Pavel Brodský

Epistolae beati Sidonii ve varšavské Národní knihovně

A previously unknown illuminated manuscript was discovered in the National Library in Warsaw. It is titled Epistolae beati Sidonii episcopi Clarimontis Arvenis, dates from 1440, and contains ornamental initials and one figural illumination. The manuscript is most certainly of Czech origin as the style of ornamentation is typical of 15th-century Czech illuminated manuscripts. The ornamental and, especially, the figural work are of quite good quality and an advanced level of style. A coat of arms painted later on f2r indicates that the manuscript at one time was in the library of Matthias Corvinus. The ornamentation corresponds in style to the work of the Master of the Šelmberk Bible, and not just the fleuron marginalia but also the monochrome figures in the initial trunks. Of particular interest are the links to the work of the Master of the Fridrich Breviary, who, although originally from Moravia, worked for most of his professional life in Lower Austria. The figures by this illuminator are very similar in facial type to those in the Warsaw manuscript. While it is obvious that the two artists were not the same person, more generally the similarity is evidence of a related level of stylistic development and of the transition from the post-Hussite period to, in a narrow sense, the late Gothic.

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