Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1982, Page 84

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
The illustrations on fol. lOr depict tha Annunciation, the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Re-
surrection. The Annunciation seems to have been copied from fol. lv of Skb, although the bowl
of flowers between the Virgin Mary and the Angel is missing in De la Gardie 9, and it is evident
that various changes have been made to fol. lv over the course of time. Of the four depictions of
the Annunciation in Skb, two are without bowls of flowers.
The depiction of the Nativity seems to have been copied from an illustration on fol. 14r in
Skb, although there are some discrepancies which might well be the result of the Skb illustration’s
having been tampered with after the De la Gardie illustration was drawn.
An original for the Crucifixion is not to be found in Skb in its present state, since it contains
only a representation of the Crucifixion with the two thieves (fol. 14v). We may assume, however,
that the Crucifixion also derives from Skb since all four illustrations concerned clearly form a
series.
Other representations of the Crucifixion were probably originally to be found in Skb, as well as
other illustrations from the life of Christ which have since been lost; this is clear from the fact that
the Nativity and the Passion are well represented while other scenes receive less attention or none
at all. Many details in the Crucifixion in De la Gardie are reminiscent of similar illustrations of
the Skagafjörður school, such as the hair, the crown of thorns, the outlines of the arms and body,
the attitude of the feet, the large nails or arrows, and the open eyes of Christ.
The representation of the Resurrection in De la Gardie seems to have been modelled on fol. 2r of
Skb, although it depicts only one angel on the tomb instead of Skb’s two; and only two guards
instead of four. There is also an incomplete illustration of the Resurrection on fol. 17r of Skb, in
which the soldiers are missing.
Two illustrations are to be found on fol. lOv of De la Gardie. The upper one depicts the
Ascension, and the lower Pentecost (Whitsun), with the Holy Ghost descending upon the apostles
in the likeness of a white dove. These were the illustrations which originally prompted me to set
these remarks down, for this was the first time I had come across an Icelandic depiction of the
Ascension, ‘the disappearing Christ’, modelled on an English original, or the Holy Ghost
descending upon the Apostles. As I have noted elsewhere several of the illustrations in Skb are of
English origin. Peter and Paul can be recognized amongst the apostles in the lower picture, with
the Virgin Mary between them. It is interesting to note, in connection with this illustration, that
on fol. llv in Skb there is an illustration bearing the superscription: “This is Whitsun as ye may
see.” The scribe is of course mistaken, for instead of Whitsun the illustration depicts five apostles
with their symbols, and a donor, providing a clear example of the overreliance placed on textual
study and paleography in assigning a date to the Sketchbook.
Harry Fett and Kr. Kálund assign Skb to the 15th century with the exception of a few leaves.
Kálund, like Stefán Karlsson, appears to rely exclusively on the handwriting in his dating of the
manuscript. Björn Th. Björnsson relies on stylistic considerations to arrive at a date of
1420—1440, although he appears also to take handwriting into consideration since he refers to the
prayer on fol. 20v as ‘the illustrator’s prayer’. Thus the handwriting appears often to have been
considered a more reliable indication of date than the pictures themselves, although it is clear that
various hands from various periods appear in the book, adding comments or inscriptions to the
illustrations, with some items understood, others misunderstood; sometimes the writers have even
gone so far as to erase pictures in order to make room for their comments. Working from stylistic
evidence, on the other hand, I have dated the main sources of the illustrations to the middle of the
14th century; some may even be earlier. The Sketchbook is a model book of illustrations, not
handwriting, and it would seem to me quite feasible to suppose that it originally contained no text
at all.
The De la Gardie 9 manuscript, said by Jón Sigurðsson to have been written for the Rev.