The Influence ofMedieval Illuminated
Manuscripts on the Pre-Raphaelites and the
Early Poetry ofWilliam Morris
Michaela Braesel
When considering the influence ofmedieval book illumination on the
work of Pre-Raphaelite arrists stress is generally laid upon examples
from the thirreemh and fourreemh cemuries. These are the book illuminations recommended by John Ruskin, which 'in their bold rejection ofall principles ofperspective, light and shade, and drawing ... are
infinitely more ornamen tal to the page owi ng to the vivid opposi tion of
their bright colours and quaintlines, than ifthey had been drawn by Da
Vinci himself'. I He also considered that they demonstrated the basic
principles ofart: 'clearness ofoutline and simplicity, without the introduction oflight and shade'.1 Ruskin's emhusiasm for the aesthetic qualities ofilluminated manuscripts from the fourteenth cemury is evidenr
from a statemem he made about the decoration ofa book ofhours in his
own collection which he described as 'notofrefined work, but extremeIy rich, groresque, and full ofpure colour. The new worlds which every
leafofthis book opened to me, and the joy I had, couming their letters,
and unravelling their arabesques asifrhey hadall been ofbeaten gold ...
cannot be told' ..1 Comrary to the view ofcontemporaries such as Gustav Friedtich Waagen or Henry Noel Humphreys, Ruskin considered
that the most striking example of the demise of medieval book illumination was to be seen in the works ofGiulio Clovio (1498-1578), who
had umil then been held in high esteem due to Giorgio Vasari's comparison ofhim with Michelangelo (1475-1564).4
It is miniatures from the thirreenth and fourteenth centuries, highly valued by Ruskin because of the brilliance of their colours, which
Dante Gabriel Rossetti used as a starring poinr for his watercolours
from the second halfofthe 1850s, several ofwhich Morris acquired. '; He
knew the man uscript collections ofRuskin and the Bri tish Library, and
studied them in order to draw poetic inspiration as well as to influence
his art. 6 He also used as his models miniatures reproduced in contemporary publications, such as Henry Shaw's DressesandDecorations o/the
Middle Ages (1843) and Henry Noel Humphtcys' and Owen Jones's
41
JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES, SUMMER
2004
Illuminated Manuscripts ofthe Middle Ages (1849). Rossetti's paintings
on medieval subjects show the infl uence ofthese m iniatures in theit use
ofa crowded picture plane, the diverse and dense ornamental areas, the
slightly unclear spatial treatment within the paintings, the narrow and
low spatial boxes and especially in the luminous quality ofthe colours'!
Rossetti liked to combine different artistic models in the sets of his
paintings and in the costumes ofhis protagonists in order to achieve an
effect as interesting and charming as possible. S Only the paintings by
Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddall on a jewellery box for Jane Morris (pre1862; now in Kelmscott Manor) are direct copies, taken from miniatures on a Christine de Pisan-manuscript from the early fifteenth century (British Library, MS Harley 4431, fo1. 376 and 48).')
However, Charles Allston Collins' Convent Thoughts (1850-51; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) and Berengaria's Alarm for the Safety ofher
Husband... (1850; Manchester Art Galleries) also demonstrate that
illuminations from other periods, in this case the late-fifteenth and
twelfth centuries, also served as models in Pre-Raphaelite paintings. 10
In contrast to Rossetti or Ford Madox Brown, who used miniatures as
inspirations for single motifs within rhe painting, Collins quoted existing miniatures and incorporated them as illuminations into his work. 11
In the second generation of Pre-Raphaelites the influence of fourteenth-century media:val manuscripts is still recognisable. Edward
Burne-Jones's design for The Arming and Departure ofthe Knights, one
of the Holy Grail tapestries (189°-95), draws on a miniature depicting
the same scene in the Luttrell Psalter (British Library, Add. MS 42130,
fol. 202V) dating from the early fourteenth century. In the late-nineteenth century the manuscript was still in a private collection; however, copies ofthe miniature had been published in the second volume of
John Carter's Specimens ofAntient (sic] Sculpture and Painting now
remaining in this kingdom from the earliest period to the Reign ofHenry
VIII (2 vols, 1780-87), accompanied by a commentary by Richard
Gough,12 in the sixth volume of Vetusta Monumenta (1839) with commentary by John Gage Rokewode, and in F. W. Fairholt's Costume in
England (1846).13 It is also possible that the figure ofthe kneeling Galahad in the last tapestry of the cycle, The Attainment, was modelled on
the figure of a kneeling knight in the Westminster Psalter (British
Library, MS Roy.2.A.xxii), which was depicted in works by Henry
Shaw and Joseph Strutt and is also to be found in Burne-Jones's sketchbook in Birmingham. 14
William Morris referred to illuminated manuscripts from the
fifteenth century in the 1850S to research the applied arts. The minia-
42
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
tures he used show decorated interiors as setting instead ofornamented backgrounds. For example, in his Daisies embroidery of1859 for Red
House (Kelmscott House) he incorporated motifs from a miniature in
British Library MS Harley 4380, fol. If, which shows the Dance a/the
Wodehouses, and which was reproduced in contemporary works such as
Henry Shaw's and Sir Frederic M adden's Illuminated Ornaments Selectedfrom Manuscripts and Early Printed Booksfrom the Sixth to the Seventeenth Centuries (183°-33, ill. 26) or George Craik's and lames MacFarlane's The PictorialHistory a/Englandbeinga History a/the Peopleas well
as aHistory a/the Kingdom (1839, vol. H, p. 255).15 Similar motifs can also
be found in a page border in British Library, MS Royal 15.E.vi (circa
1445), fol. 2V.
However, for his own illuminated manuscripts of the 1850S and for
the book depicted in his painting La Belle lseult (1858; Tate Britain)'
Morris returned (in contrast to his later illuminated manuscripts of the
1870s), to models from 1250-[350 which Ruskin had pointed our as
exemplary. Morris illuminated in 1856 his own poem Guendolen and
two stanzas of a canto from Robert Browning's Paracelsus (lines
190-205, in the 1849 version; Huntington Library, California, HM
6478).1(, In the following year he started to illuminate a parchment page
with the text of The Story o/the lronMan after the fairy tale by the brothers Grimm (J. Paul Getty, Wormsley Library). This decoration
remained unfinished. Morris also roughly sketched a frame decoration
on a page with his own poem 'Think but one thought of me up in the
stars', which was published the same year in the OxfOrd & Cambridge
Magazine under the title 'Summer Dawn' (Huntington Library, California, HM 6480). Consequently, Ruskin was deeply impressed by
Morris's work and recommended him to the custodian of the manuscript department of the British Library comparing his 'gift of illumination' to that of a 'thirteenth century draughtsman'. 17 Rossetti, too,
was full of praise for Morris's ability as an illuminator and said in 1856:
'In all illumination and work ofthat kind he is quite unrivalled by anything modern that I know - Ruskin says, better than anything
ancient' .18
In these illuminated pages Morris used closely related decorative
motifs, which can be traced back to examples from the late-thirteenth
and early-fourteenth century: the grotesque creatures, the long pointed leaves, the frame-borders with animal bodies at the ends and the coiling tendrils are based on English and French manuscripts dating from
these times, as are the irregular borders and the asymmetrical background of the initials. This is also true for the rather dark colours cho43
JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER
2004
sen, which contrast with large gold areas. Morris would have seen such
manuscripts in the British Library and in the Bodleian Library.19
Morris retained this preference for illuminated manuscriprs dating
from this period into his later years. In the essay 'Some Notes on the
Illuminated Books ofthe Middle Ages' written in 1894, he declared the
last quarter ofthe thirteenth century to be the 'climax ofillumination' :
'Nothing can exceed the grace, elegance, and beauty ofthe drawingand
the loveliness of the colour'.20 He explained that in the fourteenth century there were a number ofsignificant changes in the practice ofillumination which led to an abundance of motifs and a wonderful richness in colour, even if, at the same time, he criticises a certain 'mechanical redundancy' which resulted. 21 Characteristic of this period were
richly ornamented or gilded and chased picture backgrounds, and lavish trimmings with leaves, flowers, birds and animals. The motifs were
'naruralistically treated (and very well drawn); there is more freedom,
and yet less individuality in this work; in short the style, though it has
lost nothing (in its best works) ofelegance and daintiness - qualities so
desirable in an ornamen ted book - has lost somewhat ofmanliness and
precision', a development which would continue until the end of the
century.22 Although outstanding works were still being created in the
first halfofthe fifteenth century, Morris observed an increasingseparation between ornament and picture which had an adverse effect on the
harmony of the page. 23 Illuminated books of high quality were no
longer created after 1530 and 'thus disappeared an art which may be
called peculiar to the Middle Ages, and which commonly shows mediaeval craftsmanship at its best'. 24
Unlike Ruskin and Morris the authors of the numerous chromolithographic publications on illuminated manuscripts and the
practical guidebooks on miniature painting in the second half of the
nineteenth century were full ofpraise for fifteenth-century illuminated
manuscripts. These publications provided examples, which were taken
for the most part from manuscripts preserved in the British Libraryand
which concentrated on the design of inirials and page borders. 2S
Humphreys dedicated much space to the fifteenth century in his IlluminatedBooks ofthe Middle Ages and Shaw was ofthe opinion that illumination reached its artistic culmination in the second half of the
1400S.26 In Madden and Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments selectedfrom
Manuscripts... 22 illustrations represent fifteenth-century examples,
while only two reproduce thirteenth-century works. Manuscripts such
as the Gorleston PsaLter (1310-25; British Library MS Add. 49622), are
described as 'bizarre but splendid', whereas the fifteenth century saw
44
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
the beginning of the perfecrion ofthe art. 27 This could be seen, next to
the 'endless variety ofdesign and colouring', in the 'beauty and richness
ofthe execution', which culminated in the sixteenth century.28
In the lighr of Ruskin recommending illuminated miniatures from
the earlier medieval period it is perhaps surprising still to see an enthusiasm for the miniatures ofthe late-fifteenth century in the 'second generation' ofPre-Raphaelites such as Bume-Jones and Morris. It is known
that Bume-Jones showed friends the Roman de la Rose manuscript in
the British Library, MS Harley 4425, which is dated circa 1490-1500
and since 1915 has been ascribed to the 'Master of the Prayer Books of
circa 1500', probably active in Bruges. 19 As George Price Boyce records:
Jones having promised to show us some of the most beautiful illuminated manuscripts in the collection [British Library]. First the 'Roman
de la Rose', which is filled with the most exquisite illuminations, as fine
as could well be in colour and gradation, tenderness oftone and mani pulation, and purity of colour and light: the landscapes perfectly
enchanting, the distances and skies suggesting Turner's besr and show30
ing as well in every other parr close and long observation of narure.
Bume-Jones was not the first to recognise the importance of this manuscript. Already at the beginning of the nineteenth century the catalogue of the Harley manuscripts stated that the manuscript contained
an extraordinary array ofminiatures and that they were executed' in the
most masterly Manner [... ] that is not to be exceeded by any known MS
in this or any other Library':'IThomas Frognall Dibdinalso mentioned
the manuscript in his 1817 BibliographicalDecameron, dating it to 1480,
and praising the group depictions as well as its 'delicacy and strength',
but criticising the representation ofheads which he thought too large.32
He even compared some of the miniatures to the works ofAntoine
Watteau (1684-1721) because of their lovely character. Joseph Strutt,
who included two couples in his illustrations taken from MS Harley
4425, fol. 14V, honoured the Hariey manuscript as being 'the most perfect and most beautiful MS I ever saw. The paintings exceed too & are
finished. Many of them equal the miniatures of the present day' .33
Henry Shaw also reproduced several figures after miniatures in the
manuscript in his Dresses and Decorations a/the Middle Ages (2 vols.,
1843).34 Shaw was mainly interested in the unusual clothing of the
musicians on fol. 14V.35 He stated that 'it would be impossible to point
out any miniature more beautiful than the illuminations which enrich
the splendid copy ofthe Roman de la Rose, in MS Harley 4425, executed aboutA. D. 1480'.36
45
JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER
2004
The early popularity of the Roman de la Rose is also to be discerned
in the fact that its miniatures served as inspiration for the decoration of
the chimney piece in the 'Red Room' at Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire,
decorated by A. W N. Pugin for Charles Scarisbrick around 1840. The
model for the left picture is the miniature on fol. 14V. The unknown
paimer isolated the couple in the foreground to the right, which was
also featured in the fromispiece to Strutt's second volume ofA Complete
View ofthe Dress and Habits ofthe People ofEngland, and inserted it imo
a landscape featuring the Scarisbrick Hall estate. The model for the
figures in the second picture was the music-making couple in the garden of the miniature on fol. 12V. 37
Gustav Ftiedrich Waagen described the Roman de la Rose in his influential Treasures ofArt in Britain (1854), and in the earlier version of
Kunstler und Kunstwerke in England (Artists and WOrks ofArt in England) of 183T 'The invention is inspired, the movemems graceful' .3H He
especially praised the well-proportioned and drawn figures, the colours
and the quality of execution which gave the 'wonderful ... impression
of serenity, nearness, splendour and richness'. Waagen considered the
manuscript to be the equal ofone ofthe most celebrated manuscripts of
his time in the Bibliotheque Nationale Paris, the Book ofHours ofAnna
de Bretagne, MS lar. 9474.
While the above mentioned authors honoured the Roman mostly
for aesthetic reasons, Burne-Jones and Mortis used this and other later
manuscripts as a source for medieval motifs. In both cases this was due
to the fact that these later illuminations contained more information
on living and decoration in the Middle Ages than the earlier miniatures. This was why Mortis turned in the 1860s, in connection with the
tile decorations for Queens' College, Cambridge, to the miniatures of
the momhs in calendars from fifteenth-century books ofhours, among
them some manuscripts from the Harley collection. 39 He used them in
this case not for aesthetic bur for informative reasons, concerning the
combination and the depiction ofthe different momhly labours.
Julian Treuherz has been able to prove that Burne-Jones not only
admired MS Harley 4425 but also transferted some of the motifs from
it into his own work. He is of the opinion that Burne-Jones is referring
to the Narcissus miniature (MS Harley 4425, fol. 20) in his Baleful
Head (completed in 1887), which closes the Perseus cycle (Staatsgalerie,
Stuttgart).'\O However, the only similarities appear to be in the face reflected in the water. It seems more plausible that the miniature ofPyramus andThisbe in the Christine de Pisan manuscript (MS Harley 4431,
fo1. 112V) was used as inspiration - the manuscript that Rossetti had
46
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
aI ready used as a model- as the octagon form of the fountain and its
marble-like material show closer links [0 Burne-Jones's painting.
"j'euherz further assumes that the triumph motif on the tapestry in
f,aus Veneris (1873-78; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne),
refers to the miniature on fo!' 138v, that the fourth panel of the Pygmalion cycle, The SoulAttains (1870; private collection), references the
I'ygmalion miniature on fo!' 178v, and that the depiction ofthe garden
in The Knights Farewell (1858; Ashmolean Musem, Oxford) is based on
fiJI.
I2V.
It should also be noted that the colours and the depiction of interiors in MS Harley 44Z5 resemble paintings by Burne-Jones such as his
I'ygmalion series, which repeat the combination ofgrey s[One and red
brick walls with green Aoor tiles. The shimmering character of the tiles
in the Harley manuscript is the result ofa slightly irregular application
ofcolour and never reaches the gleaming quality ofBurne-Jones's work.
'rhe small spatial section depicted of the interior, which contains large
figures, and the view into further courts resemble Burne-Jones's paintings and his miniatures in Morris's illuminated manuscript The
Rubdiydt ofOmar Khayyam (circa 1872) for Frances Graham (private
collection) .11
At the same time Morris and Burne-Jones's interest in the Harley
Roman was motivated through its subject. It was treated by Geoffrey
Chaucer. Morris's and Burne-Jones's favourite poet, whose rendering
of the French original served as basis for their own version of the subject. In the 1870S Burne-Jones designed a 'Romance of the Rose' cycle,
which was embroidered for Rounton Grange and was later woven at
Merton Abbey (William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow). The tapestry
The Heart ofthe Rose (Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe) is perhaps
inspired by the last miniature of MS Harley 4425, fo!' 184v, while a
drawing for The Pilgrim at the Garden ofIdleness (private collection), is
reminiscent of the Harley Roman in its personifications: 12 where the
French Roman describes the lover as contemplating a wall with painted
recess figures of the virtues and the vices, the small miniatures depict
them as live beings, which are positioned in the recesses. 4cl Burne-Jones
transformed them into live metal figures and the material seems [0 belie
the movement.
Furthermore it is possible that the Harley Roman served Morris as
an important inspiration for his poetry of the late 1850S despite his
Ruskinian disregard for these later illuminations. This is interesting in
that thus far the influence ofilluminated manuscripts on Morris's work
has mostly been researched in the fields ofpaintingard the applied arts.
47
JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER
2004
However, some literary scholars have pointed out the intensity of the
colours, the joy in relating even the smallest details and the visual phenomena which are obvious in Morris's early poetry.44 Carole Silver for
example compared a landscape description in 'The Story of the
Unknown Church' to miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. 45 The
description cited by her ofa cornfield containing golden ears, poppies
and cornflowers is reminiscent ofthe floral repertoire which is found in
the page borders of manuscripts dating from the first half of the
fifteenth century.
In Morris's 'Golden Wings', published in The Defence ofGuenevere,
and Other Poems (1858), a very close relation to MS Harley 4425 is to be
observed. The poem begins with the description of an 'ancient castle'
within a 'walled garden' with an 'old knight for a warden' .46The castle,
which has walls of 'scarlet bricks' and 'old grey stone' on which apples
grow, is enclosed by a ditch containing 'deep green water' Y This
description is reminiscent of the miniature in MS Harley 4425, fo!' 39r
[Colour Fig. A]. The miniature depicts 'Fair Welcome', who is being
held captive by 'Jealousy', shown contrary to what the text says as an old
man holding a set of keys, in a castle-like edifice built of red and grey
bricks and surrounded by a ditch. Red and white roses grow on the battlements. Although Morris changes the roses into apples, his description of the castle sounds like that shown in the miniature, albeit with a
more idyllic touch because Morris's poem is missing the guards visible
in the miniature. The colour combination of brick, stone and apples
which Morris describes is mirrored in a different miniature ofthe manuscript, in fo!' I2V, which shows couples in a garden with apple trees
where roses grow on the walls. In this miniature the apple trees are towered by leafless black trees in which black birds are sitting. This combination ofdifferent trees, the flowering ones being near the figures which
are enclosed by the leafless ones, seems to offer a parallel to the slowly
increasing mood ofdecay in Morris's poem.
In 'Golden Wings' Morris focuses on what is happening around the
ditch where there is a 'boat / Of carven wood, with hangings green /
About the stern', where lovers like to spend their time in summer. 48 This
motif oflovers in a boat is not taken from MS Harley 4425, however it
was popular in the May pages of the calendaria in Flemish Books of
Hours dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, such as in
British Library MS Add. 18855, fo!' 108-109 or MS Add. 24098, fo!' 22V
dating from the early sixteenth century, the miniatures of which are
attribured to Simon Bening. 49
Another poem in The Defence, 'A Good Knight in Prison', also
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
shows the possible influence of Books of Hours dating from the late
fifteenth century in its reference to falconty.;o The Queens' College
tiles depict a female falconer based on designs by Ford Madox Brown
for the month ofMay. Other passages ofthe poem point more to models taken from illuminated books upon which Morris based his own
attempts in the 1850s: 'Like dragons in a missal-book, /Wherein, whenever we may look, / We see no horrors, yea, delighr / We have, the
colours are so bright; / Likewise we note the specks ofwhite, / And the
great plates ofburnish'd gold'.;l This passage demonstrates which
aspects ofthe earlier works Morris himselfparticularly appreciared: the
fantasy ofrhe motifs, the brightness ofthe colours and the quality ofthe
burnished gold.
In 'Golden Wings' the couples walking in a garden who wear rose
garlands in their hair and are clad in red and white garments seem to
point again to the Harley Roman de la Rose.;2 Fol. I4V [Colour Fig. Bl
shows respectively a round dance of couples in rich garments, though
more lavishly coloured and without garlands. The miniature of the
'Dance of Mirth' was one of the most famous miniatures in the manuscript and some ofthe figures were included by Strutt and Shaw as illustrations in their volumes. This scenario, described by Wiehe as containing references to the Garden of Eden and the garden of earthly
delights, is mirrored in the state described at the beginning ofthe poem
which then dissolves into destruction and war towards the end. S:l In his
poem Morris also emphasises paradisiacal narure by replacing the roses
with apples.
The eclectic use ofsingle motifs and the adaptarion of mood in elements from miniatures shows Morris's similarly pragmatic use ofilluminated models in his poetry as in his applied art or in Bume-Jones's
painting. It is interesting to observe in the case of'Golden Wings' a very
close dependence on one of the more popular Flemish manuscripts of
the late fifteenth century in an English collection instead ofon the early
gothic examples Morris and Ruskin so much admired. But the Flemish
manuscripts, in their detailed rendering of scenes, offered richer ideas
of a medieval world more elaborate and narrative than that in early
gothic miniatures in which the narration is restricted to the essentials
and the scenic room is closed with an ornamental tapestry-like background.
For Morris, early gothic illuminations exemplified an ideal of illumination, while the Harley Roman showed him images of a world he
wanted engage in his poetry. The early gothic illuminations he regarded as a designer as the ideal realisation for the medium with regard to
49
JOURNAL OF WILLlAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER 2004
fitness of purpose and material, meaning that the two-dimensionality
ofthe page was not to be destroyed by miniatures with a three-dimensional conception of space. However, Morris regarded the Harley
Roman as a visualisation ofthe late-medieval world, independent from
its quality ofillumination.
Morris referred to these miniatures in his poems because through
their detailed naturalism they provided him with inspiration for finding poetic similes. He regarded those miniatures not as illuminations
but as pictures in their own right, whose messages he translated - with
variations - from a visual into a verbal medium.
NOTES
I
John Ruskin, Collected WOrks, ed. E. T. Cook & Alexander Wedderburn, The Library
Edirion, 39 volumes (London & New York: George Alien, 1903-1912: in rhe following called Lib. Ed.), vol. IX, p. 285. See also John Ruskin, 'Addresses on Decorative
Colour' I, in ibid., vol. XII, p. 481: John Ruskin, The Stones ofVenice Ill, ibid., vol. XI,
P·23·
2 Ruskin,
3 Ruskin,
Lib. Ed, vol. XII, p. 481; see also p. 482.
Praeterita Ill, Lib. Ed, vol. xxxv, p. 490. These statements refer to a book of
hours from Northern France (circa 1300), which Ruskin bought in I8501r851 and
which is now part of the collection of the Victoria & A1berr Museum, London. See
James S. Dearden, 'John Ruskin, the Collector, with a catalogue of the illuminated
and other Manuscripts in his Collection', The Library 5: ser., 21 (1966), pp. 124-53, no.
30, p. 139·
4 Ruskin, Lib.
Ed., vol. XII, p. 491. For the opinion on Giulio Clovio by Ruskin's contemporaries see: Gustav friedrich Waagen, Treasures ofA rtin Britain: Beingan Accountof
the Chie[Collections ofPaintings, Drawings, Sculptures, IlluminatedManuscripts, etc.,
4 vols. (London: J. Murray, 1854 [vol. 4, 1857 D, vol.
I,
p. 208 and vol. 2, p. 334; Henry
Noel Humphreys, The IlluminatedBooks ofthe Middle Ages: AnAccountofthe Development and Progress ofthe Art ofIllumination as a Distinct Branch ofPictorial Ornamentationfrom the IVth to the XVl1th Centuries. Illustrated by a Series ofExamples, of
the Size ofthe Originals, Selectedfrom the Most Beautiful MSS. ofthe 1&rious Periods,
Executed on Stone and Printed in Colours by OwenJones (London: Longman, Brown,
Green & Longman, 1849: reprint London: Bracken Books, (989), commentary to
plares XXXVIJ-XXXVIll; Henry Noel Humphreys, The Art ofIllwnination andMissal
Painting. A Guide to Modem Illuminators. Illustrated by a Series ofSpecimellSfrom
Richly Illuminated MSS. of1&rious Periods. Accompanied by a Set ofOutlines, to Be
Coloured by the Student According to the Theories Developed in the WOrk (London: H.
G. Bohn, 1849), pp. 55-56. See also John Obadiah Westwood, Palaeo
graphia Sacra Pictoria. Being a Series ofIllustrations ofthe Ancient Version ofthe Bible
copiedfrom Illuminated Manuscripts Executed between the Fourth and Sixteenth Cen
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
turies, (London: William Smith, 1843-45), p. xv; Mauhew Digby Wyau and W. R.
Tymms, The Art ofIlluminating as Practised ill Europe From the Earliest Times. Illustrated by Borders. Initial Letters and Alphabets Selected & Chromolithographed (London: Day & Son, 1860 [Isr ed. 1859]; reprint Hertfordshire: Wordsworrh Editions,
1987), p. 46. For Vasari's praise ofClovio see: Giorgio Vasari, Le Vite de'piri eccellenti
pittori, scultori earchitectori, ed. Paola della Pergola, Luigi Grassi, Giovanni Previtali,
10 vols. (Novara: [stituto Geografico de Agosrini, 1967), vol. VII, p. 446.
5 See Ruskin, Lib. Ed., vol. XXIV, pp. 25-26. Morris acquired Rosseni's The Blue Closet,
The Damsel ofthe Sanet Grael and The lime ofthe Seven Towers of 1857 (Tate Britain)
as well as Fra Pace and The Death ofSir Bars sam Pitie.
6 See Rosserri's lerrer to his brother William Michael Rossetti, dated 18 September, 1849:
'f...] having wasted several days at the Museum, where [have been reading up all
manner ofold romaunts [sic], to pitch upon stunning words for poetry. I have found
several, and also derived much enjoyment from the things themselves, someofwhich
are tremendously fine', William Michael Rosseui, ed., Dante Gabriel Rossetti: His
Family Letters with a Memoir (London: Ellis & Elvey, 1895), vol. n, p. 51.
7 Ruskin, Lib. Ed., vol. XXXIII, p. 269.
8 See Julian Treuherz, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and Mediaeval Illuminated Manuscripts', in
Pre-Raphaelite Papers, ed. Leslie Parris (London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1984), p.
158; Alicia Craig Faxton, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (New York & London: Abbeville
Press, 1994 [1st ed. 1989]), pp. 92-95, 103, 111-13.
9 Joanna Banham &Jennifer Harris, eds., exhib. cat. William Morris andthe MiddleAges,
Manchester Art Gallery and Museums (Manchesrer: Manchester Universiry Press,
'984), cat. no. 57, pp. 120-21.
TO SeeTreuherz, 1984, op. cit., pp. 156-58. Coliins used theArdinghelli-Segni prayer book
(Soane Museum) and the initial page of the St. John's Gospel in the Arnstein Bible
(British Library, MS Harley 2799, fol. ,85v), which was depicted in Henry Noel
Humphreys and Owen Jones' Illuminated Books ofthe Middle Ages (London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longman, 1849), pp. 49, 50.
11 See Roy Srrong, Recreatingthe Past: British History andthe Victorian Painter (London &
New York: Thames & Hudson, The Pierpom Morgan Library, 1978), pp. 58-59;
Treuherz 1984, op. cit., pp. 154-55.
12 In a second edirion by Rush Meyrick and John Briuon, eds., London 1838.
13 F. W Fairholr, Costume in England. A History ofDress to the End ofthe Eighteenth Centltry, new enlarged edition by H. A. Dillon, 2 vols. (London: Bell, ,885; reprint
Detroit: SingingTree Press, 1968 [ISI ed. 1846]), ill. 87 on p. 112.
14 See Banham & Harris, 1984, op. cit., cat. no. '53, pp. 191-92. The miniature is depicted in Shaw's Dresses and Decorations ofthe Middle Ages, 2 vols. (London: William
Pickering, 1843), vol. I, ill. 17; in Joseph Srrurr's A Complete View ofthe Dress and
Habits ofthe PeopleofEnglandfrom the EstablishmentoftheSaxons in Britain to the Present Time: illustratedby engravings takenfrom the mostauthentic remains ofantiquity to
which is prefixed an introduceion, containing a general description ofthe ancient
habits in use among mankindji-om the earliestperiod oftime to the conclusion ofthe sev
enth century (2 vols., rev. ed. byJ. R. Planche, reprinted in London: Tabard Press Ltd.,
JO~RNAL
OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER 2004
1970 [IS( ed. London, 1796; IS{ ed. ofthe revised edirion in 3vols. London: Henry G.
Bohn, 1842]), vo!. I, ill. LxvI.
15 A. R. Dufty, Morris Embroideries: Tbe Prototypes (London: The Society ofAntiquaries,
1985), p. n, ill. 11, Ill.
16 For the Guendolen page see Alan G. Thomas-Sale, Sotheby"s, London, 21.-22.6.1993,
lot 244; published as 'Rapumel' in The Deftnce ofGuenevere (1858). For Morris's early
illuminations see: ]oseph Riggs Dunlap, 'The Road to Kelmscotr: WiUiam Morris
and the Books Am before the Foundingofthe Kelmscorr Press' (Columbia University, Disserration 1972), pp. 109-28.
17 Quoted after William S. Peterson, The Kelmscott Press, A History ofWilliam Morriss
TypographicalAdvellture (Oxford: Clarendon Press, (991), p. 60.
18 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Letters ofDante Gabriel Rossecci to William Allingham
1854-1870, ed. George Birbeck Hill, London, 1897, p. '93, quoted in ]oseph Riggs
Dunlap, 'Morris and the Book Am before the Kelmscolt Press', Victorian Poetry 13,
3-4 (Autumn-Winter 1975), p. 142.
19 See for example British Library, MSS Roy.I.D.i (Bible of William of Devon,
1260-1270), Roy.2.B.ii (French Psalter, middle of the thirteenth century), Add.
48985 (Salvin Hours, 1270-1280), Add. 17341 (French Gospel Lectionary, end of the
thirteenth century), Add. 24686 (Alphonso or Tenison Psalter, 1284); Bodleian
Library Oxford, MS Douce 366 (Ormesby Psalter, early fourteenth century). Compare]. W. Mackail, Tbe Lift ofWilli4m Morris (New York: Dover Publications Inc.,
1995 [1st ed. London, 1899]), vol.l, p. 276.
20 William Morris, 'Some Notes on the Illuminated books ofthe Middle Ages' (t894), in
The Ideal Book: Essays and Lectures on the Arts ofthe Book by William Morris, ed.
William S. Peterson (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982),
p.lO.
21 Ibid., p. 12.
22 Ibid., p. 13.
23 See ibid., p. 121, note 7.
24 Ibid., p. 14·
25 See for example: H. N. Humphreys's The Art ofIllumination and Missal Paillting. A
Guide to Modern Illuminators Illustrated by a Series ofSpecimens}Tom Richly IlluminatedMSS. ofVarious Periods. Accompanied by a Set ofOutlines to be Coloured by the
Srudentaccording to the TheoriesDevelopedin the WOrk (1849); Henry Shaw'sA Handbook oftheArtofIllumination as Practisedduring the Middle Ages with a Description of
the Metals, Pigments, and Processes Employed by the Artists at Diffirent Periods (london, 1866); W. R. Tymm's and M. D. Wyan's The Art ofIlluminating as Practised in
Europe}Tom the Earliest Times. Illustrated by Borders, Initial Letters andAlphabets
Selected & Chromolithogmphed (r860 [ISt ed. 1859]).
26 H. N. Humphreys, 18491r989, op. cit., p.!? Shaw, 1843, I, op. cit., Introduction, no
page nos.
27 Sir Frederic Madden & Hen ey Shaw, Illuminated Ornaments Selected}Tom Manu
scripts and Early Printed Books}Tom the Sixth to the Seventeenth Centuries (London:
William Pickering, 1830-33), p. 12.
THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
28 Ibid.• p. 13.
29 Thomas Kren. ed.• exhib. car. Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures ofthe
British Library (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), cat. no. 6, pp. 49-58.
30 Diary entry in George Price Boyce's diary. 14 ofApril, 1860; cired in Treuherz. 1984,
op. cic., p. 167, after VirginiaSurrees. The DiariesofGeorge Price Boyce(Norwich: Real
World. 1980), p. 30.
31 A Catalogue ofHarleian MSS in the British Museum with Indices ofPersons, Places 6Matters, 4 vols.• London 1808-[2, vol. I 1808, preface, p. 25. For a similar assessment
which copies the exacr wording ofrhe caralogue. 'in a mosr masrerly manner', when
describing rhe miniarures see Thomas HarrweU Home, An Introduction to the Study
ofBibliogmphy(London: Cadell & Davies, 1814). vol. I, p. r31.
32 Thomas Frognall Dibdin. The Bibliographical Decameron; or, Ten Days Pleasant Dis-
course upon Illuminated Manuscripts and Subjects Connected with Early Engraving,
Tjpography, andBibliography, 3vols. (London: W. Bulmer, r8I7), vol. I, pp. ccxi-ecxii,
nore.
33 Strurr's notes in British Library, MS Eg. 888.1, fol. 16. Strutt 1970, op. cit., vol. n, frontispiece. p. 271.
34 Shaw, 1843. n. op. cir., ill. 56-58.
35 Ibid., rext to ill. 57.
36 Ibid., rext to ill. 56.
37 For more infoImation abour rhe chimney piece see Mark Girouard, The Victorian
Country House (New Haven & London: Yale University Press. 1979), figs. 85 and 86
on p. JI5.
38 Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Kunstwerke "nd Kiinstler in England und Paris (Berlin:
Nicolaische Buchhandlung, 1837), vol. 1, p. 147; see also Waagen 1854, op.cir., vol. I,
p. JI8. Waagen ascribed rhe manuscripr ro rhe French School and dared ir around
r500.
39 See Morris's norebook, Brirish Library, MS Add. 45305. Compare Michaela Braesel,
'The Tile Decorarion by Morris & Co. for Queens' College, Cambridge: The Inspirarion ofIlluminared Manuscripts', Apollo 149, no. 443 (January 1999), pp. 25-33.
40 Treuher2, 1984, op. cit., p. 167.
41 Compare Burne-Jones's Pygmalion-cycle and rhe miniarures in MS Harley 4425, fol.
60rand 78r.
42 Barbara Eschenberg and Helmur Friedel, eds.• exhib. car. DerKampfder Geschlechter:
Der neue Mythos in der Kunst I85O-I930 (Cologne: DuMont, [995), car. no. 8, p. 60.
43 See for example MS Harley 4425, fol. IIV.
44 See Carote Silver, The Romance ofWilliam Morris (Athens. Ohio: Ohio Universiry
Press, 1982), pp. 2, 5, I3;Jerome McGann: '"A Thing to Mind": The MaterialisricAesrheric ofWilliam Morris', in The Pre-Raphaelites in Context, ed. Malcolm Warner
(San Marino, California: Henry E. Hunrington Library and Arr Gallery, 1992), pp.
59·
45 Silver, 1982, op.cir., p. 6.
46 William Morris, 'Golden Wings'. in The Collected WOrks ofWilliam Morris, ed. May
Morris (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1910), vol. I, p. JI6, verse I, lines 3. 1,4.
53
JOURNAL OF WILLIAM MORRIS STUDIES· SUMMER 2004
47 Ibid., verse 11, lines 1,2,3 and verse IV, line 1.
48 Ibid., verse IV, line 4 and verse v, line 2.
49 Kren, 1983, op. cit., pp. 79-80. MS Add. 18855: Bruges, around '450, Bourdichon
Schoo!. The May page ofrhe MS is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Salt
ing Bequest, MS 2538v. On the amibution see Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated
Page: Ten Centuries o/ManuscriptPainting in the British Library (London: The British
Library, 1997), no. 210, p. 231.
50 Verse 11, line 2: 'My Lady often hawking goes', cited in Collected I17orks, vo!. I, op. cit.,
p.82.
51 Verse VII, lines 8-13, ibid., p. 83. For more information about this poem see Lindsay
Smi th, Victorian Photography, PaintingandPoetry: The Enigma ofVisibility in Ruskin,
Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp.
175-79·
52 Morris, Collectedl17orks, vo!. t, op. cit., p. Il7, verses XII-XVI.
53 Roger Wiehe, 'Sacred and Profane Gardens: Self-Reflection and Desire in PreRaphaelite Painting and the Poetry of the Rossettis', in Pre-Raphaelitism and
Medievalism in theArts, ed. Lianade Girolami Cheney (Lewiston, Lampeter, Queenston: Edwin Mellon Press, 1992), pp. 109-27; p. 109.
54