Walters Ms. W.732, Single leaf and fragment with Crucifixion and colophon

W.732

Single leaf and fragment with Crucifixion and colophon

This manuscript fragment provides valuable clues about the prayer book of which it was once a part. The colophon on the verso of the image records that the manuscript was written at the Monastery of SS. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg, Germany, in 1516 by the prolific scribe Leonhard Wirstlin, known also as Leonhard Wagner. The image on the recto, a simple but expressive drawing of the crucified Christ, may be connected to another important figure from the time, as it is believed to be the work of an artist from the circle of Hans Holbein the Elder. A painted floral border, now missing its accompanying text, has traditionally been paired with the intact leaf and is presumed to have come from the same manuscript. Although the illuminations are striking, the main leaf was originally purchased by the Walters not for its art but for its script: it provides an excellent example of what is referred to as Augsburg Maximilian script, which has interesting parallels in printed works of the same period.

Dated 1516

Augsburg, Germany

Supplied name: School of Hans Holbein the Elder

As-written name: Leonhardum Wirstlin

Known as: Leonhard Wagner

Leaves

Devotional

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

2. Transliteration: Finit per fratrem Leonhardum Wirstlin presbiterum et conventualem monasterij sanctorum udalrici et affrem augusta vindelicorum 1516
3. Translation: Leonhard Wirstlin, conventual priest of the Monastery of SS. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg, finished this in 1516

Parchment

Medium-weight, heavily worn parchment

Foliation: Not applicable

Formula: Not applicable

Comments:

10.9 cm wide by 13.7 cm high

8.5 cm wide by 11.8 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 19

1. Title: Prayer book fragments
2. Hand note: Calligraphic cursive book script of Gothic origin, sometimes referred to as Augsburg Maximilian script
3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, line drawing with green, red, and brown accents; fragment of painted floral border in yellow, red, green, blue, and white; text in black ink

fol. W.732Ar:

1. 
2. Title: Crucifixion
3. Form: Full-page miniature
4. Comment:

   Attributed to an artist of the school of Hans Holbein the Elder.

fol. W.732Br:

1. 
2. Title: Fragment of floral text border
3. Form: Marginal decoration

Leaf was originally the colophon of a prayer book, written at the Monastery of SS. Ulrich and Afra in Augsburg, Germany, in 1516 by friar Leonhard Wirstlin

Ed. Schultze, before 1901, his stamp on recto; sold in his sale in Munich, February 7-15, 1901

Fred Werther, Baltimore, before 1945

Walters Art Museum, purchased from Werther in May 1945, for $10.00

Museum purchase

Faye, C. U. and W. H. Bond. Supplement to the Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. New York, 1962, p. 197, no. 559.

Miner, Dorothy. "Since de Ricci--Western Illuminated Manuscripts Acquired since 1934: A Report in Two Parts: Part 1." Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 29-30 (1966): pp. 68-103, pp. 100-103, figs. 23, 24.

"Bulletin Codicologique." Scriptorium 26 (1972): pp. 130-246, p. 208, no. 402.

Catalogers: Dutschke, Consuelo; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Sciacca, Christine; Valle, Chiara

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Davis, Lisa Fagin; Emery, Doug; Hamburger, Jeffrey; Klemm, Elizabeth; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.

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.