Page of the so-called Glanville Manuscript: Descriptio Orbis
Artist: Bartholomew Glanville (Flemish?)
Date: 1460
Dimensions:
19 × 15 in. (48.3 × 38.1 cm)
Medium: ink on vellum
Classification: Manuscripts
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus
Object number: 1915.67
Label Text:This leaf, and its companion displayed near by, are both from an illuminated manuscript of a major geographical text (a description of the world), originally written by Bartholomew Glanville, an Englishman, before 1260. It was a popular encyclopedia read well into the fifteenth century, and many manuscripts and printed versions of the text exist (in Latin and translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, and English).
There has been some scholarly debate as to whether these particular leaves were made by a French or Netherlandish scribe and illuminator. Even if the nationally of the maker is never resolved, the large vellum pages still display handsome decorations; an elaborate floriated border and impressive, lacy flourishes in the red and blue initials.
The decorative borders surrounding the text frame the calligraphy and offer the eye an interesting array of foliage, flowers, and fruit to study in addition to the text. Such borders represented a sampling of the artist’s talent, displaying his observation of natural elements and his attempt to make them accessible to the viewer’s experience. The decorated initial letters include one highly ornate example—the beginning letter “O” of blue and white ink on a gold-leaf background with an interlacing knot contained within—as well as smaller, red and blue initials with elaborate pen flourishes in contrasting ink that mark the beginning of each paragraph.
This leaf was at some point removed from an encyclopedia of “the nature of things” written by early 13th-century English priest, philosopher, and ecclesiastical writer Bartholomaeus Anglicus (Bartholomew, the Englishman), also known as Bartholomaeus de Glanville. This manuscript page dates to the 15th century and may have been transcribed from the original.
There has been some scholarly debate as to whether these particular leaves were made by a French or Netherlandish scribe and illuminator. Even if the nationally of the maker is never resolved, the large vellum pages still display handsome decorations; an elaborate floriated border and impressive, lacy flourishes in the red and blue initials.
The decorative borders surrounding the text frame the calligraphy and offer the eye an interesting array of foliage, flowers, and fruit to study in addition to the text. Such borders represented a sampling of the artist’s talent, displaying his observation of natural elements and his attempt to make them accessible to the viewer’s experience. The decorated initial letters include one highly ornate example—the beginning letter “O” of blue and white ink on a gold-leaf background with an interlacing knot contained within—as well as smaller, red and blue initials with elaborate pen flourishes in contrasting ink that mark the beginning of each paragraph.
This leaf was at some point removed from an encyclopedia of “the nature of things” written by early 13th-century English priest, philosopher, and ecclesiastical writer Bartholomaeus Anglicus (Bartholomew, the Englishman), also known as Bartholomaeus de Glanville. This manuscript page dates to the 15th century and may have been transcribed from the original.
DescriptionBorder and initials in color and gold.
Not on view
In Collection(s)