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Who Illuminated Incunabula in Cracow in the late Fifteenth Century?

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Until the beginning of the fifteenth century illuminating manuscripts in the Kingdom of Poland, as elsewhere in Europe, was the domain of clergy. Over the century this specialty went beyond cloisters and started to be also an occupation of laymen. In the late fifteenth century Cracow was the main centre of illumination production in the Kingdom. This period seems to be crucial due to the changes caused by the invention and development of the printing press. It enabled shorter, wider and cheaper book production and, at the same time, a high demand for printed books, not only liturgical ones, but also these which served educational purposes. Consequently, new groups of craftsmen, who bound and decorated books, appeared.

During the fifteenth century, the boundaries between different specializations of artisans were still not very clear. Sometimes a cathedralis, whose main task was to write a book, was simultaneously a bookbinder and illuminator (Lewicka-Kamińska 1972: 50). This tradition seems to be continued till the end of the century. Those who bound books were often also the authors of the decorations. Therefore, knowledge about the bookbinders of that period can be helpful in the research on illuminators.

It is estimated that about 30 bookbinders were active in the fifteenth-century Cracow. They worked in scriptoria at Wawel for the cathedral and for the royal court, but also at the University (Lewicka-Kamińska 2015: 406). Presumably, the situation of illuminators was similar. The phenomenon of layman bookbinders, and probably illuminators, was closely connected with the appearance of private and institutional libraries. The academic centres, such as Cracow, were great markets because of the need for educational books. At the University of Cracow, as in other European centres, students, both bachelors and masters, worked as bookbinders. They collected the most necessary tools in their dormitories where they worked (Lewicka-Kamińska 2015: 400).

The knowledge of the representatives of this group is still insufficient. Among many anonymous book’ decorators, two names emerged: Valentinus of Pilzno and Jakub Jeżowski. Valentinus started his studies at the University of Cracow in 1474, got his Bachelor’s degree (baccalaureus) in 1477 and Master’s degree (magister) in 1479. He was an active bookbinder and illuminator till his death in 1486. Anna Lewicka-Kamińska called him the most talented Cracovian bookbinder of this period, whose workshop existed till the end of the fifteenth century. The author claimed that Valentinus must have had assistants of great abilities due to the equal technical and artistic level of the workshop’s production (Lewicka-Kamińska 1974: 265). This assumption can be confirmed by the statement that the bookbinders did not work alone, but were supported by their colleagues or even had their own workshops where the tasks were divided; hence, decorations in one book could be made by different hands (Miodońska 1993: 98-99).

Valentinus’ activity was connected closely with the University because he bound and decorated his colleagues’ and professors’ books. One of them was Andrzej of Łabiszyn (d. 1498), the professor of canon law and theology and the rector of the University. Eight of incunabula which belonged to him were bound and decorated by Valentinus (today in the Jagiellonian Library: Inc. 550-551, Inc. 669, Inc. 829,  Inc. 1047, Inc. 1106, Inc. 1163, Inc. 1241, Inc. 1879; Szelińska 1966, 147-151; Lewicka-Kamińska 1974: 266; Wagner 2016: 120). He donated three manuscripts and twenty three incunabula to the Library of Collegium Maius, today’s Jagiellonian Library (Zathey, Lewicka-Kamińska, Hajdukiewicz 1966: 125).

Due to his activity as a bookbinder and illuminator Valentinus must have known the technical processes of making a book from different angles. Moreover, he was thought to be a bibliophile, who gathered books which were decorated and bound in his own workshop. Two examples preserved in the Jagiellonian Library are known: Avicenna’s Canon medicinae (shelf-mark Inc. 669), donated to the University by the owner and Margarita poetica by Albertus de Eyb (shelf-mark Inc. 446) which was provided with an inscription: Valentini liber (Lewicka-Kamińska 1974: 271).

The artisan’s name appeared also in another copy of Canon medicinae kept in the Jagiellonian Library (shelf-mark Inc. 670). Inscription on page 471, written in red lead, reads: Per Valentinum illuminatum, magistrum arcium cum stetit in bursa Hierusalem per sex dies tempore quadragesimali Anno domini 1480 et introligatus per eundem in C[racovia]. This very rare case of signing work by Cracow illuminator gives us a lot of evidence; it proves the double role of Valentinus (illuminator and bookbinder), the date (six days, during Lent in 1480) and place of creating the book as well as the existence of a scriptorium at the University of Cracow where books were written, decorated and bound by students (Ameisenowa 1958: 135). This workshop could have been located in Jerusalem dormitory, mentioned in the inscription, at Gołębia street. In 1910, nearby this place, an impressive collection of bookbinders’ stamps, dated to the fifteenth and sixteenth century, was found (Lewicka-Kamińska 1974: 270-271).

Fig. 1. Illuminated page of Avicenna, Canon medicinae. De viribus cordis (Padua: Petrus Rochabonellus, Mutius Prosdocimus, 1476), fol. a2, painted by Valentinus of Pilzno (?) in Cracow, c. 1480, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 670. Source: Jagiellonian Digital Library (public domain).

The printed text of Canon medicinae was filled in with many blue and red letters, simple in form, but at a high technical level. Initial I was composed of green acanthus leaves on a black background and closed in a pink frame. The letter was accompanied by the bust of a man in a red hat, sitting on a grey console. Ameisenowa noticed the realistic way of representing the figure’s face (Ameisenowa 1958: 135). The repetitive motive in Valentinus’ works were the three beads located on the margin. In this case they were painted in gold (fig. 1), whereas in another copy of Canon medicinae, next to initial F, pink, green and blue paints were used (fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Avicenna, Canon medicinae (Padua: Johann Herbort, 1479), fol. a1, illuminated initial F, painted by Valentinus of Pilzno (?) in Cracow, c. 1480, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 669. Source: Jagiellonian Digital Library (public domain).

According to Ameisenowa, one of the earliest incunabula decorated by Valentinus was the example of Catholicon by Johannes Balbus de Janua held in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow. It was printed in Mainz in 1460. The initials and margins ornaments, made by Valentinus, represented typical stylistic features of his work. The letters were composed of soft acanthus leaves or, rarely, interlocking plants, while their inner side was filled in with yellow or golden zigzag pattern or diagonal lattice (fig. 3). Another characteristic feature was the use of minium as well as painting the initials in red and azure. The ornaments on margins consisted of long acanthus-like leaves which ended with long foliated scrolls. The wide range of colours used in this example included brown, azure, light blue, carmine, scarlet, maroon, two different hues of green and grey as well as gold, both liquid and golden leaf.

Fig. 3. Illuminated page of Johannes Balbus de Janua, Catholicon (Mainz: Johannes Guttenberg (?), 1460), fol. a2, initials and margins decorations painted by Valentinus of Pilzno (?) in Cracow, c. 1475, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 1011. Source: Jagiellonian Digital Library (public domain).

It seems that Valentinus was better in writing initials and rubrics than in painting ornaments or miniatures. An example of his more complex work was the one which belonged to the aforementioned example of Canon medicinae. It depicts Avicenna at an ill man’s bed, surrounded by seven other figures (fig. 4). A simple composition was enclosed in a green frame while people were distinguished by colourful robes. Valentinus’ illuminations were described as rather conservative and not diversified, especially in comparison with some other anonymous Cracovian decorations made in the 1480s or the ones created by Jakub Jeżowski.

Fig. 4. Valentinus of Pilzno, Avicenna at ill men’s bed, miniature, Cracow, c. 1479-1480, Jagiellonian Library, I.R. 41. Source: Jagiellonian Digital Library (public domain).

Jakub Jeżowski was a nobleman, the son of Stanisław of Jeżów, a student of the Cracovian Academy, illuminator, bookbinder and cathedral psalmist. Similarly to Valentinus, Jeżowski bound and decorated incunabula for the Academy’s professors. It was evidenced that he worked at least for three years for Piotr Świętopełk of Zembrzyce, professor of theology (d. 1497; Miodońska 1967: 107). He was a donor of 3 manuscripts and 202 incunabula to the Collegium Maius Library (Zathey, Lewicka-Kamińska, Hajdukiewicz 1966: 125).

Fig. 5. Illuminated page of Biblia Latina (Basel, c. 1480), fol. a1, initials and margins decorations painted by Jakub Jeżowski (?) in Cracow, c. 1484-1488, Jagiellonian Library, shelf-mark Inc. 1734. Source: by courtesy of the Early Printed Books collection of the Jagiellonian Library.

Decorations in the copy of the first part of Biblia Latina were ascribed to Jeżowski on the basis of the monogram .I. .I., visible on the coat of arms (fig. 5). In turn, the illuminations in the copy of the second part of Biblia Latina were attributed to him on the basis of stylistic features. In both examples the ornamentation was developed more than in Valentinus’ works. The main difference was the complex composition. Some initials were filled with the scenes, for example: initial F with Saint Jerome or initial B with David with a harp (fig. 6). Furthermore, purely decorative elements, such as a medallion with Creating of Eve as well as birds, human figures or an angel, entangled in the floral motives on the margins, appeared (fig. 7).

Fig. 6. Left: Biblia Latina, pars I (Basel, c. 1480), fol. a1, initial F and margins decorations painted by Jakub Jeżowski (?) in Cracow, c. 1484-1488, Jagiellonian Library, shelf-mark Inc. 1734, fol. a1. Right: Biblia Latina, pars II (Basel, c. 1480), fol. e1, initial B painted by Jakub Jeżowski (?) in Cracow, c. 1484-1488, Jagiellonian Library, shelf-mark Inc. 754. Source: by courtesy of the Early Printed Books collection of the Jagiellonian Library.
Fig. 7. Biblia Latina, pars I (Basel, c. 1480), fol. a5, decorative medallion (top) and margin decorations (bottom) painted by Jakub Jeżowski (?) in Cracow, c. 1484-1488, Jagiellonian Library, shelf-mark Inc. 1734. Source: by courtesy of the Early Printed Books collection of the Jagiellonian Library.

Among many anonymous authors of illuminations, Valentinus of Pilzno and Jakub Jeżowski were two documented names of incunabula illuminators, who worked for the community of the University of Cracow in the late fifteenth century. The ornaments which they produced represented various styles and different levels of development; nevertheless, they continued earlier tradition of manuscript decorations, characteristic for this region and time. Illuminations made in Cracow by this generation of craftsmen had a distinct influence on the style of incunabula decorations created in the first half of the sixteenth century.

 

Quoted literature:

Ameisenowa, Zofia, 1958. Rękopisy i pierwodruki iluminowane Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej [The manuscripts and illuminated incunabula in the Jagiellonian Library], Wrocław – Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.

Lewicka-Kamińska, Anna, 1972. „Rzut oka na rozwój oprawy książkowej w Polsce” [The development of the bookbinding in Poland]. Roczniki Biblioteczne, vol. 16, Wrocław: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, pp. 49-68.

Lewicka-Kamińska, Anna, 1974. “Walenty Lis z Pilzna, introligator krakowski XV wieku” [Valentinus of Pilzno, Cracovian book-binder of the fifteenth century]. Roczniki Biblioteczne, vol. 18/1-2, pp. 265-273.

Lewicka-Kamińska, Anna, 2015. “Dzieje rzemiosła introligatorskiego” [The history of the craft of bookbinding], edited by Jacek Patryka. Terminus, vol. 17 (2015), n. 3 (34), Kraków: Biblioteka Jagiellońska, pp. 387-420.

Miodońska, Barbara, 1967. Iluminacje krakowskich rękopisów z I połowy w. XV w Archiwum Kapituły Metropolitalnej na Wawelu [The illuminations of the Cracow manuscripts of the first half of the 15th century in the Archives of the Cracow Cathedral Chapter], Kraków: Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Zarząd Muzeów i Ochrony Zabytków.

Miodońska, Barbara, 1993. Małopolskie malarstwo książkowe: 1320-1540 [Illuminated books in Małopolska], Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Szelińska, Wacława, 1966. Biblioteki profesorów Uniwersytetu Krakowskiego w XV i początkach XVI wieku [The libraries of the professors of the University in Cracow in the 15th and 16th century], Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.

Wagner, Arkadiusz, 2016. Superekslibris polski: studium o kulturze bibliofilskiej i sztuce od średniowiecza do połowy XVII wieku [The Polish supralibros. The study on bibliophile culture and art from Medieval Ages up to the mid-17th century], Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika.

Zathey Jerzy, Lewicka-Kamińska Anna, Hajdukiewicz Leszek, 1966. Historia Biblioteki Jagiellońskiej [The history of the Jagiellonian Library], vol. 1, Kraków: Uniwersytet Jagielloński.

Between Miniature and Print: Colour in Two Editions of Missale Cracoviense

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The relationship between miniature and print in the early sixteenth-century liturgical book was very close. During the Middle Ages liturgical books were copied manually. This resulted in changes, errors, omissions, which caused serious differences between them and, therefore, in the rites of the liturgy. Since the half of the fifteenth century the attempts to minimise this incoherence of texts were made by the popes, but the process lasted long and was difficult to control. In 1453 Pope Nicholas V demanded that within a year all parishes should have corrected their missals according to the cathedral missals. Nevertheless, it was still unsuccessful until the printing method enabled such demands to be more realistic.

At that time liturgical books started to be standardised, at least within the dioceses. Bishops ordered the same printed liturgical books and made the parishes buy them. In such a way they tried to unify the liturgy. Catholic Church’s councils and synods demanded to buy and use only confirmed texts. The fact that each diocese was supposed to use only the missals or breviaries prepared especially for them, increased the demand for the printed book and contributed to the development of printing in the Polish lands.

Cracow was one of the first Polish centres where such a reform began. At the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the main entrepreneur in Cracow was Johannes Haller. He used his connections with the clergy and secured himself by getting the privilege from Fryderyk Jagiellończyk, the bishop of Cracow and the archbishop of Gniezno for printing the liturgical books. Such privileges were given by the clergy or rulers in order to secure the rights of the publisher and prevent others from printing the same book.

An exclusive right gained by Haller to print the two variants of Missale Cracoviense, was one of the first privileges for printers at all (Juda 1992: 33-34). Before each new edition Haller renewed the privilege and, therefore, he was assured of getting a lot of commissions and a stable income. In order to publish these missals for the Cracovian diocese, Haller started to cooperate with Georg Stuchs, a minor printer from Nuremberg. These two examples were one of the first missals commissioned by Haller (Kawecka-Gryczowa 1983: 45-47). Furthermore, they were printed abroad before he started his own publishing house in Cracow.

The first one, the copy of which is preserved in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow (shelf-mark Inc. 2861), was printed probably just after granting the privilege, ca. 1494. Pages of the missal were decorated both with miniatures and hand-coloured woodcuts. These prints were initials and two whole-page figurative scenes: Saint Stanisław Resurrecting Piotrowin accompanied by Fryderyk Jagiellończyk (fig.1) on the title page and Crucifixion (fig.2) on the page preceding the Canon Missae. Canon was the most important part of the book, often printed on parchment whereas the rest was printed on paper. According to tradition, which goes back to the handwritten missals, it started with the representation of the Crucifixion. The woodcut from this copy of Missale Cracoviense was coloured manually with water-based pigments in a typical, limited palette: blue, green, yellow and red (Primeau 2013: 3). The most intensive spots of colour were the Virgin’s and Saint John’s clothes. Also, the angel’s dress and wings were painted with intensive dark green while the parts of the wings of all angels were painted dark blue, green and orange. The colouring is very precise and only very few places are left without any hue, the most visible one being the Apostle’s feet. It seems that even the use of green in the crown of thorns was thought to fit the other elements well.

Fig. 1. Saint Stanisław Resurrecting Piotrowin accompanied by Fryderyk Jagiellończyk in: Missale Cracoviense (Nuremberg: Georg Stuchs, ca. 1494), full-page hand-painted woodcut on parchment, unnumbered title page, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 2861. Source: photo by the Photographic Studio of the National Museum in Cracow.
Fig. 2. Crucifixion in: Missale Cracoviense (Nuremberg: Georg Stuchs, ca. 1494), full-page hand-painted woodcut on parchment (washed in colours, partially painted in gold), unnumbered page, before the Canon of the Mass, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 2861. Source: photo by the Photographic Studio of the National Museum in Cracow.

It is significant that the image of the crucified Christ was very often one of the biggest colourful elements in the whole book. As Primeau suggested “the addition of colour made the images more eye-catching, naturalistic and legible” (Primeau: 2). It seems that the function of colour was to catch the eye of the user and make them stop and contemplate the image of suffering Christ. Such interpretation can be confirmed by the statement that “hues have conveyed meanings that brought the viewer into a closer connection with the divine” (ibid.: 2).

An important and typical feature was the Saviour’s blood which flowed on his head and neck, on arms and hands as well as on the stomach, legs and feet. The presence of blood was an inherent element of coloured scenes of Crucifixion. As the “good” type of red it symbolised the purification and redemption (Adamska 2015: 13; Dackermann 2002: 29-30). The well-considered colouring was emphasised even more by the golden background and halos around the figures’ heads. It is worth noticing that the black frame, typical for the woodcuts, was coloured in an alternate way, in green and red. Again, it seems to be a well-thought idea which fulfils the whole work of art.

The margins of the woodcut were surrounded with an elegant, floral frame composed of flowers. The use of gold and the double frame, the tiny one and a very decorative floral frame on the margins made this composition elegant and precious. One can assume that such form was thought to catch the viewer’s eye and let him admire and contemplate the scene. This elegant way of colouring, distinguished by the golden background, makes the woodcut look more as a miniature than a print. Although the style of the illuminations is already different from earlier ornaments, the way of colouring the woodcuts indicates that it still represented the medieval way of thinking.

Another example of such imitation is the second edition of Missale Cracoviense, which was smaller and destined to be used during travelling. Its copy is also held in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow (shelf-mark Inc. 2850). This liturgical book was commissioned by Haller and printed by Stuchs in Nuremberg between 1493 and 1500. In this case the scene on the title page (Saint Stanisław Resurrecting Piotrowin accompanied by Fryderyk Jagiellończyk) is uncoloured, only the halo of the saint was painted in gold. Sixteen pages were decorated with hand-coloured woodcut initials and floral illuminations on the margins.

An interesting addition was the woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder depicting Crucifixion (fig. 3) which was subsequently pasted on a page before the Canon Missae. It was impressed on parchment and painted very thoroughly with opaque paints (Jurkowlaniec, Herman 2021: 3-4). The scene is much more extended in comparison to the Crucifixion of the ca. 1494 edition of Missale (cf. fig. 2). The figures are not so stiff while the landscape background is full of details. The two prints represent different attitudes of composing space and human figure. Both examples are very precious and elegant, the colour is intensive in each case. However, the shiny golden print stands in contrast with the opaque paints of Cranach’s work. This print is really exceptional because of the subtlety and diversification of colours as well as the lights marked with the white paint. Gold was used here in the halos and as a tiny addition to the saints’ clothes.

Fig. 3. Lucas Cranach, Crucifixion in: Missale Cracoviense (Nuremberg: Georg Stuchs, ca. 1494-1500), full-page hand-painted woodcut on parchment (washed in colours, partially painted in gold), unnumbered page, before the Canon of the Mass, Jagiellonian Library, Cracow, shelf-mark Inc. 2850. Source: photo by the Photographic Studio of the National Museum in Cracow.

All in all, the two editions of Missale Cracoviense are good examples of the infiltration between miniature and print. The manner of painting woodcuts almost thoroughly so that the lines were hardly visible as well as the use of gold and decorative floral motives on margins confirm the thesis that these colourful elements imitated the decoration of illuminated manuscripts. Moreover, it proves a high demand that the liturgical books should still resemble the well-known medieval form.

Quoted literature:

Adamska, Anna, 2015. “Gra w kolory. Rola barw w średniowiecznym systemie komunikacji społecznej” [Playing with colours: the role of colours in the medieval system of social communication]. Roczniki Historyczne 81: pp. 7-34.

Dackermann, Susan, 2002. Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color in Northern Renaissance & Baroque Engravings, Etchings & Woodcuts. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art; University Park: Pennsylvania University Press.

Juda, Maria, 1992. Przywileje drukarskie w Polsce [The privileges of printers in Poland], Lublin: Agencja Wydawniczo-Handlowa AD.

Jurkowlaniec, Grażyna, Herman, Magdalena, 2021. “Introduction”. In The Reception of the Printed Image in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: Multiplied and Modified, edited by Grażyna Jurkowlaniec and Magdalena Herman, pp. 1-23. New York: Routledge.

Kawecka-Gryczowa, Alodia, 1983. “Haller Jan.” In: Drukarze dawnej Polski, pp. 44-62.

Primeau, Thomas, 2013. “Coloring Within the Lines: The Use of Stencil in Early Woodcuts,” Art in Print”, 3/ 3. Available online: https://artinprint.org/article/coloring-within-the-lines-the-use-of-stencil-in-early-woodcuts/ (accessed: 20.11.2020)