SEVENTY-FOUR PAGES OF LATE MEDIEVAL IMAGINATION IN COMMENTED IMAGES<\/p>\n
This delicate German manuscript makes the impossible possible and also credible for the 15th century\u2019s reader. 37 leaves are decorated with delicate full-page miniatures on the right, complete with short verses of an emblematic nature in German and Latin on the left. These goldheightened visual gems of illumination are juxtaposed with explanatory texts. The reasoning in picture and text follows a particular logic. If the gods of pagan antiquity are thought to have worked miracles, how much more credible are the miracles of the Christian world? How can anyone possibly doubt Mary\u2019s virginity? If it is true that in Cappadocia mares are impregnated by the wind, then the Lord\u2019s maid may also have conceived as a virgin. If Jupiter made Danae pregnant by a golden rain, then no one can doubt that Mary had a virgin birth. If in a temple of Venus, the oil lamp never goes out, this is a sure sign of Mary\u2019s eternal virginity.<\/p>\n
ENCHANTING MINIATURES\u00a0OF THE COLOGNE SCHOOL<\/p>\n
The miniatures were painted in an enchanting style by an unknown artist who obviously took particular joy in this<\/p>\n
unusual text. He loves genre painting and dealing with antique figures that he outfits, however, with the clothing and appearance of his own day. Impressive interiors and atmospheric landscapes of a refreshing colourfulness are distinguishing features of his style, as is the love for details, which requires calm and patient contemplation by the viewer. It is truly amazing how well he manages to illustrate the inconceivable. The provenance from Cologne is furthermore underpinned by the marginal decoration: it shows the golden panicles so typical of the Cathedral city on the Rhine, twigs and foliage of gold, thickly applied to the parchment, with exquisite flowers in delicate colours.<\/p>\n
MEDIEVAL IMAGES\u00a0OF THE UNIMAGINABLE<\/p>\n
It is actually quite amazing that even experts of the medieval mind discover ever-new ideas and thoughts in this book. Wonders of antiquity, conceptions taken from the Bible or the Apocryphal writings, and selected ideas of Albertus Magnus or Isidore<\/p>\n
of Seville are all woven into a Marian vision of the world, which in this book is aimed only at one thing: proving the virginity of the mother of God. The entire book is based on simple, but frequently also enigmatic thoughts. The author of the text, a Dominican monk in Vienna named Franz von Retz (1343\u20131427), created a particular form of late medieval typology and emblemology, which due to its vividness could only be transposed and explained in painting.<\/p>\n
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THE ILLUSTRATION OF THE INCONCEIVABLE<\/p>\n
Glittering golden decoration frames the beautiful, almost romantic pictures of a hitherto anonymous 15th century German artist, images created to prove the existence of inconceivable things: birds that grow on trees; water that a virgin can carry in a sieve; as well as other, better known myths like the phoenix rising from the ashes; Circe turning humans into animals; or the lion who brings his cubs to life with a roar. All that just to prove that Mary\u2019s virginity is part of a series of unbelievable but true occurrences.<\/p>\n
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