A heraldic illustration. Falko von der Weser

Transcription

1 A heraldic illustration by Falko von der Weser

2 Introduction Back in the Kingdom of Meridies, where I lived for a few years, it was customary to present the incoming Royals with gifts, either as a Shire, a household or a single person. I always thought that this custom was a very nice idea and decided to continue with it when I moved to Drachenwald. Usually, the presentation of the gifts is done at coronation. Alas, I was not able to attend the coronation of King Alaric and Queen Nerissa, so they did not receive a gift from me yet. But better late than never, and so it is done at Nibelungen War. The gift is a little heraldic illustration, done in the style of the Botenbuch der Bruderschaft St.Christoph auf dem Arlberg. A detailed explanation is given below.. The Original The Botenbuch der Bruderschaft St.Christoph auf dem Arlberg, also known as Codex Figdor, was begun by the monks of the monastery of Saint Christoph on the Arl Mountain 1 in 1394 and finished in On 54 pages of vellum it contains the names of 681 persons who contributed money and goods to the monastery and the heraldic devices of 507 of them. The illumination and calligraphy was done by 93 different monks. Generally, next to each heraldic device the name of the contributor is listed and the sum they donated. The book begins with the heraldic devices of the patrons of the monastery, the Dukes of Austria. Then follow two local patrons, the Count of Meideburg and the Count of Cilii. After that, no distinction of rank is made amongst the various donators, which heraldic devices are grouped vertically with typically six devices on each page. Samples Dukes of Austria The two Counts Donators (left: Leopold III. right: Leopold IV. (left: Meideburg right: Cilii) below: Katharina von Burgund) 1 The Arlberg is a mountain in Austria s province of Tirol. It is situated at approximately 60 miles east of Liechtenstein and 100 miles west of the city of Innsbruck. 2

3 The styles of the heraldic illuminations are very different between the patrons and the donators. Whereas the patrons armorial bearings receive the full heraldic treatment of shield, mantle, ducal or county crown and crest, and in the case of the Dukes of Austria even a badge, the donators armorial bearings are only depicted in form of their heraldic shields. The Dukes of Austria s heraldic illumination shows a very peculiar feature: the shield on the right side is connected to another shield below by a chain, thus denoting the fact that their bearers are husband and wife. The lower shield is the marshaled (impaled) heraldic device of the Duke s wife (left her husband s arms [Austria], right her father s arms [Burgundy]). The Badge is that of the Society of the Salamander. The crest is made of peacock s feathers, a very popular crest in period Germany. The crest of the Count s crests is wings for Meideburg and ostrich s feathers for Cilii. The pages have the approximate dimensions of 200mm x 140mm (8 x 5.5 ). No two pages have the exact same dimensions. Customization I made several adjustments to the original, to accommodate the intended purpose of the illustration. 1) In the original, in most heraldic devices the tincture Argent (Silver) is done by just not applying any color to the paper. On the some heraldic devices however, white paint was used, as can be determined by the different coloration of the paper and the device. Examples: White paint White paint No paint I decided to use silver paint 2 instead of no paint, because it looks more refined and thus more fitting for a gift presented to a King and Queen. 2) In the original, where the heraldic device called for Gold as a tincture, predominantly yellow was used. Only very few devices seem to show traces of gold leaf. All other heraldic colors are saturated and bright. I used gold paint instead of yellow, which makes it consistent with the use of silver paint instead of white paint. 3) I recognized the SCA reality of coequality of King and Queen. In period, the wife s device would have been painted below the shield of the husband, in these modern middle ages we consider men and women equal, so I painted their devices in equal positions, but still chained together as visible sign of their status as a married couple. 4) Instead of the Badge shown in the original (Gesellschaft zum Salamander = Society of the Salamander), that has no significance for our King and Queen, I incorporated the basic elements of the Meridian Kingdom device, the red hurst and the black dragon, for the King, and the rose, done in her shield colors, for the Queen. 2 Silver Paint was actually used in period, although not very often. You can find it predominantly in heraldic illustrations. 3

4 5) The King s crest consists of the typical German buffalo horns ( Büffelhörner ) 3, with the Drachenwald symbols to denote his allegiance to the Kingdom. The Queen s crest is the also typical German Federbusch (feather bush), adorned with the Queen s rose in her shield colors. 6) In the original, the crowns of the Dukes of Austria are not painted at all; the crowns for the Counts however seem to be painted in a yellow/gold tincture. I decided to follow this example in my illumination, because it just looks more refined than leaving the crowns blank. 7) In the illustration of the two dukes, the mantling is done in the proper device colors. The two count s mantlings are left blank. Because Alaric and Nerissa actually once have been the Royals of the Kingdom of Lochac, I decided to honor that fact by doing the mantling in the Lochac colors. 8) To give the mantling a more royal look, I painted the inside of it as a fur. 9) In German heraldry, sometimes two opposing devices are depicted with the left one turned around vertically (i.e.: the original device shows a lion looking to the right; now the lion is looking to the left). This was done especially when the second device was that of a woman. The practice is called Courtoisie and served the purpose that an animal, that is usually looking to the right, did not turn its back towards the device of the lady. I did not do this here, because in the past it led to confusion with people not familiar with that custom. So here, Alaric s Griffin turns its back to Nerissa s device it s not very courteous, but eliminates any confusion ( why is my griffin looking to the wrong side? Did you misread the blazon? ). 10) The original pages dimensions seemed a little small for a stand-alone illumination, so I increased the size. The Devices of their Majesties Alaric of Bangor: Per bend sinister vert and sable, a griffin sejant erect sustaining a sword Or Nerissa de Saye: Per pale gules and purpure, between three western crowns or, a unicorn passant regardent argent, armed and crined or. 3 Whether the buffalo horns are actually part of the crest or just supporting parts is open for debate. In German heraldry, everything above the helmet is considered the crest, in English heraldry the horns would be seen as supporting devices. 4

5 The Materials Arches Hot Press 90lbs paper for watercolors Reeves Fine Gouache Colors Rotring ArtPens with different nib widths for outlining Those are all modern materials, but budget constraints, ease of use, and connected to this, time limitations prevented me from using vellum and original paints. The Sources 1) Botenbuch der Bruderschaft St.Christoph auf dem Arlberg, Tiroler Handschrift, Codex Figdor, Eduard Wildmoser und Werner Köfler, Südtirol-Verlag, Innsbruck-München, ISBN ) Arlberg Pass, Hospiz und Bruderschaft, Hanna Molden, Christian Brandstätter Verlag, Wien1986, ISBN ) Calligraphy and Illumination; Patricia Lovett; Harry N. Abrams Inc. 2000, New York; ISBN ) A History of Illuminated Manuscripts; Christopher de Hamel; Phaidon Press Inc. 1994, New York; ISBN ) Online SCA Armorial ( About myself My name is Falko von der Weser ( atmyk@t-online.de ). Unfortunately, I live in a region of Germany ( unclaimed lands ), where the next SCA groups are appr. 100 km away 4. So my involvement in SCA related activities are somewhat limited to a handful of events per year and a few projects at home. I started in the SCA in the Kingdom of Meridies in For three years, I was the herald for the Shire of An Dun Theine (Huntsville, AL), before I was transferred back to Germany in 2004 (I work for the German Ministry of Defence). During my time in Meridies, I was awarded the AoA, GoA and the Burning Trumpet (Special Award for Heraldic Achievements). In 2004, I was the A&S Champion of Meridies. I am aware that my painting skills are lacking. But I am not a painter or illuminator - I am, foremost and wholeheartedly, a herald. So I mainly concentrate on the heraldic accuracy of my illustrations and spend a lot of time researching to fine tune my designs. I always strive to not just copy the originals, but to transform them into the SCA-context. The originals are my inspiration and guideline, but I try to tailor my illustrations to become unique and distinctive products of their own. Through my heraldic illustrations, I aim to promote the use of heraldry in the SCA and to contribute to the overall medieval flair in the SCA. I hope that those little gifts give the recipients some pleasure. The next two pages show, what I have done so far in this area of activity. 4 Through personal friendships, I see myself as member of Knight s Crossing, though. 5

6 Previous Heraldic Gifts Book 5 in the style of the Manesse Codex as Coronation Gift for King Maximilian and Queen Lethrenn of Meridies, 11 Pages, Hardcover Book in the style of the Arlberg Chronicles as Coronation Gift for King Wernherus and Queen Lailiane of Meridies, 15 Pages, Hardcover Commemorative Book in the style of a High School Yearbook 6 for the 20 th SCA Anniversary of Mistress Bianca Allegri da Vicenza, Kingdom of Meridies, 17 Pages, Hardcover 5 The books were bound by a friend of mine. I just provided the pages. 6 This is a very good example for transforming medieval art into the SCA-context. A thing like this was never done in period but it could have been, if they have had any high schools back then 6

7 2004 Heraldic Illustration in the style of the Arlberg Chronicles as an Entrance fee 7 for King John and Queen Honor of Drachenwald, 1 sheet 2007 Heraldic Illustration in the style of the Codex Regnault et Jeanneton as a Coronation Gift for King Maximilian and Queen Marguerite of Drachenwald, 1 sheet 2007 Heraldic Illustration in the style of the Perikopenbuch as Investiture Gift for Baron Alexander von Hardtwald of Knight s Crossing, 1 sheet 7 I would have hated it to show up as a resident in a new Kingdom with empty hands. This was my way to introduce myself properly. 7