Painting style and scribal language

The topic of this book a study not only in history of art and styles but also in German historical linguistics is an undated illuminated manuscript of the Younger Titurel (formerly known as the Fernberger- Dietrichstein manuscript); in private hands until 1976, it has not been continuously accessible to scholars. Four introductory chapters are devoted to a brief description of the codex as a physical object; to a discus- sion of the research history, especially the fateful interplay of history of art and dialect determination; to a summary of the history of provenance from the 16th to the 20th century (with some new findings); and final- ly, to a brief presentation of the author, form and contents of the romance as well as its transmission and reception, leading over to the two main parts of the book. Within the framework of the context thus established, the two specialist studies attempt to localise and date the manuscript according to the tools provided by the disciplines of the two authors. Initiated by Mar- tin Roland, the joint venture was conceived in such a way that each would first elaborate his section inde- pendently of the others latest state of knowledge, before in a second phase discussing the stunningly matching results. In order to focus more clearly on the suggested localisation in Regensburg, the argu- ments put forward in the two sections were substantiated and supplemented accordingly. In his art-historical and stylistic analysis, Martin Roland first looks at the situation in the Tyrol, where the codex has usually been placed. As it turns out, the well-researched stock of manuscripts offers no sub- stantial comparative examples. Above all, the common reception of the achievements of the neighbouring Italian cultural area differs remarkably from the selective adoption of Italian (and ancient) models by way of pattern books. This aspect will be exemplified by analysing the presentation of horses in unusual poses and the depiction of current changes in naval architecture. The evidence produced in a second step re- veals that the stylistic basis for the decoration of Cgm 8470 was no doubt laid in Vienna. The initials in full colour, hitherto completely unnoticed (especially the lavish incipit page on fol. 1r), display a style of initials and tendrils which make the Munich Titurel fit in neatly with the development in Regensburg around 1430/35, when the influence of the Master of the Worcester Carrying of the Cross is beginning to super- sede all other stylistic idioms. The linguistic investigation undertaken by Peter Wiesinger begins by refuting the traditional assignment of the text to the South Bavarian dialect area, arguing that the difference in spelling MHG k/ck as (affricates) and (plosives) as frequently proposed and also suggested by the spoken language of the regions simply did not exist in the 15th century. On the basis of ten codices from the South and Cen- tral Bavarian dialect areas ranging from the Tyrol to Bavaria and Vienna (plus another manuscript for North Bavarian), the scribes performance in terms of Bavarian spelling traditions (neutral or dialect spell- ings) as well as their completely different patterns of reaction to changes of locality will be investigated. Since even neutral scribal performance is often not completely free from dialect influence, Cgm 8470 can indeed be localised. Of crucial importance is the difference obtaining within Central Bavarian in the case of MGH ô, which is rendered as a variant (ö) in West Central Bavarian (and also North Bavarian), but as (a) in East Central Bavarian, resulting from dialectal differences in pronunciation. These features, together with other special characteristics of West Central Bavarian and North Bavarian dialects, suggest Regens- burg as the likely place of origin of the Munich manuscript, despite the scribes conservative nature. Both studies independently arrive at the conclusion that the scribe as well as the illuminator were influ- enced by and are thus to be assigned to Regensburg. True, this may not necessarily mean that the concrete manuscript was produced there; yet not least due to the general economic and social conditions, it is highly plausible that this multi-layered artefact, the Munich manuscript of the Younger Titurel, indeed originates from the imperial city on the Danube.