ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS AND ARCHITECTURAL DECORATION

Copyright © 1999 by David H. Fox.  All Rights Reserved

An early activity and life-long interest of G. A. Audsley was the study and practice of manuscript illumination.  Indeed, probably the first book published by Audsley was the text of the New Testament "Sermon on the Mount," printed in the style of a manuscript.  This 1861-1862 edition was sumptuously produced using twenty-seven folio pages measuring twenty-two by seventeen and one-half inches.  The actual printed surfaces were mounted sheets of much smaller size.

The work began with a frontispiece--a somewhat undistinguished color illustration of the preaching Christ with disciples and onlookers by Charles Rolt.  There followed a page of credits for the work and finally, the title page.  The first page of text was perhaps the most beautiful of the work with a massive initial letter and generous use of color and metallic gold and silver inks.  Unfortunately, the work gives the impression of a collection of attractive, but unrelated plates.  While the text is generally given in plates of about sixteen lines, certain portions, such as the Beatitudes, utilize much larger script and fewer lines.  Likewise, the illumination varies from colorful painted ornaments to austere pen work in blue and red ink.  The handiwork of the Audsleys was converted to printed form through chromolithography by W. R. Tymms.

Three versions of the work were offered for sale by Day & Company of London: 210 copies of "artist's proofs," bound in full leather, with gilt page edges (£12-12s); 210 copies of "proofs," bound in cloth (£10-10s); and 200 "general" copies printed on thinner paper (£8-8s) .        W. & G. Audsley, A Manual for Ladies on Colour in Dress: Taste vs. Fashionable Colours (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1863), advertisement on end page..

Other items produced by the Audsleys at this time were "Outlines for Illuminating," distributed by George Rowney & Company of London, suppliers of artist materials.  These were available as book markers or fourteen and one-half by ten and one-half inch sheets of various religious verses.  The text was printed along with the outline of ornamental work, which was intended to be colored by the purchaser.  They sold for "6 d. plain" and "3 s. partly coloured."

In 1865, the Audsleys published an illuminated version of the Bryon poem, "The Prisoner of Chillon."  While the same chromolithographer and publisher were utilized as with "The Sermon on the Mount," this work possessed greater decorative unity, but perhaps less virtuosity.  It consisted of seventeen plates and title page measuring eight by twelve inches.  The text was printed in a uniform manner throughout while the surrounding border varied with each page.  The result was a fascinating collection of ornamental motifs and a book that was quite readable.

The format of each page consisted twenty-six lines of text surrounded by a narrow, but bold border.  This, in turn, was enclosed by a wide band of a highly decorative nature.  A second bold and narrow band then followed.  To mediate the transition between the highly colored portions and the whiteness of the margins, a pale colored band of bold design was placed about the entire work.

The dark red cloth binding of this work exhibited Audsley's love for symbolism.  Embossed and gilt medallions contained chains, handcuffs, and portcullis, while the title appears in a lozenge formed of chain.  A ground pattern composed of rectangles was suggestive of the heavy masonry of a place of confinement.

In 1867, the Audsleys published a little work entitled, A Guide to the Art of illumination and Missal Painting.  Intended for amateurs, the work gave a brief history of the art and suggestions for its practice including a sample alphabet.  The George Rowney firm of London published the succeeding versions of this work, the seventh edition appearing in 1927, two years after G. A. Audsley's death.  Thus, this rather modest enterprise may well have been the most widely read work written by the Audsleys.

The 1927 edition consisted of eighty-four pages with one color and five monochrome plates.  About a quarter of the work is given over to a historical consideration of the subject.  A second quarter discusses ancient and modern artist materials.  The final half of the work is devoted to aspects of lettering and the all-important matters of design and color harmony.  The clearly written and practical text surely accounts for the surprising longevity of this booklet.

In late 1860, G. A. Audsley presented a paper to the Liverpool Architectural Society entitled, "The Rise and Progress of the Art of Illuminating during the Middle Ages and Its Useful Application in the Nineteenth Century to Architecture and Art Manufactures." .        "The Art of Illuminating," The Building News (7 Dec. 1860):934.  The first part of the lecture was devoted to the history of the art, beginning with ancient Egypt and ending with sixteenth century Europe.

Audsley then noted, "At the present time art is reviving from a decay of three and a death of three centuries, and we may hopefully look forward to see it, even in our day, reach a higher standard of excellence than it ever before attained....The revival of Christian architecture and art; the noblest triumph of the nineteenth century."  As a true Gothic Revivalist, Audsley had the greatest admiration for the decorative work of the thirteenth century--the great age of cathedral building.

"Ecclesiastical or Gothic buildings admit of the most complete system of decoration, and the leading features of illuminated works may be exactly reproduced on them."  Audsley went on to state, "the art of illuminating was of the greatest service to the calico printer, the carpet manufacturer, the floor-cloth maker, the maker of paperhangings, and the general manufacturer of figured fabrics."

Despite his belief in the decorative value of the manuscripts of the Middle Ages, Audsley placed himself on record as being opposed to mere copyism or "art-slavery."  A study of the manuscripts, he felt, would provide the artist with a proper sense of design and color for his own creative efforts.

The lecture ended with an exhibition of several examples of illuminating executed by Audsley and several "costly books" lent by another member.

Earlier that same year, G. A. Audsley had read a long paper, requiring two meetings of the society, on "Color as applied to Ecclesiastical Decorations, and the History and Practice of that Art." .        "Liverpool Architectural Society," The Building News (20 Jan. 1860):51-52.  He noted that there was then a "great feeling of prejudice" against admission of painted designs into churches.  This was in no small part to the religious intolerance of the era which considered such things to denote "Popery."  Audsley saw no need "to introduce into our Protestant churches those features which savoured of Roman Catholicism."

He then proceeded to describe the various treatments he considered appropriate for walls, columns, and vaultings.  Again, artists were urged not to "copy verbatim the works of the Middle Ages; they were now differently situated as regarded religion and manners, and corresponding changes must be made in most works of Gothic art."

Given the interest of the Audsleys in painted ornamentation, it is not surprising that they would provide the public with graphic examples of this art.  In late 1881, a thirty-six plate work providing one-hundred-sixty-six different designs was published as Polychromatic Decoration as Applied to Buildings in the Mediæval Styles.  A French language version of the book appeared simultaneously as La Peinture Murale Decorative dans le Style du Moyen Age.  This work was printed in color and metallic gold by a lithographic process on fine heavy weight paper.

The indebtedness of these designs to illuminated manuscripts is obvious given most have backgrounds of old parchment color.  Several ornamental alphabets were even provided for use in painting inscriptions.

The first plate contained eighteen color samples which were indicated as being "most suitable for decorative painting."  They were of a subdued nature and might be briefly described as grayish blues and greens, and brownish reds.  The notes to this plate sternly condemned "pigments as vermilion, ultramarine, emerald and green, and the chrome yellows" as being "crude and too brilliant colours, resulting in an extremely garish effect..."

There followed, an attractive set of plates showing designs suitable for bands, borders, arch spandrels, ceiling beams, and entire wall surfaces.  Of the latter, the Audsleys seems to have favored "brick patterns" which consisted of lines giving the effect of laid courses.  Each "brick" contained an ornament which was repeated over the entire surface of the wall.  Another favorite design of unusual character was that of a representation of an arcade, a series of adjoining arches supported by columns.

A decade later, G. A. Audsley and his son Maurice produced The Practical Decorator and Ornamentalist in 1892.  This work was unusual as it was published in fifteen monthly installments for subscribers by Blackie & Son of Glasgow, Scotland.  Each issue consisted of six or eight color folio plates measuring sixteen and one fourth by eleven and one-fourth inches, with descriptive and general text, costing five shillings.

The general appearance of this work was very similar to that of 1881.  The most notable difference was that a substantial portion of the designs are of Neo-Grec style, based on the anthemion and meander motifs of ancient Greece with some influence of ancient Egypt.  In the 1860s, the Audsleys had put themselves on record as being opposed to revival of architectural styles of ancient Greece and Rome.  Here, we see them being more tolerant of the changing tastes in the twilight of the Gothic Revival.  This attitude had been earlier reflected in their architecture with the building of the Liverpool Racquet Club (1879) and the Milwaukee Art Gallery (1888) in the variant of Neo-Grec style espoused by Alexander Thomson of Glasgow.

Additionally, we find several Japanese patterns including a brick pattern formed by paired lengths of bamboo with each module containing bamboo leaves and a rising sun.  Audsley had earlier produced two major publications on Japanese art.        Despite the changes in styles, one finds a continued use of subdued coloration, though with a greater variety of ground hues.

After his immigration to the United States, G. A. Audsley lectured the Architectural League of New York on "The Polychromatic Decoration of Churches" on 3 April 1895.  The text of this appeared in serialized form in the 20 April to 27 July 1895 issues of Architecture and Building.  Audsley's message essentially repeated the themes of his published works in this area.

While the religious architecture of the Audsleys occasionally called for ornamented ceilings, they do not appear to have undertaken the painted ornamentation of an entire church until the late 1890s when a commission for Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church of Hoboken, New Jersey, appeared.

Hoboken is located just across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan and was easily reached by ferry from New York City.  Our Lady of Grace was a rather typical American Catholic church of the nineteenth century.  It was constructed in 1878 of red brick with a lofty nave, but unfinished front tower.  The building was 200 feet long with a width of 130 feet at the transepts and 96 feet at the nave.  

Though he tactfully avoided its mention, this was the sort of church building that Audsley despised.  The interior was of plaster work and iron columns formed and painted in imitation of stone work.  This violated the influential precepts of the architectural theorist, John Ruskin, who held that one material should never imitate another.  Ruskin was also highly suspect of the use of iron.

While they would have designed a different sort of building, the Audsleys were quite content to redeem this church from sham and falseness.  Following the project's completion, a booklet entitled, Souvenir of the Adornment by Painting and Statuary of the Church of Our Lady of Grace was published in 1899.  The first chapter gave a history of the parish and the building of the church as written by Pastor Charles J. Kelly.  There followed three articles by G. A. Audsley: "The Art of the Catholic Church" (six pages), "Painted Decoration of Churches in the Middle Ages" (twenty-three pages), and finally, a rather lengthy and detailed description of the project itself.  Excerpts of this follow:  

The beautiful tone of velum leaves of the old missals and service books of the Church, on which illumination, in colors and gold, glow with such wondrous harmony and brilliancy, furnished the answer to the question; and, accordingly, a soft and light buff was selected for the prevailing ground tint of the walls and vaulting of the interior.  This decision did not, however, extend to the walls and vaulting of the Sanctuary and the Chapels of our Blessed Lady and S. Joseph, which called for the richest class of decoration.

It was also decided to avoid to as great an extent as possible the introduction of gold, reserving it for use in places and for special devices in which color alone would prove ineffective.

Before proceeding with the painted decoration of the church, certain alterations and additions were considered desirable.  Of the former, the removal of an objectionable circular staircase in one of the nave aisles, which led to the choir gallery, and the reduction of the gallery in size, and its restoration to its original form and dimensions, are the most important and beneficial to the appearance of the body of the church.  Four handsome Confessionals, in strict keeping with the architecture of the interior, and designed by the architects, are among the other artistic and useful additions.  Mention must be made of the important statues of the Sacred Heart and S. Anthony of Padua which, standing on handsome polished marble pedestals, have been added to the adornments of the Sanctuary.



The main pillars first claim attention, and as the supports of the superstructure are decorated with strong coloring. The foliage of all the capitals of these pillars is painted gold color and enriched with gold.

 

The main arches of the nave, which spring from the capitals of the pillars just described, have their moulding properly accentuated by different colors and enriched by simple ornamentation.



The wall-spaces of the clerestory, which appear within the lines of the vaulted ceiling, are painted to within a short distance of the springing of the window arches with a masonry-pattern containing a small cross-formed device in each stone.

 

The vaulted ceiling of the nave on account of its large area has had to treated in a very simple style of decoration.

The Sanctuary now claims attention; and this portion of the interior is properly decorated in a richer manner than the portions already described.

 

The whole of the decorative work has been admirably and conscientiously executed by Mr. Richard Bachmann, of Newark, N.J.; and the painting of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin has been executed by Mr. William Lamprecht, of New York City; both of whom have carried out the designs and instructions of the architects to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned.

 

Despite the attractive effects obtainable with decorative wall painting, Audsley doubted the wisdom of building churches with interior walls of plaster instead of stone or brick:

 

This is a cheaper method so far as the mere structure is concerned; but calls for an expensive and perishable system of painted decoration... .        G. A. Audsley, "Description of the Church of Saint Edward the Confessor" in Rev. Charles J. Vandegrift, The Church of Saint Edward the Confessor (Philadelphia: 1903).

 

Indeed, all of Audsley's labor has long since disappeared at Our Lady of Grace, whose interior now uniformly consists of badly peeling paint of a pinkish hue.  Audsley's presence still remains, however, in the form of an innovative organ he designed following the decoration project.

The description of the Our Lady of Grace project makes frequent reference to the use of religious symbolism.  This appears to have been a life-long interest of G. A. Audsley.  In 1865, W. & G. Audsley had published The Handbook of Christian Symbolism.  This 145-page work included chapters on the nimbus (so-called "halo"), symbols of the Deity, the cross, the Passion and Resurrection, baptism and eucharist, saints, and finally, the symbolism of colors and stones.  The Audsleys seem to have used nearly every form to be found in their book when decorating the ceiling of their 1906 Saint Edward the Confessor Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia.