Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
|
|
 |
|
You would think the most important manuscript in Britain, and one of the most important in the world, would have its provenance inspected from time to time. You'll see why it isn't...
----------
Page Thirteen of Forgeries
850 AD
A woman gives some agricultural produce to these monks in exchange for the monks singing Psalm XX every day on her behalf. This agreement was recorded by means unknown
850 – 950
Book continues to be carefully preserved by the Canterbury monks
950
The monks decide to deface their most treasured possession in order to record a transaction concerning agricultural produce and psalm singing made a hundred years before and which can have no significance now the woman is long gone but it does en passant confirm St Augustine's Abbey is the legal owner of some property at Brabourne in Kent. Should anyone ask.
Ninth century, tenth century, what does it matter? But speaking of defacement, the first few pages of the treasured book are missing. Not quite treasured enough. As Dr de Hamel tells us
| The manuscript opens mid-word in the capitula list preceding the Gospel of St Matthew [Meetings, p.19] |
Although de Hamel and his colleagues treat missing opening pages as just normal wear and tear for ancient manuscripts, this runs foul of another of our golden rules: “Opening out, forgers about.”
The reason is that text is easy to reproduce but introductions are not. Anyone can turn out a Gospel of St Matthew but title pages, frontispieces, notes regarding who/ where/ when/ why the book was made, the original owner's scribbled name on the flyleaf, are all potential pitfalls for the forger.
So forgers do their best to ensure opening pages are missing whenever possible. This stratagem never arouses suspicion because the authenticators of ancient manuscripts always treat missing pages as just normal wear and tear.
These are not the only pages that have gone dubiously walkabout. Most early gospel books were profusely illustrated and the Gospels of St Augustine is no different. However, few of the original pictures in the book have ‘come down to us’, as the phrase has it, but those that have survived are useful for establishing its true provenance. Dr de Hamel for one finds them helpful
| The inclusion of integral pictures, even if only two now survive, is of importance too in assigning the manuscript to an origin under the patronage of Gregory the Great, since Gregory himself made a famous defence of the value of religious illustrations [Meetings, p.39] |
and who are we to disagree since one of the illustrations is a blatant smoking gun left by the forgers. Twelfth century forgers were highly professional craftsmen but not trained in art history. Like all art forgers, they could reproduce pictures of any period so long as they had the originals to work from.
|
|
The Library Index 
FAQ 
Search
Register
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
