Frames and Illusion

The Function of Borders in Late Medieval

Book Illumination

Anja Grebe

The illuminated book is generally considered as a two-dimensional medium, con-

sisting of two components: text and image. To these two one has to add a third
dimension, as the frame or the marginal decoration play an equally important role.
Much more than the text or the miniature, the frame has to be considered as the
genuine element of the illuminated book. Whereas the miniature represents a sort
of reduced panel painting which has been transposed into the book, frames and
borders were developed for, and exist only within, this medium. Book illumina-
tors have always paid special attention to the frame and the marginal decoration.
It fulfilled various functions, for example, it could help to embed the miniature in
the book, or serve as an intermediary between text and images, it could be simply
decorative, or, as in the case of marginal figures and scenes, provide additional
narrative information. All these possibilities were at the disposal of the illumina-
tors at the end of the 15th century when artists in the Netherlands and in Italy
started to emphasise the three-dimensional character of the frame and made it the
subject of their inventions. The trompe-l’oeil borders in Flemish manuscripts and
the illusionist frontispieces in Italian early printed books underline the status of
the frame as a dimension of its own. Though still serving as a form of decoration,
the borders started to play a more prominent role, both visually as well as in terms
of the narrative content. Besides Italian examples, the paper considers manu-
scripts by the so-called Master of Mary of Burgundy and the Ghent-Bruges
school. These works contain different kinds of frames and offer various possibili-
ties of combinations of text, miniatures and borders. With their artful play of
simulated reality and meaning these frames represent the meta-dimension of art in
the book in form of a painted commentary on art.

In one of the most famous 15th-century Flemish illuminated manu-

scripts, the so-called Hours of Mary of Burgundy, an elegantly dressed
young woman is depicted sitting at a window-sill, reading a book
(Illustration 1)1. A little dog is sitting on her lap, and precious objects,

1 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1857, fol. 14v. Facsimile edi-

tion with commentary by de Schryver/Unterkircher 1969. The following
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44 Anja Grebe

jewels, and flowers are distributed around her. The room is an oratory
opening on the choir of a Gothic cathedral in the background. In front
of the main altar, the Virgin Mary is shown sitting on a fine carpet,
surrounded by angels and adored by a young lady in a splendid
brocade dress, while on the other side, a cleric in a red cape is busy
swinging a censer.

Illustration 1: Hours of Mary of Burgundy: Double page with first

“Window Miniature” and Marian Prayer by Thomas Becket, Vienna,
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1857, fol. 14v-15r
(© Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

The picture is generally interpreted as a representation of a vision2:

while reciting her daily devotion, the lady in the foreground is thought
to perceive the Virgin, whom she is addressing in her prayers, with her
inner eye. The window is not a mere oratory window but is trans-

interpretation is based on Grebe 1999 and Grebe 2000/2002: 1-9, 228-233. On the
state of research on the anonymous “Vienna Master of Mary of Burgundy” see
Kren/McKendrick, eds. 2003: 126-157. I would like to express my gratitude to Martin
Baumeister for his many helpful comments and corrections.
2 See Belting 1995: 56.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 45

formed into a gateway to a different, a visionary world. From within

the frame of every-day life and every-day religious practice, the spec-
tator is granted a glimpse of the divine sphere. Thanks to the ‘trick
with the window’ everyone may take part in the vision.
However, on closer examination, certain doubts arise as to whether
the illuminator is not really playing tricks on the spectator. First of all,
the lady in the foreground is attentively looking down at the page,
which means that she is actually reading her book. This active reading
totally contradicts the way 15th-century Flemish painters usually de-
picted people having a visionary experience. To indicate a vision oc-
curring, they invariably represented the protagonists with a prayer
book opened in front of them, but not reading it, like the Chancellor
Rolin in the famous Rolin Madonna painted by Jan van Eyck3. In-
stead, the person is always shown looking vaguely in the direction of
the saint appearing in the vision. In the few cases when the painter
represented a person actually reading in a sacred context this is never
in relation to a vision. In Rogier van der Weyden’s Altar of the Seven
Sacraments from ca. 1440-14454, for instance, the reading woman in
the foreground of the right part of the altarpiece is the only one not
taking part in the vision of the Redeemer on the Cross. This leads to
the conclusion that the young woman in the Hours of Mary of
Burgundy may seem to be quite absorbed by her reading, but she is
certainly not having a vision. The only person who might be having a
vision in this miniature is the elegant lady in the church choir who is
indeed represented with the distant, ‘inner’ look typical of visions.
The conclusion, that the painter did not depict a vision at prayers
but merely a praying woman, is underlined by the fact that the framed
miniature is the illustration of a Marian prayer by Thomas Becket,
which begins on the facing recto page (fol. 15r). In a comparison of
the two pages, the young lady in the oratory occupies the same posi-

3 Paris, Louvre, Inv. No. 1271. See Comblen-Sonkes/Lorentz 1995: 11-80.

4 Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Inv. No. 393-395. See De
Vos 1999: 217-225.
46 Anja Grebe

tion as the floral border of the right hand page, where a little monkey
is trying to swat a bird fluttering among the ornamental leaves. Com-
pared to the drollery monkey, the window scene on the left, with its
still-life of precious items and flowers, is a very realistic version of the
traditional Gothic “images in the margins” (Randall 1966, title).
The illuminated book is generally considered a two-dimensional
medium, consisting of two components: word/text and image5. But in
addition to the image as an illustration of the writing, there exists a
third dimension, the frame or the marginal decoration, which plays an
equally important role. Much more than the text or the large minia-
ture, the frame or border6 has to be considered as a characteristic and
defining element of the illuminated book. Whereas the miniature gen-
erally represents some sort of downsized panel painting which has
been transposed into the book, the border decoration, like the initial7,
was developed for, and existed only within, this medium. Book illu-
minators had always tended to pay special attention to the frame. It
fulfilled various functions, for example, it could help to embed the
miniature in the book, or serve as an intermediary between text and
images, or, visually speaking, between flat surface and space8. It could
simply be decorative, or, in the case of marginal figures and scenes,
provide additional narrative information. From the beginning, the
border was the chosen place for commentary, both written and
painted9. As with written glosses, commentaries in painting can make

5 Pächt 1984: 173 sees the history of the illuminated book as a conflict between
surface and space (“Konflikt Fläche – Raum”), provoked by the three-dimensional
image intruding into the two-dimensional surface of the page.
6 As no definitions of the different forms of marginal decoration exist which could
take into account the multitude of individual variants, ‘frame’ and ‘border’ are em-
ployed synonymously here. Both terms describe a form of marginal decoration which
encloses a text or image in the centre by surrounding it from at least three sides.
7 Cf. Jakobi-Mirwald 1998.
8 This is one of the functions of the architectural frame in Ottonian and Gothic
illumination. For examples see Pächt 1984: 190-200.
9 Cf. Steinmeyer/Sievers 1879-1922 on the Apokalypse-Ms.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 47

more or less sense. Some are very personal remarks, some are even
risky or obscene10, and some provide complementary information11.
The fact that the illuminator of the Book of Hours of Mary of Bur-
gundy was very much aware of the tradition of the ‘image in the mar-
gin’ is confirmed by the second window miniature in the book (fol.
43v) (Illustration 2).

Illustration 2: Hours of Mary of Burgundy: Double page with second

“Window Miniature” and Office of the Passion, Vienna, Österreichi-
sche Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1857, fol. 43v-44r
(© Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

With its still-life of precious objects displayed on a window-sill, and

the view of a holy scene in the centre, the picture at first looks like the
continuation of the previous miniature. It seems that the lady has just
left her seat in the oratory, leaving behind all her prayer utensils and
precious belongings. On closer inspection, however, a lot of details
that do not match become apparent: to begin with, the inner frame is
not a double window, but a Gothic arch with marble columns framed

10 On the subversive character of margins in medieval art see Camille 1992.

11 This is the case with the so-called ‘historiated border’ discussed below.
48 Anja Grebe

by two sculptures on consoles. The prayer-book’s green textile cover

has been replaced by a black one, and the rosary is different as well.
Instead of seeing a representation of a vision taking place in a con-
temporary church choir (the woman praying in front of the altar), the
spectator is now looking at a scene from the Bible. In the centre,
Christ is being nailed to the cross, a scene which forms a correct illus-
tration in terms of iconography of the Office of the Passion beginning
on the right hand page (fol. 44r).
Both of the pages discussed above toy with the two main concepts
of border design in books: narration and decoration. With their still-
life borders, the window scenes represent a realistic counterpart to the
traditional floral border, the isolated decorative elements being put to
order, thereby forming a coherent scene. With regard to the content, a
continuity between framing and framed exists in the form of typo-
logical allusions (the statues of the Sacrifice of Isaac and Moses with
the Serpent). By inserting two very similar window miniatures into the
book, the illuminator also suggests a narrative continuity. The pages
are not only related through a similar layout, but seem to form a story,
which, however, does not make sense. Though at first the two
miniatures seem almost identical, under close scrutiny they reveal
completely different settings and situations. The very play of narra-
tion, decoration, similarity, and meaning, perfectly fits into the con-
cept of medieval marginal imagery. The ‘images in the margins’ rarely
make sense, but instead seem to actually avoid meaning, thus adding a
playful note to text and miniatures in the centre12.
By uniting the separate elements in a comprehensive design, the il-
luminator has obscured the traditional borderline between miniature
and frame. The frame now seems to form a logical part of the story
represented in the miniature in the centre, even more so as objects like
the open prayer books and the rosary seem to function as ‘markers’ or
clues with regard to the main scene. However, the comprehensive per-

12 Cf. Randall 1966.

Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 49

spective actually forms a kind of trap. Though the woman in the ora-
tory seems to form a ‘cognitive frame’ to the visionary scene in the
centre, her active reading separates framing and framed into two diffe-
rent worlds. The same applies to the supposed narrative continuity of
the two pictures. With their simulated continuity, the sequence of the
two miniatures exemplifies a new form of marginal concept which
could be designated as narrative illusion. It represents a highly so-
phisticated type of framing in late medieval art.
Since the ‘birth’ of the codex in late antiquity13, medieval book art-
ists have always been conscious of the role of the frame in book illu-
mination. It seems that with the spread of printing in the second part
of the 15th century, artists tried to invent new ways to emphasise the
importance of the medium of illumination. They did so by stressing
the role and function of the frame as the third and most characteristic
dimension of the illuminated book, which hence becomes the starting-
point of the three-dimensional concept of the entire page. Books
dating from the close of the 15th century offer a whole range of
different forms of illusionist page designs.
Along with the Flemish illuminators, and even before them, North
Italian artists had reacted to the challenge of the new medium of the
printed book. In contrast to Italian manuscripts of the second half of
the 15th century, which mostly preserve the traditional Renaissance
floral borders, hand-illuminated incunabula show an entirely new
form of book decoration14. In this kind of book, the individual page is
no longer treated as a flat surface, but is transformed into a simulated
three-dimensional architecture. In addition, Venetian illuminators who
worked for distinguished humanist patrons developed a method of
giving printed books the appearance of a manuscript. With the ‘help’

13 Cf. Pächt 1984: 13-31 (“From scroll to codex“), and Weitzmann 1947/1970.
14 See Alexander, ed. 1994 for a survey of Italian book illumination of the 15th and
16th centuries, and specifically the article by Armstrong 1994 on hand-illuminated
printed books in Italy.
50 Anja Grebe

of the frame, they gave the incunabula back the exclusivity of a hand-
written and illuminated book.
Among the first examples of this new style there is an edition of
Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, printed in Venice in 1469 by the
German printer Johannes de Spira (Illustration 3).

Illustration 3: Gaius Plinius Secundus, Naturalis Historia: Frontis-

piece, Ravenna, Biblioteca Classense, Inc. 670/I, p. 1
(© Ravenna, Biblioteca Classense)
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 51

One of the deluxe copies of the Pliny, printed on parchment15 and

probably made for the Paduan bishop Jacopo Zeno, is of special inter-
est with regard to the new style of illumination16. On its monumental
architectural frontispiece, the printed text appears to have been hand-
written on an ancient parchment scroll, which is unfurled by winged
putti. Other putti seem to disappear behind the scroll. The illusion that
the text is not a printed page but indeed an ancient hand-written
document is further stressed by the seal with the arms of the owner
which seems to be affixed to the parchment scroll. As Mariani Canova
states, Pliny’s text is thus actually displayed like an ancient relic17.
A blue shadow behind the edifice throws the whole architecture
into relief. The monumental architecture is not so much a frame, but a
backdrop for the text that is displayed like a real object. The new
technique of the printed book literally supplants the old medium of the
manuscript, which is henceforth simulated in painting. The archi-
tecture serves to highlight the aesthetic difference between the old and
the new forms of the text. Thus, the illuminated incunabula contain
two forms of illusion. The text no longer occupies a space of its own,
but becomes part of the pictorial representation, it is practically treated
as an object. The putti serve as playful intermediaries between the text
scroll and the background architecture.
We witness here the birth of a twofold illusion, one concerning the
material level (the printed parchment becomes a three-dimensional
object and part of the pictorial representation) and the other concern-
ing the media level (the printed text is represented as an ancient, hand-
illuminated parchment scroll). The framing enacts the framed both as

15 On this phenomenon see Armstrong 1994: 36: “Throughout the 1470s and 1480s
it was common practice to print up to twenty copies of a given edition on parchment,
further emphasising the parallel to manuscript.”
16 Gaius Plinius Secundus, Historia naturalis, vol. 1, Ravenna, Biblioteca Classense,
Inc. 670/I. In her catalogue entry in Alexander, ed. 1994: 163-164, Giordana Mariani
Canova ascribes the frontispiece on p. 1 to the painter Giovanni Vendramin from
Padua.
17 Catalogue entry in Alexander, ed. 1994: 163.
52 Anja Grebe

a different medium and material. By the means of illusion, the text

becomes literally more ‘seizable’.
However, not only the text, but the miniature as well can be trans-
formed into a three-dimensional object. In a Bible printed by John’s
brother Vindelinus (Wendelin) de Spira in 1471, the illuminator,
probably the Venice Master of the Putti, gives one of the miniatures
the appearance of an independent panel painting presented by two
putti holding the picture frame on both sides18.
The highly reflective way in which illuminators reacted to the new
medium of print by enacting the traditional elements of the page in a
twofold illusion described above is underlined by another type of
frontispiece simulating a rotten piece of parchment hung from a
monumental architecture. In the frontispiece of an edition of Justin-
ian’s Digests printed in 147719, the trompe-l’oeil of the rotten sheet of
parchment becomes an artistic game of hide-and-seek between the
different levels of representation, as the parchment seems to cover
parts of the underlying pictures and objects. With their twofold illu-
sion, the frontispieces of North Italian incunabula can be interpreted
as artful painted commentaries on the new medium of the printed book
inasmuch as the page contains both the (real) printed text and its ‘old’,
rotten version, which, however, is an illusion.
The painted metamedial reflection on materials and media resulted
in a fundamental change of perspective. Traditionally, the function of
the border was to add a ‘decorative comment’ on the text or picture in
the centre. Now, with the border achieving a pictorial quality of its
own, the relationship between framing and framed becomes more and

18 Biblia, Italian, printed in Venice by Vindelinus de Spira, 1 August 1471, 2 vols,

New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, PML 26983/26984 (ChLff722). The illu-
mination discussed is the frontispiece of vol. 2, fol. 3v, with the miniature showing an
apocryphal judgement of Salomon. See Alexander, ed. 1994: 166-168.
19 Justinianus, Digestum novum, with the Glossa ordinaria of Accursius, printed in
Venice by Nicolaus Jenson in 1477, illuminated by Benedetto Padovano (Benedetto
Bordon), Venice or Padua, ca. 1477, fol. 2r. See Alexander, ed. 1994: 193-195.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 53

more complex and even inverted, especially in those cases where the
framed part is not a text but a picture.
From about 1475 on, artists in the Burgundian Netherlands, above
all in Ghent and Bruges, seem to have entered into competition with
each other to create ever more audacious borders as well as different
combinations of frames, texts and miniatures. The window-scene
miniatures in the Hours of Mary of Burgundy represent two early an-
swers by Flemish illuminators to this new challenge. In preference,
devotional books such as prayer-books, books of hours, and breviar-
ies, were thus transformed into veritable collections of different border
types and layouts20.
The so-called Book of Hours of Engelbert of Nassau, from ca.
1475, is perhaps the earliest example of the new concept of framing in
illuminated books north of the Alps21. In this manuscript, the border
no longer appears as a flat surface, but is treated as a three-dimen-
sional frame on which different kinds of collectibles, for instance
pilgrims’ badges or jewels, are displayed. The objects are not simply
distributed over the background, but are literally attached to it, as the
jewels which are pinned upon the feigned velvet underground (fol.
40r). The centre, containing the text and the miniature, is treated as a
three-dimensional panel which lies on the background border and
even casts shadows. The formerly distinct elements of the page are
unified in a single perspective. Similar to the Italian Renaissance in-
cunabula, the frame is no longer a secondary decorative feature but
has become an essential part of the page which contains the text/min-
iature22.

20 On the concept of the book as a collection see Grebe 2000/2002: 241-245.

21 Hours of Engelbert of Nassau, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Douce 219-220.
For a partial reprint of the manuscript see Alexander 1970. See Grebe 2000/2002: 31-
94 for a detailed study of the book and its layout.
22 See Stoichita 1993/1998: 30-45 on the still-life or parergon becoming the main
‘text’ or ergon. See below for other examples of ‘inverted illusions’.
54 Anja Grebe

Whereas in the first examples the central text panel or miniature was
lying on the background border, there are several pages in the manu-
script which show an inverted perspective. In the section of the Hours of
the Virgin, the opening of the Sext is illustrated by two scenes from the
story of the Three Magi (fol. 145v-146r) (Illustration 4).

Illustration 4: Hours of Engelbert of Nassau: Double page with

alcove border, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Douce 219-220, fol. 145v-
146r (© Oxford, Bodleian Library)

The border seems to consist of a series of alcoves, giving the double-

page the appearance of a window surrounded by cupboards. A variety
of pots and dishes, flower vases, and pieces of majolica with Moorish
designs are displayed in these niches. They could be the counterparts
of the precious vessels the Three Magi gave as presents to the Infant
Jesus, which are now exhibited in this simulated collection. With their
niche-like layout, these pages also represent a variant of the window
page concept in the Hours of Mary of Burgundy discussed above.
A rather morbid version of the alcove-window border graces the
opening page of the Office of the Dead, where a burial scene set in a
graveyard is accompanied by a series of grinning skulls (fol. 214r). In
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 55

the bottom part, one reads the motto of the book’s owner, Engelbert of
Nassau, “Ce sera moy” (“This will be me”), which here takes on the
additional meaning of a memento mori. In the last two examples, the
frame functions as a kind of key-hole through which one is granted a
glimpse on the sacred story. The frame is no longer an addition, but a
condition of the framed.
The new illusionist concept of the page did not only have an aes-
thetic impact, but also affected the traditional form of manuscript pro-
duction. Up to the invention of the illusionist page design, the distinc-
tion of miniature and border often ran parallel with a distinction of
artists’ hands: the miniatures were formerly executed by a so-called
historieur or ‘scenic painter’, whereas a so-called enlumineur or ‘dec-
orative painter’ took charge of the borders23. Now, a single illuminator
was responsible for the entire page. The page design follows a single
concept, and from the point of view of perspective the frame is as
much a part of the picture as the picture itself.
Visually, the difference between miniature and frame has been re-
duced, but in regard to their contents, it continues to exist in some
respects. In the so-called ‘Voustre demeure’-Hours, from ca. 1475/
1480, now divided between Madrid and Berlin24, the frames not only
share the same perspective with the large miniature in the centre, but
even become part of the narration. This book of hours contains several
examples of the so-called ‘historiated’ border, a term inspired by the
historiated initial25, meaning that the whole border is now occupied by

23 See the documents quoted in De Schryver 1969. Cf. Reynolds 2003.

24 The ‘Voustre demeure’-Hours, made for an unknown patron whose motto,
‘Voustre demeure’, appears in some of the borders. Other borders show the inter-
twined monogram “C+M” of Duke Charles the Bold and his second wife Margaret of
York. The large miniatures are painted on single leaves which were cut off and sold
separately at an unknown date, probably in the 17th century. A volume with 20 large
miniatures bound together is now in Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbe-
sitz, Kupferstichkabinett, Inv. No. 78 B 13. The codex is in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacio-
nal, Vit. 25-5. On the state of research see Kren/Mc Kendrick, eds. 2003: 142-146.
25 See Jakobi-Mirwald 1998, who bases her definition of the historiated initial on its
relationship to the text with regard to the content. Cf. Pächt 1984: 77-95 for a more
56 Anja Grebe

a continuous narrative into which the text or miniature has been inte-
grated. With regards to the page design, the text is a simulated panel or
screen which is superimposed upon the background picture, so that parts
of the underlying picture seem to be covered or cut off.
The beginning of the Hours of the Cross is illustrated and sur-
rounded by the story of the Passion of Christ (Illustration 5).

Illustration 5: ‘Voustre demeure’-Hours: Double page with opening of

the Hours of the Cross (reconstruction: Anja Grebe)
(© Archive of the Author; reproduced from Winkler 1925)

If the reconstruction of the double-page first proposed by Hulin de

Loo is correct26, the narration begins on the miniature on the left hand
side, with the scenes of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. The story
is then continued in the historiated border on the right side with the
Ecce homo-scene at the bottom, and the fainting Virgin Mary depicted
in the right hand margin. The next episode, shown in the upper
margin, is the Carrying of the Cross. The story then jumps back to the

formal definition of the historiated initial, though his distinction between the ‘histori-
ated’ and ‘inhabited’ (“bewohnte”) initial remains unclear.
26 Hulin de Loo 1939: 177-178. Cf. Lieftinck 1969: 98-105, Brinkmann 1997: 185-
191.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 57

left hand side, forming a narrative loop which ends in the Crucifixion
scene in the centre. Quite unusually, the main miniature with the
crucifixion has been transformed into an oval devotional picture,
which appears to have been stuck onto the underlying scene of the
Garden of Gethsemane.
The notion of displaying the whole story of the Passion on the first
double-page of the Office is not really new. A common method was to
insert the different episodes as little medallions in the border of the
text page, like in a Book of Hours illuminated in Paris in ca. 1450,
now in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore27. In comparison, the
illuminator of the ‘Voustre demeure’-Hours has linked the separate
scenes to form a continuous, multi-scene story28. On the right hand
side, the marginal story is surrounded by a painted picture frame and
thus claims the status of a miniature.
The question of status equally concerns the text which has been
transformed into a kind of poster stretched across the underlying pic-
ture and fixed to its outer framing line. Like in the Italian incunabula,
the text is no longer a neutral element of the page but has gained a
new materiality and participates in the pictorial illusion. The frame is
not so much the depiction of a biblical story, but the representation of
a real painting that contains this story. Compared to the window
miniatures, the recto-page forms some kind of “inverted window-
aspect” (Pächt 1948: 32). The frame does not enclose the centre but
virtually exhibits it, a form of marginal play which could be called an
‘inverted’ illusion or ‘inverted’ framing in contrast to the conception
of the frame as a window through which one perceives an image. The
text still occupies the centre of the page, yet it seems ‘marginalised’ in
its importance and literally ‘depends’ on the frame.

27 Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, MS W. 251, fol. 109r. Cf. Wieck, ed. 1988: 90,
ill. 53.
28 The specific distribution of the scenes bears many parallels to medieval theatre,
e.g. passion plays. Cf. Pochat 1990: 41-51.
58 Anja Grebe

Considering that this double-page is a work by an accomplished il-

luminator, it is curious that the initial letter should be missing. Its
customary position is marked by the way the ropes are stretched
across the upper left hand corner, so that the detail with Christ carry-
ing the Cross becomes some kind of miniature within a miniature. In
its centre, Christ becomes a figural replacement for the missing initial.
Quite probably, the letter was left out on purpose in order not to dis-
turb the effect of the ‘inverted framing ’. This hypothesis is, in a way,
confirmed by an almost literal copy of the double-page in the so-
called ‘La Flora’-Hours, illuminated by several Flemish artists around
150029. In this manuscript the illuminator has corrected the ‘error’ of
his elder colleague by inserting the initial “D” into the text block (fol.
59v-60r). He was able to do so because he left out the ropes, instead
surrounding the double-page with a feigned sculptured frame, which is
an additional feature as the original double-page already possessed
outer frames. The simulated sculptured frame can be thus interpreted
as a kind of painted quotation mark, another function of framing in
medieval manuscript illumination. By adding the extra ‘quotation
mark’ frame, the illuminator of the ‘La Flora’-Hours made clear that
the framed composition was not his own invention but taken from
another source, possibly at the special request of his patron. This
points to a highly developed culture of connoisseurship, where books
of hours were no longer regarded as mere devotional aids but as
desirable objects of collection, as the following examples will under-
line.
The visual interplay of text, miniature and border as well as their
respective status grew more and more complex within the last decades
of the 15th century. With the ‘help’ of the border, the large miniature,
too, started to be included in the illusionist concept of the page and
finally became the main focus of the illuminators. One of the solutions
was to materialise the frame or border, with the effect that the

29 Naples, Biblioteca Nazionale, I.B.51. Cf. De Maio 1992. According to Brinkmann

(1997: 209) the double-page is a later addition to the book.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 59

miniatures appear as small panel paintings inside the book. They lose
their status as mere illustrations, and become objects of devotion. In
the Prayer-Book of Johanna of Castile, illuminated in Bruges between
1492-150630, an anonymous illuminator called the Master of the
David Scenes has inserted a small image of the Virgin, after the model
of a popular Madonna by Rogier van der Weyden (fol. 287v-288r)
(Illustration 6). Whereas most of the large miniatures in the
manuscript are surrounded by a decorative border which follows the
traditional layout, with a broader bottom part and outer margins, and
narrow inner and top margins, here all the parts of the frame are of
equal size. The frame imitates that of contemporary panel paintings.
We do not know if Johanna, who is represented on the right hand side,
possessed a copy of the Madonna by Rogier31. But by having this
picture inserted in her prayer book, she was able to keep it in sight at
all times, whether saying her prayers or just looking at the pictures in
the manuscript. At the same time, the illumination also offered a way
of possessing at least a miniature ‘reproduction’ of the famous work
of art. The Prayer-Book of Johanna of Castile is a prominent example
of the illuminated manuscript’s becoming a painted collection of artis-
tically exemplary miniatures, paintings, borders, and page designs,
with the frame playing the leading role32.
In contrast to those miniatures imitating devotional images, others
were transformed into simulated copies of normally far larger altar-
pieces. In the Rothschild Prayer-Book in Vienna, the prayer to Saint
Bernard of Clairvaux is illustrated by a scene from the legend of the
saint surrounded by a rich late-gothic tracery frame which is set on the
bare vellum ground33. Only its broader outer and bottom parts indicate

30 London, British Library, Add. Ms. 18852, fol. 287v-288r.

31 On the Madonna lactans by Rogier van der Weyden and several extant copies by
other Early Netherlandish painters see De Vos 1999: 298-301.
32 Cf. Grebe 2001.
33 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Ser. n. 2844, fol. 245v. Cf.
Unterkircher 1984: 138-139.
60 Anja Grebe

that this feigned altarpiece is part of an illustrated manuscript. This

form of feigned frame represents another sort of painted quotation
mark, transposing the framed scene into another medium.

Illustration 6: Prayer-Book of Johanna of Castile: Double page with

Johanna at prayers, London, British Library, Add. Ms. 18852, fol.
287v-288r (© London, British Library)

When the miniature is not surrounded by a decorative or architec-

tural frame, but by a pictorial representation, as in the case of a his-
toriated border, the two pictorial levels could be combined by various
methods. The first solution was to simply ‘stick’ the miniature onto
the underlying picture, as in the example of the Hours of the Cross in
the ‘Voustre demeure’-Hours. A late echo of this solution can be
found in the Grimani-Breviary from about 151534. In the miniature
illustrating the Office of the Dead (fol. 449v) we see a view of a con-
temporary interior with a man on his death bed, the whole taking on
the form of a medallion pasted on the underlying landscape, contain-

34 Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, Ms. lat. I.99. Cf. Grote 1973.

Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 61

ing a representation of the Legend of the Three Living and the Three
Dead. The medallion itself has the strange effect of a voyeuristic look
through a keyhole.

Illustration 7: Rothschild Prayer-Book: Miniature with Christmas

scenes, Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. ser. nov.
2844, fol. 108v (© Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

A second way of combining miniature and frame in a single per-

spective was to join the two pictorial levels into one image, merely
retaining the inner frame that divides the two pictures. In the part of
the Hours of the Virgin in the Vienna Rothschild Prayer-Book, the
opening of Prime is illustrated by a representation of the Birth of
62 Anja Grebe

Christ, which is superimposed upon the underlying image of Mary and

Joseph looking for shelter at Bethlehem (fol. 108v). The inner frame
has an ambivalent function: on the one hand, it serves to integrate the
two pictorial levels into a unified composition, but on the other hand,
it is also a dividing line. With regards to the theology of the image in
the Middle Ages, the inner scene with the adoration of the newborn
Child is a devotional image whereas the framing picture was
traditionally understood as a genre scene, even though both are taken
from the Bible35 (Illustration 7). By stressing the separation of the two
levels, it is made clear that the Christmas scene in the centre
represents another – and a more important – moment of the story, and
should not be understood as an enlarged detail of the surrounding
scene.
The frame fulfils an enhancing function, it embeds and intensifies
the central picture both visually and with regard to the content. Instead
of stressing the separation of the two pictorial levels, other illu-
minators thought of ways of linking together both parts more closely.
In most cases, it is the background that serves to connect the former
miniature and its frame. The upper right hand corner – the traditional
position of the initial letter on a text page – frequently serves as a vi-
sual bridge or pivotal joint. In a miniature showing Saint Christopher,
in a Hortulus Animae manuscript illuminated by Simon Bening36, the
giant saint is depicted in the act of carrying Jesus across an expanse of
water (Illustration 8).
In the foreground, fishermen, who do not seem to notice the holy
pair, are busy hauling in their nets just as night is falling. The central
group is visually detached from the rest of the picture by the inner
frame. It is thus raised to the status of a devotional image within an
image. This new status is underlined by the larger size of the figures,

35 Cf. Schade 1996 on the term ‘devotional image’ or ‘Andachtsbild’.

36 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2706, fol. 258v.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 63

the resulting effect resembling that of a cinematic ‘close-up’37. The

joint background obscures the traditional separation of the sacred
scene in the centre and the genre scene in the margin. By combining
the two pictorial levels in a ‘joint’ illusion, the interplay of picture
frame and full-page miniature appears to have reached its final stage.

Illustration 8: Hortulus Animae: Saint Christopher, Vienna, Österrei-

chische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2706, fol. 258v
(© Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

37 On the development of the close-up in late-medieval art see Ringbom 1965.

64 Anja Grebe

This example shows that Bening was fully aware of the hybrid
status of the frame, which he took as a starting-point of his paradoxi-
cal enactment between framing and framed. Indeed, the eye of the
viewer constantly oscillates between the different pictorial spaces,
which traditionally constituted different levels of reality. The minia-
ture is a highly self-reflective mise en abyme as well as a metaleptic
comment on the inherent possibilities, the strategies and the functions
of frames and framing in book illumination. The frame/margin being
the traditional place for comments and additions, the frame in the
Hortulus Animae forms not only an additional pictorial component
sharing some background details with the main devotional scene in the
centre, but it is above all a painted comment on the role of the frame
in the history of book illumination. Framing here becomes a form of
meta-painting.
Yet, in several Flemish manuscripts dating from the beginning of
the 16th century, the concept of the joint illusion is developed even
further. The Requiem Mass in the Spinola Hours38, attributed to the
anonymous Master of James IV of Scotland, is illustrated by a minia-
ture showing a view of a building both from the inside and the out-
side. The former inner frame now corresponds to the outer wall, creat-
ing the effect of the former large miniature occupying the interior
space, while the former frame now represents the exterior façade of
the building. The open door links the two zones into one continuous
space and one continuous story.
In the examples discussed so far, the illusionistic representation
never really exceeded the surrounding outer frame but stayed within
its own pictorial world. There are a few examples, however, where
some elements try to intrude into the world of the spectator by cross-
ing the borderline between image and reality. The favourite trespasser
of Flemish illuminators was the dragonfly. This insect would appear
to be attracted to the trompe-l’oeil flowers shown in the frame, trying

38 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 18, fol. 184v-185r. See Von
Euw/Plotzek 1982: 256-285. Kren/McKendrick, eds. 2003: 414-417.
Frames and Illusion in Late Medieval Book Illumination 65

to alight on them, like in the Hours of Lord William Hastings in the

British Library39. The dragonfly, generally rendered in a highly virtu-
oso manner, alludes to the concept and the praise of mimesis transmit-
ted in ancient artists’ legends40. In the Flemish manuscripts, it not only
serves to underline the artist’s virtuosity, but is also used as a visual
trick to increase the illusion of the frame.
To conclude, the examples discussed clearly show that the artists
saw the illuminated book as a medium consisting of three basic ele-
ments: text, image, and border. The reaction of the illuminators to the
invention of printing and the technical reproduction of text and images
was to emphasise the three-dimensional character of the decoration
and to make it the subject of a variety of new inventions. The different
illusionistic page designs discussed above show the emphasis placed
on the importance of the frame as a dimension of its own. Though
they never lost their traditional decorative function, the borders played
an increasingly prominent role, both visually as well as in regard to
their narrative content. In the end, the resulting books were not just a
mere assembly of texts and images, they also became a collection of
frames and concepts of illusion.
As to the broader question of framing, the new unified view at first
suggests a coherent ‘text’ of the entire page. However, the depicted
reality of the frame is only a simulated one. Thus, the border cannot
easily be taken as a guideline for the interpretation of the framed pic-
torial or textual ‘message’, but occupies a very ambivalent position.
With its artful play with simulated reality and meaning the frame
represents the meta-dimension of art in the book in form of a painted
commentary on art.

39 This, for example, is the case in the Hastings Hours, London, British Library,
Add. Ms. 54782, fol. 65r. See the partial facsimile and commentary by Turner 1983
and Backhouse 1996.
40 See Kris/Kurz 1995.
66 Anja Grebe

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