Egerton MS 3763

British Library Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1956-1965, 3 vols (London: British Museum, 2000), I: Descriptions, pp. 595-99:

‘DYSON PERRINS MSS. Vol. VIII (formerly Dyson Perrins MS. 48). Prayer-Book of Archbishop Arnulph II of Milan; 998-1018. Latin . See Sir G. F. Warner, Descriptive Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts in the Library of C. W. Dyson Perrins, Oxford, 1920, i, pp. 130-5; ii, pl. li; S. C. Cockerell, Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1908, no. 9, pl. 16; P. M. Johnston, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 2nd ser., xxiv, 1911-12, pp. 159-70; L. Magnani, Le Miniature del Sacramentario d'Ivrea, Rome, 1934, p. 44, pl. xlv, a-c; C. Nordenfalk, 'A Travelling Milanese Artist', Arte del Primo Millennio, Atti del IIo Convegno per lo studio dell'arte dell'alto medio evo . . . , Turin, 1954, pp. 375-6; D. H. Turner, 'The Prayer-Book of Archbishop Arnulph II of Milan', Revue Bénédictine , lxx, 1960, pp. 360-92; T. J. Brown, G. M. Meredith-Owens and D. H. Turner, 'Manuscripts from the Dyson Perrins Collection', B.M.Q. , xxiii, 1961, pp. 32-3, pl. xviii a; H. Barré, Prières Anciennes de l'Occident à la Mère du Sauveur, Paris, 1963, pp. 207-9, frontispiece; O. Heiming, 'Ein Benediktinisch-Ambrosianisches Gebetbuch des Frühen 11. Jahrhunderts', Archiv für Liturgiewissenschaft, viii pt. 2, 1964, pp. 325-435 (text printed on pp. 378-426); D. H. Turner, Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, British Museum, Series V, 1965, no. III; A. G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in the Department of Manuscripts, the British Library, London, 1979, no. 628, pl. 27; A. Paredi, 'Il Salterio di Arnolfo', Archivio Ambrosiano, Milan, xliii, pp. 197-203 and illus. The text is printed in Heiming, op. cit., pp. 336-78; for a detailed analysis of its contents, see Turner, 'Prayer-Book', pp. 361-81. Probably written between 998 and 1018 for Archbishop Arnulph II of Milan. The main evidence connecting the MS. with Archbishop Arnulph is that the name 'Arnulfe' is given in capital letters in the Litany of the Saints, the only name distinguished in this way. Since St Arnulph is not given a special place in the Litany, the marking of his name in this fashion probably indicates that he was a personal rather than a local patron. The appearance of a prayer to St Victor, the Milanese martyr, on f. 117 also suggests a link with Archbishop Arnulph, as he built a monastery at Milan in St Victor's honour, where he himself was buried. (On the attribution of the MS. to Archbishop Arnulph, see further Turner, 'Prayer Book', pp. 381-4). Heiming (op. cit., pp. 327-36) has argued that certain usages in the prayer-book would have been inappropriate if its owner were a bishop, but these may be stock phrases and forms copied from elsewhere regardless of the status of the owner (see further, Paredi, op. cit., p. 201). Heiming proposes that the MS. was produced at a Milanese monastery, possibly S Ambrogio, for the use of a monk, and contends that it cannot be more precisely dated than first half of the 11th cent. Paredi, op. cit., offers a detailed refutation of Heiming's arguments and concludes that the MS. could not but be intended for use by some great personage, in fact Archbishop Arnulf II of Milan. A rough inscription at the foot of f. 140b, 11th-12th cent., runs 'Iste liber est mei [augustini?] [iacobi?] de [F . . . renis?]' and an entry on f. 136b above proves that the MS. was still in Italy in the 14th cent. At some time it became divided in two. Ff. 1-103 were given to William Frederic Erskine Knollys, afterwards Hon. Canon of Canterbury, etc., by William Adams, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, 16 Nov. 1837, and later belonged to Sir Eric Robert Dalrymple Maclagan, K.C.V.O., C.B.E., F.S.A., Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Ff. 104-140 belonged to Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia (d. 1773) and could have been acquired by him when he occupied Milan, 1733-4. Afterwards it belonged to Richard Chester Fisher, of Midhurst. Dyson Perrins acquired both parts from their last mentioned owners in 1906 (see note by Dyson Perrins on ff. iv-vi). Dyson Perrins bookplate (f. iib); label with old Dyson Perrins number '1' on end flyleaf (f. viib). Label with Dyson Perrins number '48' on spine.

Vellum; ff. viii+140. 113 x 75mm. (ff. 1-103) and 116 x 77mm. (ff. 104-140). The differences in size are due to cropping, which is less severe for ff. 104-140. 998-1018. Gatherings of 8 (i lacks 1, 2; vii4; xiii lacks 1, 8; xiv lacks 1; xvii lacks 2, 7; xix lacks 8). 17 lines to a page. Written mostly in a single hand, by a scribe who also probably executed the 'Sacramentary of San Satiro' or 'Ariberto', said to be associated with Arnulph II's successor, Ariberto de Intimiano (1018-45), Milan, Biblioteca Capitolare, MS. D 3, 2; the 'Gaignières Lectionary', Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. latin 1126; and the 'Beauvais Sacramentary', formerly Dyson Perrins MS. 23 (on these MSS., see further Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 74-6; ii, pl. xxxi); A. de Bastard, Peintures et Ornements des Manuscrits, Paris, 1832-69, pls. 210, 211; Nordenfalk, op. cit., pp. 374-80; P. Bloch, Das Hornbacher Sakramentar und seine Stellung innerhalb der frühen Reichenauer Buchmalerei, Basle, 1956, pp. 108-12; A. Paredi, 'Le Miniature del Sacramentario di Ariberto', in Studi in onore C. Castiglione, Fontes Ambrosiani, Milan, 1957, pp. 702-6; 'Il Sacramentario di Ariberto' in Miscellanea Adriano Bernareggi, Bergamo, 1958, pp. 329-488; A von Euw and J. M. Plotzek, Die Handschriften der Sammlung Ludwig, i, Cologne, 1979, V 1, with colour pl. and illus. 137-141. The dedication verses of the Gaignières Lectionary indicate that its scribe came from Italy. Nordenfalk (op. cit.) has argued that the Lectionary was executed at Fleury, and has suggested that the scribe and illuminator of the Lectionary and the three MSS. related to it was the Lombard painter Nirvardus, employed after 1026 by Abbot Gauzlin of Fleury to make an 'insigni operis crucifixum', possibly the original of the crucifixion miniature in the Beauvais Sacramentary. Bloch (op. cit., pp. 108-12) has disagreed with this view, suggesting that the Beauvais Sacramentary may be the work of Eburnant of Reichenau. The figures in the Beauvais Sacramentary, however, are too eclectic and too far removed from work firmly established as that of Eburnant to be reasonably attributed to him (see Turner, 'Prayer-Book', pp. 384-6). The identification of Nirvardus as the person responsible for the script and illuminated initials of Eg. 3763 is plausible. Binding of red morocco by Katharine Adams, 1907, with the former covers of ff. 104-140 bearing the arms of Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia, 18th cent., laid down inside as ff. i, viii. Ff. 1-103 were previously bound in vellum with clasps.

The main divisions are as follows:– 1. ff. 1-16. Abbreviated Psalter, consisting of verses selected after the pattern of the so-called 'Psalter of St Jerome' from the Psalms according to the Milanese version. 2. ff. 16-50b. Milanese Rogationtide Litanies, without the lessons at the various stations. 3. ff. 51-124b. Private prayers and devotions. 4. ff. 124b-136b. Litany of the Saints, containing 454 names. Imperfect at the beginning, owing to a lacuna after f. 124. The name ARNULFE (f. 128b) only is in capitals. On f. 136b, originally blank, a commendation of one Peter, going on a journey, is added in an Italian hand, late 14th cent. 5. ff. 137-140b. Blessings, followed by the responds in choro and collects at vespers on the Rogation Days. In a different though contemporary hand.

At the beginning of the text (f. 1) is a large decorated letter 'V' covering 12 lines, with the opening of the Psalter given in alternate lines of gold and silver capitals and uncials. The opening of the litany for each Rogation Day (ff. 16b, 28, 37b) is marked by a 6 line decorated initial, with the first line of the text in silver uncials. There are decorated initials at the beginning of all the prayers, except nos. 21-25, 34, 36-37, 42-44, 56; the first lines of prayers with decorated initials are mostly in either gold or silver uncials. The structure of the initials is geometric. Some consist simply of an interlace of gold and silver on a purple ground (e.g., ff. 1, 54b, 117), but in the majority the interlace develops into a foliage design. The way in which the interlace gives rise to the foliage patterns is apparent from the simpler designs on ff. 66, 88b, 99. For examples of the foliage pattern at its most complex, see ff. 51, 64. The style of these initials is closely related to other Milanese MSS. of the period and also shows the influence of Ottonian illumination, particularly the work of the school of Eburnant (see further Turner, 'Prayer-Book', pp. 384-6). Preceding each group of prayers to an individual saint or common of saints, and between the prayer for the Emperor and the prayer for blessing a battle standard, is a miniature in a different hand to those in the Beauvais Sacramentary, apparently by the atelier responsible for the decoration of the MSS. of Warmund, Bishop of Ivrea 1001- circa 1011. On these MSS., see Magnani, op. cit, especially pp. 48-50. See further Turner, 'Prayer-Book', p. 386. The miniatures in Eg. 3763 are probably by the main artist of the Ivrea group, who executed all the miniatures in the Ivrea Sacramentary except those on ff. 32, 34 and 160b. See further Turner, 'Prayer-Book', p. 388. The subjects of these miniatures, which are more fully described in Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 134-5, are:– 1. f. 102b. The B. V. Mary as an orant. Such a representation of the Virgin, without any symbol of her maternity, appears to be rare. See H. Leclercq, 'Marie, Mère de Dieu' in Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie, x, Paris, 1932, col. 2000-1. She is portrayed as an orant in the Ascension scenes in the Ivrea Sacramentary (Magnani, op. cit., pl. xx) and the Lower Church of San Clemente, Rome, (G. Ladner, 'Die Italienische Malerei im 11. Jahrhundert', Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, Neue Folge, v, 1931, fig. 53). This representation of the Virgin may reflect Byzantine influence. She is depicted in this fashion in the mosaic in the apse of the church of Hagia Sophia in Kiev, which dates from the second half of the 11th cent. (cf. G. Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, trans. J. Seligman, 1972, ii, p. 30, fig. 63). 2. f. 104b. St Michael delivering a soul from the Dragon. Cf. the Michael in the Ivrea Sacramentary (Magnani, op. cit., pl. xxv) and the fresco of Michael and his Angels triumphing over the Dragon in S. Pietro, Civate (Storia di Milano, Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri . . . , iii, 1954, p. 634). 3. f. 106b. St John the Baptist, shown standing and holding a cross. He wears a mantle edged with fur, which is not uncommon in Byzantine ivories of the 10th and 11th cents. (see A. Goldschmidt and K. Weitzmann, Die Byzantinischen Elfenbeinskulpturen, passim, and G. A. and M. G. Soteriou, Εικονεσ τησ Μονησ Σινα, 1956, i, pp. 73-7, 88-9; ii, pl. 54, 74). St John is shown wearing a similar garment in a 12th cent. Milanese MS., Ambros. B. 48 inf. (Storia di Milano, iii, pp. 666-7). By contrast, in the Ivrea Sacramentary he is portrayed as a half-naked figure baptising Christ. See Magnani, op. cit., pl. x. 4. f. 107b. SS Peter and Paul. 5. f. 109b. St John the Evangelist. 6. f. 111b. St Stephen. 7. f. 112b. St Ambrose. On the treatment of drapery, etc., cf. the figures of Bishop Warmund and of St Silvester in the Ivrea Sacramentary (see Magnani, op. cit., pl. viii, xv and colour pl.). On the significance of the pallia worn by Ambrose and other bishops in the present miniatures, see Turner, 'Prayer-Book', pp. 382-3. 8. f. 113b. SS Protasius and Gervasius. 9. f. 114b. St Syrus of Pavia. 10. f. 115b. St Martin. 11. f. 116b. St Victor, the Milanese martyr. Cf. the sleeping soldiers at the Tomb in the Ivrea Sacramentary (Magnani, op. cit., pl. xix). 12. f. 117b. Two apostles. 13. f. 118b. Two martyrs. 14. f. 119b. Two bishops. This miniature precedes the prayer for confessors and the figures are probably meant to be bishop confessors. 15. f. 120b. Two saints, thought by Warner to represent monastic saints. The scapular worn by the left-hand figure is like the Greek monastic scapular and the figures could be intended as monks, one from the Greek church and the other from the Latin church. The leaf containing the prayers which the miniature was meant to accompany is missing. 16. f. 121b. The giving of a battle-standard. This immediately follows a prayer for the Emperor and the figure receiving the standard is perhaps meant to be an emperor. It is possible that there was a miniature showing the Emperor on the missing leaf between ff. 120 and 121, immediately before this prayer. The figure giving the standard is a bishop, possibly St Ambrose. The subject of the miniature may be related to Arnulph II's political activities. See further Turner, 'Prayer-Book', p. 383. The figure of the bishop in the present miniature should be compared with that of Bishop Warmund in the Ivrea Sacramentary. See Magnani, op. cit., pl. xv, colour pl.’