Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana. Supplementum - 01.06.2000, Blaðsíða 49

SUMMARY CHAP. II
(figs 26-27). This forms the tip of the Trinity
Horn - the only one of the nine medieval horns
with an intact tip.
There are many depictions of saints. The holy
men and women are shown singly or in groups.
St Nicholas of Myra, who was very popular in
Iceland, is named on one horn (fig 5), but we
can only guess the identity of the holy bishop
on another (figs 46, 47). St Olaf, identifiable
from his attribute of a long-handled axe, appears
on two horns (figs 37 & 48). St Michael is shown
on one horn weighing souls in a balance (figs
28-30, p 22-24) and on another as a dragon-
slayer (fig 35). St Peter is shown holding a great
key with his name inscribed alongside him
(fig 4). St Andrew, now hidden under a silver
ferrule, is identifiable from his attribute of a
saltire cross (fig 38).
The entire group of Apostles surround Christ
as the Saviour of the World in the middle zone
of the Trinity Horn (fig 18), while Mary with the
Child is seen with three female saints (fig 13). A
third group consists of male saints (fig 19). The
legend of St Ursula and the 11 000 Virgins is
illustrated by a group of holy people on a ship
(figs 2-3).
Other figures include the evangelist symbols
(figs 13 & 15) and mythical creatures, half-
human, half-animal, which can be seen on five
horns.
On the basis of iconography and style an
attempt is made to determine the correct chron-
ological sequence of the horns. The result is
shown by their sequence in the illustrations and
in the catalogue, but this must be considered as
a suggestion, not as a statement of fact.
There is much that suggests that the Lion and
King Horn (figs 6-10) is Icelandic, despite the
fact that the inscription in the scene is in Old
Norwegian.
The Trinity Hom is the longest of all the
known Icelandic drinking homs and contains the
most figures. The extensive figurative scheme
raises the question of the role of the priesthood
in the artistic work. The same is true of the use
of Latin in the inscriptions both on this and on
two other horns. One detects some determining
influence of sees and monastic houses.
Also important is the question of models and
forerunners. The Trinity Horn provides the
clearest evidence that they were drawn from
book art, as the figurative scenes on it are in-
spired by Books of Hours and liturgical books
such as missals and breviaries printed in Paris
around 1500. The main theme is the Holy
Trinity, shown with three faces and holding the
symbolic triangle known as "the Shield of the
Holy Trinity" with its Latin inscription (fig 14).
We find it aeain, for example, in a breviary from
1514 (fig 16)
The motifs in the middle zone on the Trinity
Horn (figs 13,18,19) have their counterparts in
a woodcut in the Brevarium Nidrosiense (fig 20),
printed in Paris in 1519 to be used in the
Nidaros archbishopric, which included Iceland.
Three of the four groups of saints in the full-
page illustration are reproduced on the horn.
The Last Judgement scene in the lower zone
(figs 21-23) is a somewhat compressed version
of a scene found, for example, in a Book of
Hours printed in Paris in 1498 (fig 24)
John the Baptist beneath the narrower arch in
the lower zone (fig 13) has a number of features
in common with the same motif in a "Missel de
Paris" from about 1505 (fig 25).
In spite of all the similarities, some of the
figures are unrecognisable because the carver
has used draped clothing in the ancient man-
ner, as was usual in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Moreover, faces and limbs are not correctly
reproduced. Similar figures, no doubt by the
same carver, are seen on the St Michael Horn
(figs 28-30, p 22-24).
A clear link to book art is demonstrated by
the Crucifixion scene on the Velken Horn (fig
34, p 28) which shows a close relationship with
a corresponding scene in an illuminated
Jónsbók manuscript from the 14th century
(cf note 22), but other scenes on the same horn
are probably based on much later models.
Illustrated books, liturgical or otherwise, have
doubtless functioned as important transmitters
of motifs both before and after the introduction
of the book printer's art.
The figurative scenes on the surviving medi-
eval horns reflect various phases of Gothic.
However, several of the mythical animals must
be regarded as exceptions as they have retained
a Romanesque style. The dragon with a man in
its jaws on the tip of the Trinity Horn is ob-
viously based on Romanesque tradition and
belongs to a different world from that of the
other figures on the same horn.
The abstract decoration is less helpful for
dating than the figurative scenes. It seems more
timeless and has kept very much to a
Romanesque repertoire.
Decoration is used in two different ways on r\ r-
the horns: 1) framing single figures or scenes or OC)