Pembroke College : Gospel lectionary

Pembroke College

This is one of the most sumptuously illuminated of all extant Anglo-Saxon Gospel Lectionaries and one of the most innovative late Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in terms of iconography, style and painting technique. It also reveals strong stylistic links with eleventh-century Continental manuscripts shortly before the Conquest and has often been seen as an indigenous precursor of the Romanesque style [Wormald (1973, repr. 1984), p. 121; Gameson (2011), p. 272].Pembroke MS 302 contains extracts from the Gospels arranged not in a liturgical sequence, but in the narrative order in which they appear in full Gospels. This - and the fact that the liturgical readings are not marked, despite the identification of Christ, the apostles and other participants in the dialogue within St Matthew and St Mark's accounts of the Passion - indicate that the volume was not intended primarily for use during Mass. It is more likely to have supported the private devotion of a wealthy and discriminating patron [Lenker (1999), p. 155; Karkov (2007), p. 57].Pembroke MS 302 has long been associated with the mid-eleventh-century part of the Caligula Troper (London, British Library, Cotton MS Caligula A.XIV, ff. 1-36). Both manuscripts share tall and slim proportions [Gameson (2011), pp. 29-30], a bold, intense and unusually warm colour scheme, firm outlines, strong tonal modelling, emphatically linear drapery falling down in rhythmical, parallel folds, heavily stylised facial features and voluminous, bulbous foliage shapes. These stylistic peculiarities reveal a complex amalgam of Continental influences, creatively absorbed in late Anglo-Saxon England [Kauffmann (1975), pp. 18-19; Temple (1976), pp. 23-24; Gameson (1991), pp. 92-96; Heslop (2007), pp. 69-70]. The overall figure style finds parallels in contemporary manuscripts from the Low Countries, mainly Flanders, and the Meuse Valley, the Rhineland, and especially leading centres of Ottonian illumination, such as Trier and Echternach. These were regions with which Anglo-Saxon royalty and ecclesiastics were in close contact throughout the eleventh century. The most relevant to Pembroke MS 302 are Bishop Ealdred of Worcester, who travelled on an embassy to Cologne in 1055 and held the sees of Worcester and Hereford in tandem (reg. 1056-1060), and his successor, Walter of Lotharingia, who came to England as royal chaplain to Edward the Confessor and became Bishop of Hereford (reg. 1061-1079). Edward the Confessor himself has been suggested as a possible recipient of the Caligula Troper [Planchart (1977), I, p. 49].The Continental aspects in Pembroke MS 302 and the Troper are embedded within a strong tradition of Anglo-Saxon decoration. The iconography of Pembroke MS 302 is marked by the absence of the Evangelists' symbols and by the emphasis on the different stages of the writing process in manuscript production: St Matthew dips his quill in an inkpot (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(23);return false;'>9r</a>), St Mark prepares to trim his pen (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(81);return false;'>38r</a>), St Luke holds the manuscript open, ready to write in it (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(126);return false;'>60v</a>), while St John writes, holding the page down with a pen knife (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(182);return false;'>88v</a>) [Karkov (2007)]. The iconography of the Evangelists, the prominence of their golden robes, deeply incised in imitation of niello-work and creating a vigorous pattern of agitated draperies, the backgrounds filled with atmospheric zigzag motifs, the coloured shadow outline, and the ornamental motifs, especially in the Canon Tables, develop features characteristic of Canterbury manuscripts from the 1020s. The closest parallels are the works of Eadwig (Eadui) Basan, the Christ Church monk who was active as a scribe and possibly as an illuminator c. 1020: notably the Eadwig Gospels of c. 1020 (Hanover, Kestner Museum, MS WM XXIa 36 and the Eadwig Psalter of c. 1012-1023 (London, British Library, Arundel MS 155, ff. 2-135, 171-193). Some of the initials in Pembroke MS 302 (e.g. f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(127);return false;'>61r</a>) are fully painted versions of the tenth-century type of initials formed of complete birds or beasts (Wormald's Type 1) and suggest a revival of earlier Anglo-Saxon decorative schemes during the second quarter of the eleventh century [Gameson (1991), p. 73]. While scholars generally agree on dating Pembroke MS 302 and the Caligula Troper to the mid-eleventh century or slightly later, the place of origin has been much disputed: Canterbury, Winchester, Hereford or Worcester have all been proposed [for a summary of the various arguments, see Teviotdale (1991), pp. 322-23; Karkov (2007); Heslop (2007)]. The association of both manuscripts with Canterbury has been based on liturgical evidence (now rejected), and on stylistic and iconographic parallels [Wormald (1973, repr. 1984), p. 121]. A Winchester origin for the Troper (and, by association, possibly for Pembroke MS 302 as well) has been suggested on liturgical grounds [Teviotdale (1991), pp. 284-90], but disputed more recently [Heslop (2007)]. The Hereford connection rests on the early provenance of Pembroke MS 302: a description of the eastern boundary of the diocese of Hereford in the time of Bishop Æthelstan (reg. 1013-1056) was added on f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(21);return false;'>8r</a> later in the eleventh century. Since the boundary described is that shared with the diocese of Worcester, an early provenance and perhaps origin at Worcester seem at least as likely, and have been argued for on palaeographical, stylistic and historical grounds [Gameson (1996), p. 223; Heslop (2007), pp. 68-71]. The script of Pembroke MS 302 is comprable to that of Worcester manuscripts from the third quarter of the eleventh century [Gameson (1991) and (1996)]. The Caligula Troper, which was certainly at Worcester by 1200, was probably intended for use there, perhaps for Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester (reg. 1062-1095) himself [Teviotdale (1991), pp. 277-83, 409-12, and (1998), p. 220]. While some scholars maintain that each manuscript was painted by a different artist [Teviotdale (1991), p. 245, and (1992) and (1995); Karkov (2007)], others believe that they were the work of the same illuminator [Turner in Backhouse et al. (1984), no. 71; Gameson (1991); Heslop (2007)]. Most recently, Heslop (2007) has suggested that the two manuscripts demonstrate the development of a remarkably creative artist based at Worcester, who may have illuminated Pembroke MS 302 for Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester and Hereford (reg. 1056-1060) in the mid-eleventh century, and the Caligula Troper for his successor at Worcester, Wulfstan, in the third quarter of the century [for this dating of the Troper, see Teviotdale (1998), pp. 219-20].The concept of artistic development in terms of style could go some way towards explaining the differences between the Troper and Pembroke MS 302, for instance in their treatment of figures and faces (more exaggerated and experimental in the Troper) or in their colour scheme (harsher and darker in the Troper). Another promising avenue is the scientific analysis of the materials and painting techniques in the two manuscripts. These have received a detailed art historical study in the Troper [Teviotdale (1991), pp. 245-50], based on examination under the microscope and an earlier analysis of painting samples produced as modern reconstructions of medieval recipes and suggesting pigments likely to have been used in both manuscripts [Roosen-Runge (1967), I, pp. 67-69]. Such close investigation has not yet been undertaken on Pembroke MS 302, which reveals an innovative combination of impasto and scumble techniques. While the style is uniform enough to suggest that Pembroke MS 302 was the work of a single artist, his eagerness to explore new materials, techniques and design solutions even within the same manuscript is demonstrated in the miniature of St Mark (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(81);return false;'>38r</a>). In addition to its striking composition and complex textual allusions [Karkov (2007)], its subtly different design, proportions and colour scheme suggest a strong interest in experimentation. Particularly noticeable is the difference in the blue and green pigments, which are flaking in the miniature of St Mark, but not in the remaining images. This may be to the use of different components (either pigments or binders, or both), with which the artist was experimenting. There appears to be only one type of green in the Troper, tentatively identified as verdigris, while blue is virtually absent [Teviotdale (1991), pp. 222-23]. Non-invasive analysis in situ would result in a more reliable identification of pigments, binders and techniques, offering a sound basis for comparison between the two manuscripts. Dr Stella Panayotova Publications not otherwise cited in the bibliography<ul><li>H. Roosen-Runge, Farbgebung und Technik frühmittelalterlicher Buchmalerei: Studien zu den Traktaten 'Mappae Clavicula' und 'Heraclius', Kunstwissenschaftliche Studien 38 (Munich, 1967), 2 vols</li><li>A.E. Planchart, The Repertory of Tropes at Winchester (Princeton: University Press, 1977).</li><li>F. Wormald, 'Anglo-Saxon Painting', in Collected writings I: Studies in medieval art from the sixth to the twelfth centuries (1984)</li><li>E.C. Teviotdale, 'The Cotton Troper (London, British Library, Cotton MS Caligula A.xiv, ff. 1-36): a study of an illustrated English troper of the eleventh century', unpublished PhD dissertation (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1991)</li><li>E.C. Teviotdale, 'Some thoughts on the place of origin of the Cotton Troper', in Cantus Planus: papers read at the Fourth Meeting of the Cantus Planus Study Group of the International Musicological Society, Pécs, Hungary, 3-8 September 1990, ed. by L. Dobszay (Budapest, 1992), 407-412</li><li>E.C. Teviotdale, 'The Hereford Troper and Hereford', in Medieval art, architecture and archaeology at Hereford, ed. by D. Whitehead, British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions 15 (Leeds, 1995), 75-81</li><li>E.C. Teviotdale, 'An episode in the medieval afterlife of the Caligula Troper', in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and their heritage, ed. by P. Pulsiano and E. Treharne (Aldershot, 1998)</li></ul>