Pictures for the Christian Mass in an Old Prayer Book
Rylands Latin MS 24 in the University of Manchester Special Collections is a mid-thirteenth-century English missal produced at Salisbury Cathedral. A missal is the primary book of the liturgy of Christian worship containing the prayers, chants, responses, and instructions that allow the priest to celebrate Mass. As Rylands Latin MS 24 dates to before the use of vernacular language for prayer, it is in Latin (hence Latin MS 24), save for the ‘Kyrie Eleison’, an ancient chant of penitence, which is in Greek. It is also a ‘noted missal’, since, as well as the words, it includes musical notation for the chants.
It might not be immediately obvious that a book with such a functional purpose would be richly illustrated. Yet, whilst missals were primarily functional, highly decorated copies were produced as gifts given to clergy or monasteries, or commissioned by wealthier, high-ranking churchmen such as bishops, cardinals, and popes.
Rylands Latin MS 24 has some beautiful illustrations, including full-page paintings, large historiated letters incorporating a painted scene, and letters with ink-drawn decoration sometimes extending into the page margins. These illuminations are very well preserved given their age. Some deterioration of the book is evident, such as on the face of the angel on folio 149r (front of page 149, Fig. 1) and in the curling of some pages that is characteristic of parchment’s exposure over time, as it seeks to return to its original pre-stretched shape. Yet, overall, the full-page images especially remain strikingly vibrant when viewed in person.
The Annunciation
One example is folio 149r (Fig. 1), which is a wonderfully constructed scene of the Annunciation with heavy use of gold leaf as background to the Angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary who stand facing each other within two trefoiled (three-lobed) arches. It depicts the moment when Mary learns she will give birth to Jesus, Gabriel makes the sign of blessing and holds a scroll that records the angelic greeting to Mary in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 1:28): AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA (‘Hail Mary full of grace’). Mary, with her hand over her heart and bowing her head in reverence, holds the scroll recording her response (Luke 1:38): ECCE ANCILLA DOMINI FIAT MICHI (‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me’).
A notable detail of this painting are the three angels at the top, two holding crowns above the figures and one holding a thurible by a thin red cord. A thurible is a metal censer on chains, which is filled with burning incense. During Mass, priests swing the thurible to incense the altar, and the bread and wine of Communion.
This is an important scene within a missal. The Mass itself, a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ, hinges on the fact that God became man in the person of Jesus, something that was made possible through the positive response of the Virgin to the angel. Mary’s response brings Jesus, the source of life, into the world, who is then made present at Mass under the appearance of bread and wine, to give life to the faithful.
The Crucifixion
Following a sequence of pages with full-page images, the Canon of the Mass begins on folio 153r (Fig. 2). This contains the prayers of consecration, the moment in Christian worship that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. On folio 153r is a fine historiated initial, the letter ‘T’ transformed into an image of the Crucifixion that has a further allegorical depth to it. The initial not only beautifully begins the prayer but also summarises its contents in visual form.
The two figures on either side of the crucified Christ represent the triumph and truth of Christianity over other faiths for the thirteenth-century Christian worshippers using this missal. At left, a figure representing ‘Church’ holds a banner decorated with a cross, and a chalice filling with the blood of Christ. At right, a blindfolded figure representing ‘Synagogue’ holds a fracturing banner decorated with a crescent, and empties the contents of their vessel. Above is God the Father, to whom the sacrifice of the Mass, that is the sacrifice of Christ, is offered, by the Church.
The text, which contains the prayers before consecration, is an entreaty to God to accept the offering of the Mass for the Church: “Therefore, most merciful Father, we humbly pray and entreat Thee, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, that Thou would accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy and spotless sacrifices, which, in the first place, we offer Thee for Thy holy Catholic Church.” The three red crosses in the fifth and sixth lines below the painted initial instruct the priest to make the sign of the cross over the offerings three times during the prayer.
The page also shows how scribes emphasised some letters with decorative pattern ornamentation in the three large capital letters embellished by pen and ink flourishes extending up and down the lines of text.
This is one of three stories, showcasing different collections held by the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, published by undergraduate placement students from the University of Manchester’s art history department. Other stories are available here and here.
Images reproduced with the permission of The John Rylands University Librarian and Director of the University of Manchester Library. All images used are licenced via CC-BY-NC-SA. For further information about each image, please follow the links.
George Vincent, BA Art History
