Hedwig Codex

Hedwig Codex
Saint Hedwig of Silesia venerated by Duke Louis and his consort Agnes (fol. 12v)
Also known as Vita beatae Hedwigis
Type illuminated manuscript
Date 1353
Place of origin Silesia
Language(s) Latin
Author(s) Nicolaus of Prussia
Illuminated by Court workshop of Duke Louis I of Legnica
Patron Louis I of Brzeg and Agnes of Głogów-Żagań
Material Tempera colors, colored washes, and ink on parchment bound between wood boards covered with red-stained pigskin
Size 13 7/16 x 9 3/4 in.
Previously kept Collegiate church of St Hedwig, Brzeg

The Hedwig Codex, also known as the Codex of Lubin (Polish: Kodeks lubiński),[1] is a medieval illuminated manuscript from the mid-14th century which through its sixty-one coloured drawings and inscriptions in "comics' style" tells the life story of saint Hedwig of Silesia, spouse of the Silesian Piast duke Henry the Bearded, her family and events related to her canonization (1267). This art piece, a fine example of Central European Gothic art, is valued especially for its depictions of the Tartar invasion of Europe (Silesia).

History

Based on Hedwig's hagiography (Latin: Vita beatae Hedwigis), the illustrated codex was produced in 1353 at the court workshop of Hedwig's descendant, Duke Louis I of Legnica, in Lubin. Duke Louis, the vassal of the Bohemian king and from mother's side his relative, while from his father's side a member of the branch of the Polish royal Piast dynasty, wanted through this opus to contribute to celebration of his famous ancestor and family. Writer (or even illuminator?) of the manuscript was certain Nicolaus of Prussia (Nycolaus Pruzie).[2] According to a letter by Bishop Preczlaw of Pogarell he dedicated it to the newly (1369) established collegiate church at Brzeg (German: Brieg).

Upon the Protestant Reformation and the dissolution-secularization of the Brzeg collegiate chapter in 1534,[3] the codex was moved to local gymnasium. During the devastating events of the Thirty Years' War the book was transferred to the town of Ostrov (Schlackenwerth) in western Bohemia (this country and Silesia were part of the same Crown at that time) where was subsequently, after 1671, kept at Piarist monastery. Later, it was purchased by Jewish Gutmann family from Vienna. In 1938 Nazi authorities in Austria confiscated Gutmanns' art collection, yet previous owners regained the manuscript in 1947 and passed with it to Canada.[1] For 19 years (1964–83) the manuscript had been returned to Europe again[1] – during that time a facsimile edition, edited by the German art historian Wolfgang Braunfels, was made and published (1972) in Berlin as Der Hedwigs-Codex von 1353 – but finally, the J. Paul Getty Trust from USA has purchased it in 1983. The original manuscript is today part of the Getty Museum collection under the signature Ms. Ludwig XI 7.

Bibliography

  • Wolfgang Braunfels, ed., Der Hedwigs-Codex von 1353: Sammlung Ludwig, 2 volumes (Berlin, 1972)
  • Jung, Jacqueline E. (2010). "The Tactile and the Visionary: Notes on the Place of Sculpture in the Medieval Religious Imagination" (PDF). In Hourihane, Colum. Looking Beyond: Visions, Dreams, and Insights in Medieval Art and History. Princeton: Index of Christian Art. pp. 203–40. ISBN 978-0976820284. Retrieved 2017-10-08.

See also

  • Velislaus Bible (1349) – manuscript from neighbouring Bohemia, very similar in terms of letters, layout of folios and illuminations' style

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 Codex of Lubin: From Lubin to Malibu – info from the exhibition "7 Wonders of Wrocław and Lower Silesia" (2016)
  2. ↑ A colophon (closing inscription) on fol. 148r informs: Scripta est [legenda] autem per manus Nycolai Pruzie foris civitatem Lubyn ("Moreover, [the legend] was written by hands of ...").
  3. ↑ More to the history of this institution in: Bernhofen, Georg (1939). "Das Kollegiatstift zu Brieg in seiner persönlichen Zusammensetzung von den Anfängen (1369) bis zur Säkularisation (1534)" [Brzeg's Collegiate Chapter in its Personal Composition from the Beginning until Secularization]. Historische Studien (in German) (356).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.