Getty Museum

Scribe Writing, probably Eadmer of Canterbury

Date

about 1140–1150

Medium

Tempera colors, gold paint, and ink

Culture

Flemish

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

Seated on a throne before a writing desk with his book and pen, Eadmer of Canterbury is shown in the act of writing the biography of his friend Anselm. In a reversal of modern expectations, this medieval biography features two portraits of the text's author, while its subject, Anselm of Canterbury, is not pictured at all. There was an established tradition in early medieval manuscript illumination of depicting the author at work. In this portrait, the emphasis on decorative elements is typical of Romanesque manuscript illumination: the polychrome arch and floor tiles, the attenuated and sinuous lines describing the figure, and the fanciful contours of the writing desk.

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