MASTERPIECES OF MEDIEVAL PAINTING: THE ART OF ILLUMINATION by William M. Voelkle;Charles V. PasselaReview by: Sara Jane PearmanARLIS/NA Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 6 (DECEMBER 1981), p. 252Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27946656 .

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252 ARLISlNA Newsletter, December 1981

duced, including page number, size of reproduction and whether the illustration is in black and white or in color. Part two is a title-subject index and also contains the location symbols for institutional and

private collections. The arrangement of titles under the artist's name works fairly well

when his/her oeuvre consists mainly of individual paintings. It seems, however, that it was never decided how to deal with more complex works such as fresco cycles or large altarpieces. A work which is handled well in this respect is the Portinari altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes (Florence, Uffizi) where all of the details are listed under the title of the entire work. Giotto's frescoes in the Arena Chapel, Padua, are, however, arranged by the title of each subject depicted with no indication that they are part of a larger ensemble. In the title-subject index there is a "see" reference from "Arena Chapel frescoes" to the section on Giotto in the artist index even though, as stated above, these frescoes are not clearly identified. Such a "see" reference

would have worked well for the Portinari altarpiece, but instead, all the details are needlessly listed in part two.

The author in general does not make good use of "see" references in the title-subject index. In the section "Portraits (family name)," it

would have been better to establish that these works may be found under the surname of the sitter instead of including nearly twenty pages of names to which one must refer before the artist can be

ascertained, thereby leading to the source of the reproduction in part one. Likewise, for portraits of unidentified subjects, it would have been simpler to direct the user to the title of the work rather than

listing four pages of title like "Boy with a book" and "Young woman in white'

' under the heading

' 'Portrait (unidentified sitter).

' '

While stressing that this is an index to reproductions of two dimensional art works in various media, most of the objects are

paintings. Enamels, an important medium, especially in the Middle

Ages, are omitted and major mosaics, such as those in San Vitale, Ravenna, are nowhere to be found. There is a reference to a detail of the Bayeux Tapestry in the second part (as by unknown artist(s) of Franco-Norman origin) but it was impossible to find the work in the artist index which contains the information concerning the source of reproduction.

Even a superficial examination reveals a number of errors. For

example, a work said to represent Joan of Arc by Gauguin is listed as in the collection of Robert Rosenblum, New York, and illustrated in J.

Rewald, Post-impressionism from Van Gogh to Cezanne, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1962, p.297 (6"x4") b/w. The painting is actually reproduced on p.296 (l%"x3%") of this source and is owned

by Abraham Rattner, New York. The Nativity and prophets Isaiah and Ezekial by Duccio (Washington, National Gallery of Art) are iden tified as a "triptych from the front predella of the Maest?," an obvi ous contradiction of terms.

An effort has been made to highlight women artists by marking their names with an asterisk. In lieu of this rather condescending gesture, it would have been better to have indexed the catalog, "Women Artists, 1550-1950," compiled by A. S. Harris and L. Nochlin for the important exhibition which was held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976.

In spite of its shortcomings, this work will undoubtedly lead users to reproductions of many works of art. It cannot, however, be charac terized as carefully thought out or painstakingly compiled.

Paula L. Pumplin Vassar College

lrThe previous Scarecrow indices are:

Clapp, J., Sculpture Index, Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow, 1970, 2 v. in 3.

Havlice, P. P., World Painting Index, Metuchen, N.J.; London, Scarecrow, 1977, 2 v.

Smith, L. W. and Moure, N. D. W., Index to Reproductions of American Paintings, Metuchen, N.J.; London, Scarecrow, 1977.

Thomson, E. W., ed., Index to Art Reproductions in Books, Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow, 1974.

MASTERPIECES OF MEDIEVAL PAINTING : THE ART OF ILLUMINATION / The Pierpont Morgan Library ; Edited by Wil liam M. Voelkle ; Photographs by Charles V. Passela.?Chicago ;

University of Chicago press (fiche ed.) ; Rosenthal Art Slides (slide set), 1981.?68 p. : 15 col. fiche. (20-24x).?(Chicago Visual Li

brary ; ).?ISBN 0-226-69540-9 ; LC 80-23120 : $195.00 (fiche) ;

$300.00 (200 slides, plastic mounts, no labels, Ektachrome E-6

film) ; $1,500.00 (1200 slides as above). The Pierpont Morgan Library holds the major collection of illumi

nated manuscripts in the United States, a collection that covers all

phases of manuscript illumination and rivals the national libraries of

Europe in quality. Supported by the Exxon Corporation, the Pierpont Morgan has been able to photograph and publish color illustrations of the important manuscripts of the collection.

The manuscript illuminations of the Pierpont Morgan Library are

produced in two formats: microfiche and 35mm slides. The photog raphy for both sets was done in the studio by Charles V. Passela of the Pierpont Morgan. From this original photography, John Rosenthal of Rosenthal Art Slides has supervised the production of a remarkable set of slides. The slides are being sold in two editions; an abridged set of 200 of the most important illuminations, and the full set of 1200 images.

Rosenthal has managed to produce slides of superior quality. The color fidelity to the originals is exceptional. They project well, includ ing the details. The set of 200 slides is identified fully in the 1981 supplement to RosenthaTs catalog. The complete set of 1200 will be accompanied by a catalog for labeling. All of Rosenthafs identifica tion is easy to use and follows William Voelkle's catalog. The slides themselves are identified by manuscript and folio numbers. Both sets

of slides are available only from Rosenthal Art Slides; The Pierpont Morgan will not be selling them.

The second format, microfiche, is published by University of Chicago Text-Fiche. It is a set of 15 fiche accompanied by a catalog, an interesting volume in itself, edited by William M. VoelkJe, asso

ciate curator of the Library, which begins with an acquisition history of the collection. A bibliography lists a few of the major publications on the collection as a whole. The entries in the catalog list the basic statistics of each volume or page, such as type of book, popular name, usage, provenance, date, scribe, illuminator, pagination size and description. The entries in the catalog are listed by the Library shelf or manuscript number. Each entry gives the illustrated folio numbers and the appropriate location on the fiche. The catalog is further enhanced by several indexes to aid in locating a manuscript: illuminator or scribe; patrons or popular title; century and country of origin. An iconographie index would have been of great help, however.

The fiche images are identified internally only by row-column numbers. However, since the manuscripts are listed by the Library's manuscript number, it is a fairly simple matter to backtrack from an

illustration to the appropriate manuscript description. The organiza tion of the catalog and the fiche is readily apparent and easy to use.

Unfortunately the color fidelity of the fiche is only adequate. They in no way reach the level of the slides. There is an overall yellow tint to the fiche. However, the color is still better than many printing attempts, much less black-and-white productions. While the slides are

clear and in focus, the fiche tend to lack true resolution. This is

probably a combination of the graininess of the film, reduction into microfiche form, and the viewing screen. It is possible to identify illuminators, but the fine handling of faces and hands are often

missing. The fiche will make an excellent research tool. Sadly, not every

page of every book in the Pierpont Morgan could be included. The selection is extensive, concentrating on major illuminations, but it is

large enough to allow stylistic and iconographie research. Many of the

major book covers, such as that of the Berthold Missal are included, with details. The textiles pasted on the inside cover of the Lindau

Gospels can now be seen. The Jacquemart de Hesdin boxwood model book is a delight and important to see in color since so few model books are available. There are no true text pages or facing pages included. All attention has been focused on the illuminations. Where the initial and borders are integrated into the text, as in f.ll of M.700, the text appears.

The Rosenthal set of slides will be an invaluable aid to teaching. Since the major illuminations are included in the small set, and these can be ordered individually, the $1.50 price per slide puts the slides well within the range of even small schools. The $195.00 price for the fiche set makes it available to most libraries and many scholars. Libraries can use it as a reference for scholars or interested laymen. Scholars will find the fiche catalog a welcome research tool and handy reference.

Sara Jane Pearman The Cleveland Museum of Art

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