Part 45 (2/2)
The author whose study I shall figure next (fig. 148) is engaged in writing the Chronicles of Hainault[538]. His desk rests securely on two irons fastened to the arms of his chair. On his right is a plain lectern with an open volume on each side of it, and behind are two or more shelves set against the wall with books lying on their sides. On his left is a chest, presumably a book-chest, with books lying on its closed lid. One of these is open. He has prudently placed his chair near the window in such a position that the light falls upon his work from the left. It should be noted that the upper part of the window only is glazed, the lower part being closed by shutters. When these are thrown back, the lights are seen to be filled to half their height with a trellis, such as was ordered for the French king's library.
My third example of a chair fitted with a desk (fig. 149) is taken from _Les Miracles de Notre Dame_[539], a ma.n.u.script which belonged to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and was written for him at the Hague in 1456.
The ill.u.s.tration represents S. Jerome seated in his study. From arm to arm of the chair extends a desk of a very firm and solid construction. The ends of this desk apparently drop into the heads of the small columns with which the arms of the chair terminate. The saint has in his left hand a pointed _stylus_, and in his right a pen, which he is holding up to the light. On the desk beside the ma.n.u.script lies an ink-horn. To the right of the saint's chair is a hexagonal table with a high ledge round it. There is no evidence that this table has a screw; but the small subsidiary desk above it seems to be provided with one. It will be observed that the support of this desk is not directly over that of the table beneath it.
The desk is provided with two slits--an ingenious contrivance for dealing with a roll. On the table, besides an open book, are a pair of spectacles, four pens, a small box which may contain French chalk for pouncing, and what looks like a piece of sponge.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 149. S. Jerome in his study.
From _Les Miracle de Nostre Dame_, written at the Hague in 1456.]
I now figure two different sets of library appliances. The first (fig.
150) is from a ma.n.u.script of the _Livre des Proprietes des Choses_, in the British Museum, written in the fifteenth century[540]. The writer is seated in one of those low chairs which occur very frequently in miniatures, and look as if they were cut out of a single block of wood.
His desk, which is quite independent of the chair, is of the simplest design, consisting of a piece of wood supported at an angle on two carved uprights. On his left stands a very elegant piece of furniture, a table with a desk at a considerable height above it--so high, in fact, that it could only be used standing. This upper desk is fitted with a little door as though it served as a receptacle for small objects.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 151. S. Luke writing his Gospel.
MSS. Douce, Bodl. Lib. Oxf., No. 381.]
The second example (fig. 151) shews S. Luke sitting on a bench writing at a table[541]. The top, which is very ma.s.sive, rests on four legs, morticed into a frame. In front of this table is a desk of peculiar form; the lower part resembles a reversed cone, and the upper part a second cone of smaller diameter, so as to leave s.p.a.ce enough between the two bases for a ledge to rest books on. Round the base of the desk three quaint lions do duty as feet. These lions occur again beneath the frame of the picture, and may be connected with a former possessor of the ma.n.u.script. The pedestal of the desk is a twisted column, which, like the base, and indeed the whole structure, looks as though it were made of bra.s.s.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 152. S. Augustine at his desk.
From a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi at Florence.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 153. S. Jerome reading.
From an oil painting by Catena, in the National Gallery, London.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 154. A writer at work.
From a French translation of Valerius Maximus, written and illuminated in Flanders in 1479, for King Edward IV.]
I now pa.s.s to a totally different way of fitting up a study, which seems to have been common in Italy, to judge by the number of paintings in which it occurs. It consists of a ma.s.sive desk of wood, one part of which is set at right angles to the other, and is connected in various ways with shelves, drawers, pigeon-holes, and other contrivances for holding books and papers. In the example I here figure (fig. 152), from a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi (1412-1469) representing S. Augustine's vision of the Trinity, there are two small recesses above the desk on the saint's right, both containing books, and behind the shorter portion of the desk, three shelves also with books on them. Attached to the end of the desk is a small tray, probably to contain pens.
A similar desk occurs in the beautiful picture by Catena in the National Gallery[542], representing S. Jerome reading, of which I give a reproduction on a reduced scale (fig. 153). This picture also contains an excellent example of a cupboard in the thickness of the wall, a contrivance for taking care of books as common in the Middle Ages as it had been in Roman times[543].
Cupboards in the thickness of the wall are also to be seen in the frontispiece (fig. 154) to a copy of a French translation of Valerius Maximus[544], written in Flanders in 1479 for King Edward IV. The writer--probably intended for the author or the translator of the book--is seated at a desk, consisting of a plank set at an angle and capable of being turned aside by means of a central bracket, like that used by the Carmelite (fig. 136). Observe the two weights hanging over the edge of the desk and the ends of the two horns, intended to hold ink, projecting through it. The window, as in the picture representing the author of the Chronicles of Hainault at work, is glazed in the upper part only, while in the lower are two framed trellises of wire-work. Behind the writer are two cupboards in the thickness of the wall. One of these is open, and shews books lying on their sides, upon which are some pomegranates. I cannot suggest any reason for the introduction of these fruits, except that from their colour they make a pleasing variety; but I ought to mention that they occur very frequently in miniatures representing a writer at work. On the other side of the window is a small hanging cupboard. Here again a fruit is introduced on the lowest shelf. Round the room is a settle, raised above the floor on blocks at intervals. The seat is probably a chest, as in the settles described above in the Vatican Library.
The last picture (fig. 155) in this series of ill.u.s.trations represents what I like to call a scholar's room, at the beginning of the fifteenth century[545]. The owner of the apartment is busily writing at a desk supported on a trestle-table. He holds a _stylus_ in his left hand, and a pen in his right. The ink-horn he is using is inserted into the desk.
Above it are holes for two others, in case he should require ink of different colours. Above the inkstand is a pen stuck in a hole, with vacant holes beside it. The page on the desk is kept flat by a weight.
Above this desk is a second desk, of nearly equal size, on which lies an open book, kept open by a large weight, extending over two-thirds of the open pages. Behind the writer's chair is his book-chest. The background represents a well-appointed chamber. The floor is paved with encaustic tiles; a bright fire is burning on the hearth; the window, on the same plan as that described in the last picture, is open; a comfortable--not to say luxurious--bed invites repose. The walls are unplastered, but there is a hanging under the window and over the head of the bed.
With this simple room, containing a scholar's necessaries and no more, I will contrast the study of the Duke of Urbino.
This beautiful room, which still exists as the Duke left it, is on an upper floor of the castle, commanding from its balcony, which faces the south, an extensive view of the approach to the Castle, the city, and the country beyond, backed by the Apennines. It is of small size, measuring only 11 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft. 4 in., and is somewhat irregular in shape. It is entered by a door from the Duke's private apartment. The floor is paved with rough tiles set in patterns. The walls are panelled to a height of about eight feet. The bare s.p.a.ce between the top of the panel-work and the ceiling was probably hung with tapestry. The ceiling is a beautiful specimen of the most elaborate plaster-work, disposed in octagonal panels.
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