The Passional of Abbess Cunegund: protagonists, production and a question of identity

NX Arts in general;ND Painting

Vlček Schurr, Jennifer Susan ; Gibbs, Robert

University:University of Glasgow

Department:School of Culture and Creative Arts

关键词: Cunegund, Czech Manuscript, Prague, Benedictine, Benes, Colda;   

Others  :  http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1575/1/2008vlcekschurrmphil.pdf

来源: University of Glasgow

【 摘 要 】

This work aims to place the manuscript of the Passional of Abbess Cunegund,NKČR XIV. A. 17, 30 x 25 cm, parchment, Prague, 1312-1314, National Library of the Czech Republic, in its religious, social, historical and artistic context. The thesisexamines the physical construction of the codex and the dating is discussed. I reflect on the role of thismanuscript in its general Benedictine context and as having beencommissioned by Cunegund, a patroness who was both Abbess of the Convent of St. George, in Prague, and a royal princess. As abbess she had a clear objective ofexpanding the scope of the convent library, and to this end she commissioned this manuscript which reflected the new religious attitudes that were sweeping acrossEurope. The quality of the illustrations of the Passional set this codex apart from others that have survived from the convent library, and herald the arrival of Gothic artin Bohemia. Cunegund’s personal influence is apparent in the commission, reflecting her upbringing by Poor Clares prior to her political marriage and her eventual returnto the Benedictine order. The manuscript’s elaborate dedication page illustration on fol.1v stimulates a consideration within the thesis of the main personages involved inthe production of the Passional: Abbess Cunegund and the convent sisters, the Dominican Colda who was the author of two sections of the manuscript and Beneš,the scribe. The final chapter of this thesis challenges the assumption that the scribe and artist of the Passional were one and the same. Presenting hitherto unobservedevidence, the case is made for two separate masters, scribe and artist, cooperating in the making of the manuscript. Finally, the suggestion is made that the artist may havebeen primarily a wall painter rather than a manuscript illuminator. This thesis is presented as introductory research, purposefully exploring only the categoriesexpressed in the title, that is the “Protagonists, Production and a Question of Identity”, in their religious context, and thus providing an originalperspective on the Passionalof Abbess Cunegund.