Walters Ms. W.171, Duke Albrecht's Table of Christian faith (winter part)

W.171

Duke Albrecht's Table of Christian faith (winter part)

Tafel van den Kersten ghelove (winterstuc)

As-written name: Dirc van Delf

This illuminated manuscript is a document of the first importance in the history of Dutch manuscript illumination and contains an important medieval Dutch devotional text. The Tafel van den Kersten ghelove is a compendium of Christian knowledge written by a learned Dominican, Dirc van Delf. The text is in two parts, one for winter, one for summer. This manuscript is of the winter part and is incomplete, omitting the prologue and chapters 13, 14, and 35-57. The arms of the Bavarian counts of Holland and the kneeling owner on fol. 1r indicate that this manuscript was the actual copy prepared for the dedicatee of the text, Albrecht of Bavaria, Count of Holland, from the original text of his chaplain, and is therefore to be dated to 1404 at the latest, when Albrecht died. The manuscript contains 165 folios and thirty-five historiated initials.

1400-1404 CE

Utrecht, Netherlands

Book

Theological

The primary language in this manuscript is Dutch; Flemish.

Parchment

Fine to medium-weight parchment, well prepared; visible pricking marks

Foliation: i+165+i

Modern pencil foliation in upper right corners of rectos (followed here); fifteenth-century foliation at center of top margins of rectos; gap in latter foliation revealing the loss of seven leaves between present folios 24 and 25, which contained chapters 13 and 14 by Daniels' numeration (evidently preceding his chapter 12 in this manuscript)

Formula: i, 1-9(8), 10(6), 11-20(8), 21(7), i

Catchwords: Trimmed but visible in the lower margins of the versos of the last folio of some quires

Comments: Quires begin on fols. 1(1), 9(2), 17(3), 25(4), 33(5), 41(6), 49(7), 57(8), 65(9), 73(10), 79(11), 87(12), 95(13), 103(14), 111(15), 119(16), 127(17), 135(18), 143(19), 151(20), 159(21); first two leaves of last quire hinged together and attached to the last leaf, which is a later substitute on different parchment and in a smaller script like the missing end of chapter 34 of Daniels' edition

13.7 cm wide by 18.8 cm high

8.5 cm wide by 11.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 24
3. Lines ruled in brown ink

fols. 1r - 165v:

1. Title: Tafel van den Kersten ghelove (winterstuc)
2. Rubric: Van gode vander godheit en vander triniteyt. Primum capittelum.
3. Incipit: Die prophete micheas seyt wt den monde godes
4. Text note: References in this description of the text are to Daniels' edition of 1939 (see bibliography); text lacks the prologue, as well as chapters 13 and 14, and is incomplete at the end, lacking chapters 35-57; order of chapters 23-24 inverted
5. Hand note: Written in Gothic bookhand; instructions to the rubricator in tiny noting hand found in columns in the gutter (e.g. fols. 43r, 52v-53r, and 81r); possible second hand found on the last folio of text (fol. 165r) in a more angular version of the same script
6. Decoration note: Miniatures by two painters: artist A (fols. 1r-110r) with soft and painterly style, depending very little on outlines and artist B (fols. 112v-156r) using stronger, brighter colors (artist A also illuminated an initial in the four-volume Bible for the Carthusians of Utrecht [Brussels, Bibl. Roy. Mss. 106, 107, 204, and 205]); historiated initials at the opening of each chapter (four for Daniels' chapter 1) (10-15 lines); thirty-five further large historiated initials; smaller initials in gold or blue with violet or red marginal penwork; bar borders with trefoil foliage of red, blue, and gold springing from the initials into the entire left margin, the vine turning into the top and bottom margins; chapter captions in red; Latin words in text underlined in red; paragraph marks in red or blue; capital letters within the text picked out with red strokes; instructions for rubrics visible in the gutter of the binding in very small lettering; instructions to the illuminator in Dutch in another hand visible at lower margins on fols. 105r and 110r

fol. 1r:

1. 
2. Title: Trinity (throne of grace) with Albrecht of Bavaria
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines, with marginal illustrations
4. Text: Chapter 1
5. Label: The kneeling man in the lower margin holds a scroll inscribed "Ghif mi heer ware ghelove." Opposite this figure, a helm with a crest and shield bears the coat of arms of Albrecht of Bavaria.

fol. 1v:

1. 
2. Title: Veil of Veronica
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 10 lines
4. Text: Chapter 1

fol. 2r:

1. 
2. Title: Symbolic representation of the Trinity
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 12 lines
4. Text: Chapter 1
5. Label: The triangular diagram shows Christ's face at the center and corners: the hand of God, the dove, and the cross with the Crown of Thorns

fol. 3r:

1. 
2. Title: Holy face and ten names of God
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 1

fol. 4r:

1. 
2. Title: God enthroned with an open book, globe, and banner
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 15 lines
4. Text: Chapter 2

fol. 5v:

1. 
2. Title: Six days of Creation
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 3

fol. 6v:

1. 
2. Title: Three choirs of three angels
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 4

fol. 8v:

1. 
2. Title: God blessing the eight heavens
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 5

fol. 10r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, sun, Venus, Mercury, and moon)
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 6

fol. 12r:

1. 
2. Title: Twelve signs of the zodiac
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 7

fol. 15r:

1. 
2. Title: Four elements (earth, water, air, and fire)
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 8

fol. 17v:

1. 
2. Title: Earthly paradise and its three trees
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 9

fol. 19v:

1. 
2. Title: Fountain of life and the four rivers of paradise
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 10

fol. 21v:

1. 
2. Title: Animation of Adam
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 11

fol. 25r:

1. 
2. Title: God bestowing a soul on mankind
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 12

fol. 30r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven ages of man, shown as seven heads
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 15

fol. 32v:

1. 
2. Title: Seven ages of the world, shown as seven heads
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 16

fol. 37v:

1. 
2. Title: Three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 13 lines
4. Text: Chapter 17

fol. 43v:

1. 
2. Title: Four cardinal virtues: Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 18

fol. 53r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 19

fol. 60v:

1. 
2. Title: Eight beatitudes
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 20

fol. 74r:

1. 
2. Title: Tree of life with its twelve fruits
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 21

fol. 81v:

1. 
2. Title: Fall of Satan
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 22

fol. 85v:

1. 
2. Title: Fall of Adam and Eve
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 24

fol. 90r:

1. 
2. Title: Sin personified, shown as a man with three black heads
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 23

fol. 97r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven Deadly Sins
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 12 lines
4. Text: Chapter 25

fol. 105r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven devils of the Seven Deadly Sins in hell
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 15 lines
4. Text: Chapter 26

fol. 110r:

1. 
2. Title: Seven Deadly Sins against the Holy Spirit
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 27

fol. 112v:

1. 
2. Title: Ordinary confession before a monk and a priest
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 28

fol. 114v:

1. 
2. Title: Episcopal confession before a bishop
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 29

fol. 116v:

1. 
2. Title: Papal confession before a pope
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 30

fol. 117v:

1. 
2. Title: A church representing the promised land
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 15 lines
4. Text: Chapter 31

fol. 122v:

1. 
2. Title: Moses receiving the Ten Commandments
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 15 lines
4. Text: Chapter 32

fol. 148v:

1. 
2. Title: Pythagoras and his disciples
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 33

fol. 156r:

1. 
2. Title: Symbols of the Four Evangelists
3. Form: Historiated initial "D," 14 lines
4. Text: Chapter 34

The binding is not original.

Red velvet over pasteboard; bound by Gruel in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century

Albert, Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland (1389-1404), Utrecht, ca. 1404-1405, by commission

Gruel and Engelman collection, Paris, no. 93, before 1931

Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1931, by purchase

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Daniels, L. M., ed. Meester Dirc van Delf, O.P.: Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove. 3 vols. Antwerp: Neerlandia, 1937-1939.

Rickert, Margaret. "The Illuminated Manuscripts of Meester Dirc van Delf's Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove." Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 12 (1949): 78-108, figs. 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26.

Miner, Dorothy. "Manuscript Exhibition." Bulletin of the Walters Art Gallery 4, no. 6 (1952): 2-3.

Walters Art Gallery. The International Style: The Arts in Europe Around 1400. Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1962, pp. 70-71, no. 67, pl. 43.

Lane, Barbara Greenhouse. "The Development of the Medieval Devotional Figure." PhD diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1971, p. 181, fig. 210 (fol. 1r).

University Art Gallery, Notre Dame, Indiana. Medieval Art, 1060-1550: Dorothy Miner Memorial. Indiana: Notre Dame University, 1974, no. 22.

Marrow, James H., Henri L. M. Defoer, Anne S. Korteweg, and Wilhelmina C. M. Wüstefeld. The Golden Age of Dutch Manuscript Painting. New York: George Braziller, 1990, pp. 33-34, no. 4.

Marrow, James H. As Horas De Margarida De Cleves. Lisboa: Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, 1995, pp. 14, 46-47, figs. 2, 8.

Priem, Rob, et al. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotion, Demons, and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century. New York: The Morgan Library and Museum, 2009, pp. 218-19, no. 39.

Principal cataloger: Marrow, James

Catalogers: Devine, Alex; Herbert, Lynley; Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934

Editors: Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William

Copy editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Dutschke, Consuelo; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.