, Brepols, 2021 Hardback, 275 pages, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:192 b/w, 22 col., 47 tables b/w., 2 maps b/w, Language: English. ISBN 9782503589022.
Summary This book examines a cultural revolution that took place in the Scandinavian artistic landscape during the medieval period. Within just one generation (c. 1340-1400), the Augustinian monastery of Helgafell became the most important centre of illuminated manuscript production in western Iceland. By conducting interdisciplinary research that combines methodologies and sources from the fields of Art History, Old Norse-Icelandic manuscript studies, codicology, and Scandinavian history, this book explores both the illuminated manuscripts produced at Helgafell and the cultural and historical setting of the manuscript production. Equally, the book explores the broader European contexts of manuscript production at Helgafell, comparing the similar domestic artistic monuments and relevant historical evidence of Norwich and surrounding East Anglia in England, northern France, and the region between Bergen and Trondheim in western Norway. The book proposes that most of these workshops are related to ecclesiastical networks, as well as secular trade in the North Sea, which became an important economic factor to western Icelandic society in the fourteenth century. The book thereby contributes to a new and multidisciplinary area of research that studies not only one but several European cultures in relation to similar domestic artistic monuments and relevant historical evidence. It offers a detailed account of this cultural site in relation to its scribal and artistic connections with other ecclesiastical and secular scriptoria in the broader North Atlantic region. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations, Notes on Terminology, Abbreviations, and Images, Acknowledgements Introduction: The Helgafell Manuscripts Chapter 1: An Anaysis of Medieval Icelandic Manuscript Cultures Chapter 2: Helgafell: An Augustinian House of Canons Regular in Western Iceland Helgafell in the Thirteenth Century Personal Contacts Chapter 3: The Scriptorium Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 233 a fol. (ff.?1-12 and ff.?27-28) Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 350?fol. (Skar sb k) The Network of the 'Helgafell Master' The Book Painting of AM 350?fol. (Skar sb k) The Historiated Initials of AM 350?fol. (Skar sb k) Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 226?fol. Magn s rhallsson, Illuminator of AM 226?fol. The Art of Magn s rhallsson Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 239?fol. The Illuminations of AM 239?fol. Stockholm, Kungliga Biblioteket, MS?Isl.?Perg. fol.?5 Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 325 X 4to & AM 325 VIII 3a 4to Stockholm, Kungliga Biblioteket, MS?Isl.?Perg. 4:o 34 Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 347?fol. (Belgsdalsb k) The Book Painting of AM 347?fol. (Belgsdalsb k) Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 219?fol. Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 73 b fol. (B jarb k Rau asandi) Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 383 IV 4to Manuscripts and Fragments Written by H Hel 2 Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 61?fol. Planned Images in AM 61?fol. Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 653 a 4to & JS fragm 7 Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, AM 156 4to Planned Images in AM 156 4to Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 238 VII?fol. Reykjav k, Stofnun rna Magn ssonar slenskum fr um, S M 1 (Codex Scardensis) The Book Painting of S M 1 (Codex Scardensis) Copenhagen, Den Arnamagn anske Samling, AM 233 a fol. (Ff. 15-27) The Book Painting of AM 233 a fol. (ff.?15-27) Chapter 4: European Artworks The Production of GKS 1154?fol. (Codex Hardenbergianus; Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek) Artistic East Anglian Influences on Codex Hardenbergianus East Anglian Iconography at ingeyrar The Influence of Norwich Book Painting at Helgafell England and Western Iceland in the Fourteenth Century English Artistic Trade with Bergen (and Helgafell) Chapter 5: Back at Western Icelandic Scribal Desks Conclusion: Helgafell and the Wider North-Atlantic World Bibliography Index