Dominic Marner

This book is in two parts: the first about St. Cuthbert, a little bit, and the rise of the cult of Cuthbert in Durham, as a pilgrimage destination that preceeded and then rivaled that of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. There is then a discussion of this specific manuscript (British Library, Yates Thomson MS 26, also identifed as Add. ms. 39943) of Bede's Life of St. Cuthbert, inscribed ca. 1180 in Durham. It is set in context with similar mss, and the artistic conventions seen here are explored.

The second half is a reproduction of the full-page illustrations from the manuscript. The illustrations are shown one per page, with an excerpt from Bede's Life of St. Cuthbert as extended caption.

The book as a whole is a satisfying introduction to the politics of having a pilgrimage site, establishing it, and furnishing it with objects, such as this manuscript, to encourage pilgrims to come. And there are interesting observations about how the illustrator uses tradition and innovation in the production of an illustration to emphasize particular ideas, presumably at the behest of his patron.… (mehr)