxima variedade de cores no «Evangeliário Dourado».Outro nível de «consciência cromática» revelou-se pelo facto de muitas miniatu-ras do ciclo com a Vida de Cristo e a miniatura em duplo folio da Maiestas Domini (fol. 2v-3r) terem sido repintadas durante a produção do manuscrito. O retoque da maioria das carnações e fundos pode ser interpretado, numa primeira análise, como um «restauro estético». Surpreendentemente, os iluminadores não alteraram as composições na sua globalidade ou as formas das cabeças ou mãos, em vez dis-so, mudaram apenas o tom da pele e os fundos. O motivo foi, provavelmente, o de evitar contrastes violentos e unificar cromaticamente os duplo fólios executados por diferentes iluminadores. O «Codex Aureus Epternacensis» é, assim, a prova da ele-vada sensibilidade do período românico aos valores cromáticos e virtudes materiais de cores e pigmentos, que serão discutidos neste artigo. •

palavras-chave

evangeliáriomanuscrito iluminadoestética das coresotonianolápis-lazúli

Agradecimentos por ajuda na configuração do texto e sugestões de Ana Catarina Sousa, Pedro Fialho

de Sousa, Justino Maciel, Felix Teichner e Heidi.

Abstract

Research on medieval manuscript illumination is still dominated by the analysis of style and iconography. Also, most word-and-image studies concentrate on the con-tent and the symbolical meaning of a miniature, whereas questions of materiality and layout beyond codicology are often neglected. The same is true for the analysis of colours: research so far focuses on the religious, dynastical or ritual symbolism of colours that are considered as abstract categories without a specific materiality. Even a specialist in medieval pigments like Heinz Roosen-Runge (Roosen-Runge 1967) followed the iconographical tradition of art history and interpreted colours with re-gard to their function, e.g. as media to represent transcendental ideas and ideals. On the contrary, historians like Michel Pastoureau (Pastoureau 1990), working towards a «social history of colours», have underlined the importance of pigments and their specific symbolism instead of abstract colour terms for a better understanding of the medieval notion of colours.Pastoureau’s thesis is based primarily on his investigations into the role of colours in medieval clothing and textiles. In my contribution, I am trying to show that similar attitudes towards the materiality of colours are manifested in medieval manuscripts. Recent interdisciplinary research on the «Codex Aureus Epternacensis», made around 1045 in the Benedictine monastery of Echternach, now in the Germanisches National-museum in Nuremberg has shed new light on the consciousness illuminators and patrons had of the materiality of colours and their respective value. My reflections are based on the technological examination of the «Codex Aureus» carried out by Doris Oltrogge and Robert Fuchs (Fuchs and Oltrogge 2009) and my own research on the use and aesthetics of colours in the Middle Ages (Grebe 2007). The precious Gospel Book contains more than 40 full-page miniatures painted by several illumi-nators of the Ottonian Echternach workshop. The illuminators used a very varied palette of different colours and tones, e.g. the colours «red» or «purple» are not only represented by one, but by two or more pigments. Among them we find many rare and expensive «exotic» pigments like lapis lazuli or kermes, which have been abundantly used in this manuscript compared to other Romanesque manuscripts. This observation leads to the hypothesis that the Echternach illuminators and their patrons explicitly wished to use as many and costly colours as possible to include the maximal variety of colours in the «Golden Gospel Book».Another level of «chromatic awareness» is revealed by the fact that many miniatures in the cycle with the Life of Christ and the double page miniature of the Majestas Domini (fol. 2v-3r) have been painted over during the making of the manuscript. The reworking of most of the fleshy parts and backgrounds can tentatively be in-terpreted as «aesthetical restoration». Surprisingly, the illuminators did not alter the whole composition or touch the forms of the heads and hands, instead, they only changed the tone of the complexion and backgrounds. The reason was probably to avoid violent colour contrasts and to chromatically unify double-pages executed by different illuminators. The «Codex Aureus Epternacensis» thus proves the high sen-sibility of the Romanesque period towards chromatic values and material virtues of colours and pigments, which will be discussed in the article. •

key-words

Gospel Book Illuminated ManuscriptAesthetic of ColoursOttonianLapis lazuli


value and beauty: towards a double aesthetic of colours in early romanesque book illumination

1. From Material to Medium

In 1508, Albrecht Dürer started to work on a large altarpiece depicting the «Assump-

tion of the Virgin» (Anzelewsky 1991, 221-228; Kutschbach 1995, 71-80; Decker

1996; Grebe 2006, 82-86; Pfaff 1971). The execution of the painting, which took

Dürer more than one and a half years to complete, was accompanied by an extensive

correspondence with the patron, the Frankfurt merchant Jakob Heller. Heller repeat-

edly complained about the delayed completion of the altarpiece and threatened to

withdraw his commission. Dürer countered the reproach by pointing to the quality of

the execution and his use of the best and «most beautiful colours» available. These

included «vltermarin», or lapis lazuli, worth more than 20 ducats, which he claimed

to have applied in 5 to 6 layers.1 And instead of apologizing to his patron, he dou-

bled the price of the altarpiece. His arguments were: a painting executed with the

maximum amount of materia and ingenium needed more time to finish, and it had

its price – which Heller actually agreed to pay when he finally saw the painting.

The Heller correspondence underlines the importance which was attached to certain

colours and pigments at the beginning of the 16th century. Lapis lazuli, for instance,

did not only provide a blue tone, but also represented quality and prestige (Pastou-

reau 2001; Fuchs and Oltrogge 1990; Bender 1990). The Latin name, «ultramarin»,

points to the far-off, exotic, and even mystical origin of the colour prepared on the

basis of Afghan lapis lazuli, which was the most expensive pigment apart from gold

and was therefore used as distinguishing feature in painting throughout the Middle-

anja grebe Department of Medieval Art History

University of Bamberg, Bamberg (Germany)

1. Letter to Jakob Heller dated November 4,

1508, ed. by Rupprich 1956, 67-68. Cf. the let-

ters to Heller dated March 21, 1509: «the colours

I used are worth more than 24 guilders» (Ruppri-

ch 1956, 69), and July 24, 1509: «I have been

working on it [= the altarpiece] for more than a

year using ultramarin for approximately 25 guil-

ders.» (Rupprich 1956, 71).

c o l o u r a n d m e a n i n g

r e v i s ta d e h i s tó r i a d a a r t e s é r i e w n.º i - 2 0 1 12 2

2. Unfortunately, the original panel was des-

troyed by a fire in the Ducal Palace in Munich in

1729. Before the painting was sold to Archduke

Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1614 the Nuremberg

painter Jobst Harrich made a faithful copy of the

original, now in Frankfurt/Main, Historisches

Museum, Inv. Nr. B 265, which, however, does

not allow any judgement about the paints or pig-

ments used.

3. Cf. Welchman 1990, esp. 8: «From the time

of Plotinus (A.D. 205-70) until the High Re-

naissance, writers touching upon the arts and

mentioning color were forced to wrestle with the

troublesome and dangerous question of sensu-

ality. Although colors were perceived through

sight – the highest of senses – they were still

a part of the non-celestial substance of which

humankind was made. The only way to elevate

the colorful, and hence intrinsically sensual, hu-

man sense of sight was to celebrate the divine

nature of light.»

Ages. Dürer probably used lapis lazuli for the blue cape of the Virgin thus enhancing

its inherent symbolical value by the use of the precious and prestigious material.2 If it

had been his aim to communicate only the chromatic symbolism of blue as celestial

colour he could have used a less expensive pigment like azurite instead. In his letters

to Heller, however, Dürer does not mention the religious symbolism of colours, but

insists on the value of the colour in its literal, material sense.

One should think that the primacy of «materia» would have been outdated in the

age after Alberti. In his treatise «De Pittura» (1435/36), which Dürer knew from a

copy in possession of a Nuremberg humanist (Fara 2002, 171-347), Leon Battista

Alberti clearly put the referential value of colour, even of gold, above its material

value (Alberti 2000, 290-291). According to Monika Wagner, Alberti marks the be-

ginning of modern colour aesthetics: «Since Leon Battista Alberti […] colour was no

longer judged by its material value. Now, its task was to simulate all kinds of other

materials on the surface of the image.» (Wagner 2001, 17-18).

2. Colours in medieval book illumination: Colour systems and attempts at interpretation

In his «Theory of Colours» («Farbenlehre») of 1810, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

gave priority to the metaphysics as opposed to the materiality of colours (Schmidt

1965). He described colours as «acts of light», referring to medieval colour theories,

where colours are described as reflections of the immaterial divine light which Saint

Augustine had designated as «queen of all colours». 3 Referring to Fritz Haeberlein’s

«Essential Features of a Post-antique Iconography of Colours» («Grundzüge einer

nachantiken Farbenikonographie»), Lorenz Dittmann characterised the colours in me-

dieval art as intended to represent the divine («Vorstellungsfarben»). Released from

all referential tasks colours could now function as «vocabulary» in the system of colour

symbolism (Dittmann 1987, 2-3). Although Heinz Roosen-Runge, in his fundamental

study on the «Colours and Techniques of Early Medieval Book Illumination», puts his

main focus on the material nature of colours, he nevertheless interprets them as a

means of representation for transcendental truth (Roosen-Runge 1967, vol. 1, 26-29).

Today, research on medieval manuscript illumination continues to be dominated by

the analysis of style and iconography. Also, most word-and-image studies concen-

trate on the content and the symbolical meaning of a miniature, whereas questions

of materiality and layout, which go beyond codicological issues, are often neglected.

The same is true for the analysis of colours: research focuses mainly on the religious,

dynastical or ritual symbolism of colours which are considered as abstract categories

without a specific materiality. In view of the role of colours as bearers of meaning

(«Bedeutungsträger») in medieval art and culture one has to ask for the specific use

of colours as well as the value(s) attached to them in the literal and figurative sense

to fully understand a work of art.



4. Cf. Pastoureau 1990, 38: «Avant tout codage

extra-pictural, venant de l’extérieur, la couleur

est d’abord codée de l’intérieur, par et pour un

document donné. [...] Elle est à la fois surface,

matière, lumière, éclat, fluide, rythme, construc-

tion, syntaxe, marque, emblème, symbole, idée,

mode, atmosphère, style, art, technique, prix,

beauté – tous termes certes vagues et discuta-

bles mais dont la liste [...] souligne parfaitement

ce caractère polysémique et plurifonctionnel de

la couleur. »

Until now, such questions have mainly been asked by historians. Michel Pastoureau,

above all, has been working towards a «social history of colours» («histoire sociale

des couleurs»), that takes into consideration the percipient against the backdrop

of his culture, ideas, experiences and sensitivity (Pastoureau 1990, 22). According

to Pastoureau, research into the use of colours in the Middle Ages should not be

based on abstract theory but on the objects and their specific colouring in which the

polysemantic and multifunctional character colours is manifested.4 This leads to the

hypothesis, that people in the Middle Ages in many cases did not perceive colours

as abstract chromatic values, but in their material form as pigments. The case of the

red pigment called sanguinis draconis, for instance, clearly shows that it is necessary

to develop a kind of «pigment symbolism» instead of abstract colour terms to help

with our understanding of the medieval notion of colours:

«Quand au XVe siècle un peintre utilise pour tel élément de son tableau le

célèbre pigment sang-dragon plutôt que tel ou tel autre pigment rouge, c’est

sans doute pour des raisons à la fois économiques, techniques et artistiques,

liées au prix de ce pigment, à son pouvoir couvrant, aux effets qu’il permet

d’obtenir, mais c’est aussi et surtout pour des raisons symboliques, liées au

nom même de ce pigment et aux rêves que ce nom suscite chez l’artiste et son

public.» (Pastoureau 1989, 39-40)

3. The values of colour between consciousness of material («Materialbewusstsein»), symbolic function and aesthetics

Michel Pastoureau’s thesis is based primarily on his investigations into the role of colours

in medieval clothing and textiles. In the following, I would like to show that medieval

manuscripts manifest similar attitudes towards the materiality of colours. The investi-

gations of Heinz Roosen-Runge and Johan Jakob Tikkanen (Tikkanen 1933, 352-443)

have shown that medieval illuminators possessed a very detailed knowledge of colours

and pigments, which was transmitted orally, by written treatises such as the «Mappae

Clavicula», the «Heraclius» or the «Theophilus», and by numerous individual collections

of recipes and guidelines (Oltrogge 2006; Gullick 1995; Roosen-Runge 1967; Bartl et.

al. 2005, 17-34). These texts consist mainly of practical instructions in the preparation

and handling of colours. Sometimes however, the introductory remarks contain theo-

retical reflections on the meaning of colours as well as on the conjunction of «materia»

and «ingenium». A 12th-century copy of the «Mappae Clavicula» provides an example:

«The arts are learned little by little, step by step. The art of painting is pre-

ceded by the preparation of colours. Thus, you should first pay attention to the

mixing of each colour. Only then should you start on the actual work, but you



5. Translated from Halleux 1990, esp. p.

179: «C’est peu à peu, partie par partie, que

s’apprennent tous les arts. L’art des peintres

est précédé par la confection des couleurs. En-

suite, que votre esprit tourne ses soins vers les

mélanges. Alors, passez à l’oeuvre, mais soumet-

tez tout à la rigeur, pour que ce que vous pein-

drez soit orné, et comme naturel. Ensuite, par

bien des preuves d’ingéniosité, l’art augmentera

l’oeuvre, comme le montrera ce livre.» («Sensim

per partes discuntur quaelibet artes/Artis picto-

rum prior est factura colorum/Post, ad mixtu-

ras convertat mens tua curas/Tunc opus exerce,

sed ad unguem cuncta coerce/ut sit ad ornatum

quod pinxeris, et quasi natum/Postea multorum

documentis ingeniorum/Ars opus augebit, sicut

liber iste docebit.») Theophilus, who treats co-

lours always as pigments, shortly mentions the

material importance of colours in the preface of

his treatise, cf. Brepohl 1999.

6. Up to now, there are very few publications on

the technical examination of manuscripts from

the 10th and 11th centuries. Roosen-Runge

1967 focuses on English illuminated manuscripts

from the 11th and 12th centuries. On Ottonian

book illumination in Trier see Oltrogge and Fuchs

2005. On the Echternach «Codex Caesareus» in

Uppsala see Fuchs and Oltrogge 1998.

7. Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum,

Hs 156142.

should always strive to let your painting appear decorative as well as natural.

This book shows how artistry in combination with ingenuity will enhance your

work.» (cf. Halleux 1990, 179) 5

In the Early Romanesque period, it is not only treatises, but the works of art them-

selves which testify to the awareness of illuminators and patrons towards the mate-

riality of colours and their respective value. Up to now, nearly all attempts to draw

up a kind of general «chromatic grammar» or system of colour symbolism based on

the use of colours in illuminated manuscripts have failed. It has become clear that

the application and distribution of colours varies from book to book, even when

entire pictorial cycles are based on the same, constantly repeated models, as in the

case of the so-called «Reichenau» and «Echternach» schools.

4. Colours in the «Codex Aureus of Echternach»

The following reflections are based on the technological examination of the «Codex

Aureus Epternacensis», now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg,

which was carried out by Doris Oltrogge and Robert Fuchs in 2006, as well as my

own research on the use and the aesthetics of colours in manuscript illumination.6

The «Codex Aureus», made around 1045 in the Benedictine monastery of Echternach,

where it remained until the French Revolution, is one of the rare medieval Gospel

books entirely written in gold ink (Oltrogge and Fuchs 2009; Grebe 2007; Kahsnitz

[ed.] 1982).7 It is also one of the largest and most richly decorated manuscripts, with

more than 50 large-format illuminated pages. These include a sumptuous double-

page depicting the Majestas Domini, while each Gospel is preceded by a sequence

of equally lavish double-pages with the portraits of the Evangelist (fig. 1), full-page

decorative initials, other decorative pages as well as four sequences of scenes from

the life of Jesus. The texts of the Gospels themselves are not interrupted by scenic

illustrations like in other Ottonian manuscripts.

The codex is the work of at least eight illuminators, some of which executed only ex-

ecuted a single page. They must have been working together very closely and within

a short period of time. In several cases, recto and verso of one and the same sheet

of parchment are executed by different illuminators who possessed a distinctive style

yet used nearly the same palette of colours. The technological examination of the

manuscript has revealed a very rich and varied palette, in which nearly all the colours

and hues available to 11th century scriptoria occur (Oltrogge and Fuchs 2009, 153-

162, 163-167). The colours «red», «blue» or «purple», for instance, are represented

not by a single, but by two or more pigments. Among these we find many rare and

expensive «exotic» pigments like lapis lazuli or kermes, which were actually used

quite abundantly in this manuscript as compared to other Ottonian manuscripts.

This observation leads to the hypothesis that the Echternach illuminators and their

patrons explicitly wished to use as many and as costly colours as possible to provide



fig.1 codex aureus of echternach, st. john the evangelist, f. 112v.© nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



the maximum variety of colours for the «Golden Gospels». Lapis lazuli, for instance,

can be found as a distinguishing colour for the garments of the protagonists, but

was used also for backgrounds, e.g. in the Pentecost scene (fig. 2B), where we would

fig.2a+b codex aureus of echternach, double-page with scenes of the passion

and pentecost, f. 111v-112r. © nuremberg, germanisches

nationalmuseum



expect a less expensive pigment like azurite. In the eyes of the contemporaries, the

prodigal use of the most expensive pigment must have enhanced the exceptional

character of the manuscript (Pastoureau 2001, 32-40).



The most dominant colour in the codex is purple (fig. 3), a synonym of sumptuous-

ness and costliness and symbol both of God and the Emperor, which occurs in dif-

ferent tones and shades both in the miniatures and the decorative pages (Muthesius

1997, 27-33; Steigerwald 1990; Fuchs and Oltrogge 2007, 82-98). The extensive

use of purple enhances the religious significance of the book as an embodiment of

God’s words. The illuminators did not apply the «real» Tyrian purple extracted from

the murex shell («murex brandaris»), but used less expensive pigments made from

plants like different kinds of the Rocella (or auricella) or the Ochrolechia as well as

Kermes vermilio, which were perhaps also better suited for the preparation of body-

colours (Oltrogge and Fuchs 2009, 155-159). Technological examination has revealed

fig.3 codex aureus of echternach, initial page of the gospels of st. matthew, f. 22r. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum

fig.4 codex aureus of echternach, scenes of the infancy cycle, f. 19r. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



a preference for the darker Rocella purple, which was easier to procure, for the less

prominent sections of the miniatures, whereas clothing is more often painted in

the more costly Kermes purple, which had to be imported from the Mediterranean

(Oltrogge and Fuchs 2009, 34-50). Thus, in the case of purple, the illuminators

probably wished to enhance the more important parts of a figure or scene by using

a more expensive pigment, again displaying an awareness of the material quality of

colours (Oltrogge and Fuchs 2009, 34-50).

Another level of this «chromatic consciousness» is revealed by the fact that many

full-page miniatures, amongst others the double page depicting the Majestas Domini

(f. 2v-3r , fig. 6A), the Evangelists as well as most of the miniatures in the cycle of

fig.5 codex aureus of echternach, third page of the infancy cycle with alterations by the «master of the long nosed figures», f. 19v© nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



the life of Jesus (fig. 4-5), were partially painted over at some point. This must have

taken place in the workshop itself either during the making of the manuscript or

immediately after the illuminations had been finished, but before the final binding

fig.6a+b codex aureus of echternach, majestas domini double-page, f. 2v-3r

© nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



of the pages. The retouches were carried out by the same group of illuminators who,

probably with one exception, had been responsible for the original or first phase of

the work. Curiously enough, these alterations, which were done using the same col-



ours and pigments as before, only concerned the backgrounds, the tone of the flesh

and the hair of the figures, leaving the form of the heads and hands as well as the

rest of the composition untouched (Oltrogge et Fuchs 2009, 34-35, ill. 57-72).

In the case of the Majestas Domini double-page, the alterations can partly be de-

tected with the naked eye (fig. 7-8). The figure of Christ enthroned, the angel sym-

bolising St Matthew or the personification of Prudentia (fig. 9-10) each possess four

eyes: one pair of eyes belongs to the «actual» face, while below this which appear

two dark points that belonged to the original features. Investigation with infra-red

light has revealed that the second illuminator completely covered the fleshy parts,

but did not touch the original version which is entirely conserved.

fig.7 codex aureus of echternach, majestas domini, detail of the head of christ, f. 2v. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseumfig.8 codex aureus of echternach, majestas domini, detail of the head of christ (infrared reflectography), f. 2v. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



The alterations seem to be highly unusual and demand an interpretation. A «practical»

explanation could be that we are faced with an early repair of defective portions or

layers of paint which were corrupted or chipped. This, however, can be rejected in the

view of the remaining, fully conserved original faces. A second hypothesis concerns

the content of the miniatures. It states that the makers of the manuscript may have

wished to change the character of a figure or a scene. There is, however, no substan-

tial evidence for this explanation either. While the illuminators would frequently alter

the tone of the flesh and some of the facial features, they would generally not change

the posture of the head or the line of sight. One of the few exceptions is the «Noli

me tangere» scene, where the painter corrected the orientation of the angels’ heads,

which had originally looked straight ahead (fig. 11-12). By re-directing them to the

right the illuminator enhanced the focus on Christ as the central figure of the scene,

but did not completely change the meaning of the image. Similar changes do also

occur with some of the minor figures which are part of the decorative framework and

do not carry any particular meaning. This observation suggests another explanation.

The alterations were probably carried out for aesthetical reasons and can tentatively

be interpreted as «aesthetical restorations». Interestingly enough, the illuminators did

fig.9 codex aureus of echternach, personification of prudentia, detail from the majestas domini double-page, f. 3r. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum

fig.10 codex aureus of echternach, personification of prudentia (infrared reflectography), f. 3r. © robert fuchs/doris oltrogge, university of applied sciences, cologne



not paint over entire figures, which would probably have been easier, but instead only

retouched the fleshy parts, making sure that the renewed face fitted between the

hairline and the neckline. In the case of the Majestas Domini and related pages, the

rather long-nosed «face-lifting» did not really result in an improvement in appear-

ance. However, as technological analysis has revealed, the more harmonious general

features of the first version had been combined with a rather garish pink skin colour

and blue hair as seen in the portrait of St John. Some minor figures preserve this

colouring, and these give us an idea of the original facial tones: the ox symbolising

St Luke (f. 2v), the grotesque masks in the frame of the decorative initial page of

the Gospels of St John (f. 114r) and St Peter in the scene of the «Doubting Thomas»

(f. 111v). Some of the trumpeting angels as well as St John the Evangelist (f. 112V)

even retained their original blue hair (fig. 1).

These examples suggest that the true reason for the alterations was probably to

avoid violent colour contrasts within the images, and to create a chromatic har-

mony between several of the double-pages which had been executed by different

illuminators. The new, brownish skin colour and black hair, for instance, do indeed

match better with the colours of the clothing and backgrounds. Thus, the «Codex

Aureus» underlines the high level of sensitivity of the Romanesque period towards

both chromatic values and material virtues of colours and pigments.

fig.11 codex aureus of echternach, passion cycle, noli me tangere scene, detail: angel, f. 111v. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum

fig.12 codex aureus of echternach, passion cycle, noli me tangere scene, angel (infrared reflectography), f. 111v. © nuremberg, germanisches nationalmuseum



The astonishing insights into the production of the codex reveal a twofold aesthetic

of colours, which had both the materiality of the colours or pigments and their

chromatic interaction in view. Instead of focusing only on the symbolism of certain

colours, which was the general supposition of research until recently, the makers

of the manuscript actually gave priority to chromatic variation. Their aim seems to

have been to enhance the status of the codex as an actual materialisation of the

word of God by endowing it with the finest of colours both in the material and the

artistic sense. Hopefully, the new interpretation proposed here of the employment

of colours and the importance attached to chromatic values in medieval and espe-

cially in Romanesque book illumination may be supported by further technical and

art historical research into other manuscripts in the nearby future. •

Bibliography

Alberti, Leon Battista. 2000. De Statua. De Pictura. Elementa Picturae/Das Standbild.

Die Malkunst. Grundlagen der Malerei. Bätschmann, Oskar et al. (ed., transl.). Darmstadt:

Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

Anzelewsky, Fedja. 1991. Albrecht Dürer. Das malerische Werk. 2nd revised ed., 2 vol.

Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft

Bartl, Anna et. al. 2005. Der Liber illuministarum aus Kloster Tegernsee. Edition,

Übersetzung und Kommentar der kunsttechnologischen Rezepte. Stuttgart: Steiner.

Bender, Beate. 1990. Color caelestis. Anmerkungen zur Farbe Blau im Mittelalter. Gerke,

Hans (ed.). Blau. Farbe der Ferne. Heidelberg: Wunderhorn: 82-103.

Brepohl, Erhard. 1999. Theophilus Presbyter und das mittelalterliche Kunsthandwerk.

Gesamtausgabe der Schrift De diversis artibus. 2 vol. Cologne et al.: Böhlau.

Decker, Bernhard. 1996. Dürer und Grünewald. Der Frankfurter Heller-Altar.

Rahmenbedingungen der Altarmalerei. Frankfurt/Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag.

Dittmann, Lorenz. 1987. Farbgestaltung und Farbtheorie in der abendländischen Malerei.

Eine Einführung. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

Fara, Giovanni Maria. 2002. Albrecht Dürer lettore e interprete di Vitruvio e Leon Battista

Alberti in un’inedita versione di Cosimo Bartoli. Rinascimento, 42, 2002: 171-347.

Fuchs, Robert and Oltrogge, Doris. 1990. Das Blau in der mittelalterlichen Buchmalerei.

Quellenschriften als Basis naturwissenschaftlicher Farbuntersuchungen. Gerke, Hans

(ed.). Blau. Farbe der Ferne. Heidelberg: Wunderhorn: 104-130.

Fuchs, Robert and Oltrogge, Doris. 1998. Secreta colorum. Geheimnisse aus

mittelalterlichen Skriptorien. Untersuchungen zur Echternacher Handschriftenproduktion.

Tempus edax rerum. Le bicentenaire de la Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg 1798-

1998. Luxemburg: Bibliothèque Nationale: 107-124.



Fuchs, Robert and Oltrogge, Doris. 2007. Gold und Purpur zwischen Ideal und

Werkstattpraxis. Segni e testo, 5, 2007: 31-98.

Gaignebet, Claude. 1990/1991: Le sang-dragon du Jardin des Délices. Ethnologie

française, 20/21, 1990/1991: 378-390.

Grebe, Anja. 2006. Albrecht Dürer. Künstler, Werk und Zeit. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche

Buchgesellschaft.

Grebe, Anja. 2007. Codex Aureus. Das Goldene Evangelienbuch von Echternach.

Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

Gullick, Michael. 1995. A bibliography of medieval painting treatises. Brownrigg, Linda

L. (ed.). Making of the medieval book. Techniques of production. Los Altos Hills, CA et

al.: Anderson-Lovelace et al.: 241-244.

Halleux, Robert. 1990. Pigments et colorants dans la Mappae Clavicula. Guineau,

Bernard (ed.). Pigments et colorants de l’Antiquité et du Moyen Age. Teinture, peinture,

enluminure, études historiques et physico-chimiques. Paris: Editions du Centre National

de la Recherche Scientifique: 173-180.

Kahsnitz, Rainer (ed.). 1982. Das Goldene Evangelienbuch von Echternach. Codex Aureus

Epternaciensis Hs 156142 aus dem Germanischen Nationalmuseum in Nürnberg. Faksimile

and Commentary. Frankfurt/Main et al.: Fischer.

Kutschbach, Doris. 1995. Albrecht Dürer. Die Altäre. Stuttgart et al.: Belser.

Muthesius, Anna. 1997. Byzantine silk weaving AD 400 to AD 1200. Vienna:

Fassbaender.

Oltrogge, Doris. 2006. Rezeptsammlungen und Traktate. Die Vermittlung kunsttechnischen

Wissens im Früh- und Hochmittelalter. Canossa 1077. Erschütterung der Welt. Geschichte,

Kunst und Kultur am Aufgang der Romanik. Exhib. Cat. Paderborn. vol 1. Munich: Hirmer:

555-562.

Oltrogge, Doris and Fuchs, Robert. 2005. Mit Infrarot und Röntgenstrahl. Ergebnisse

naturwissenschaftlicher und kunsttechnologischer Untersuchungen des Egbert-Codex.

Franz, Gunther (ed.). Der Egbert Codex. Ein Höhepunkt der Buchmalerei vor 1000 Jahren.

Luzern/Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: 189-216.

Oltrogge, Doris and Fuchs, Robert. 2009. Die Maltechnik des Codex Aureus aus Echternach.

Ein Meisterwerk im Wandel. Nuremberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums.

Pastoureau, Michel. 1990. La couleur et l’historien. Guineau, Bernard Guineau (ed.):

Pigments et colorants de l’Antiquité et du Moyen Age. Teinture, peinture, enluminure,

études historiques et physico-chimiques. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la

Recherche Scientifique: 21-40.

Pastoureau, Michel. 1989. Vers une histoire sociale des couleurs. Pastoureau, Michel

(ed.). Couleurs, images, symboles. Etudes d’histoire et d’anthropologie. Paris: Editions

Le Léopard d’Or: 9-68.

Pastoureau, Michel. 2001. Blue. The history of a color. Princeton et al.: Princeton

University Press.



Pfaff, Annette. 1971. Studien zu Albrecht Dürers Heller-Altar (Nürnberger Werkstücke

zur Stadt- und Landesgeschichte, vol. 7). Nuremberg: Stadtarchiv.

Roosen-Runge, Heinz. 1967. Farbgebung und Technik frühmittelalterlicher Buchmalerei.

Studien zu den Traktaten «Mappae Clavicula» und «Heraclius». 2 vols. Munich/Berlin:

Deutscher Kunstverlag.

Rupprich, Hans. 1956. Dürer. Schriftlicher Nachlass. Vol. 1. Berlin: Deutscher Verein für

Kunstwissenschaft.

Schmidt, Peter. 1965. Goethes Farbensymbolik. Untersuchungen zu Verwendung und

Bedeutung der Farben in den Dichtungen und Schriften Goethes. Berlin: Schmidt.

Steigerwald, Gerhard. 1990. Das kaiserliche Purpurprivileg in spätrömischer und

frühbyzantinischer Zeit. Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, 33, 1990: 209-239.

Tikkanen, Johan Jakob. 1933. Studien über die Farbengebung in der mittelalterlichen

Buchmalerei. Helsingfors: Centraltryckeriet et al.

Wagner, Monika. 2001. Das Material der Kunst. Eine andere Geschichte der Moderne.

München: Beck.

Welchman, John. 1990. Aesthetics. Hope, Augustine Hope (ed.): The color compendium.

New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Biography

Anja Grebe studied Art History, History, and French Literature at the University of

Constance (Germany) and Paris, La Sorbonne. 1995 M.A. Dissertation on Modern

French Artists’ Books. 1996-1997 Research assistant at the University of Constance,

Department of Art History. 1997-2000 Graduate school «Medieval Writing Culture» at

the University of Münster; PhD Dissertation on «Art on the Edge: Book Design in the

Burgundian Netherlands after 1470». Since 2001 Research assistant at the Germanisches

Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg and Associate lecturer at the University of Erlangen,

Department of Art History.

Institutional affilation: Assistant professor of Medieval Art History at the Otto-Friedrich-

University, Bamberg.

resumo - revistadehistoriadaarte.files.wordpress.com · revista de história da arte série w n.ºi...

Documents