Intermezzo II: Caines iawbone, that did the firſt murder (part III: Visuals <1400)

This is a continuation of the Intermezzo II in the Abigor Totschläger review. Other parts:

• Totschläger artwork → https://telegra.ph/Abigor-Totschlaeger-1-05-29
• Intermezzo II, part 1 (Introduction, Shakspeariana, Hebrew tradition) → https://telegra.ph/Cains-jawbone-08-01
• Intermezzo II, part 2 (Written word, manuscripts) → https://telegra.ph/Cains-jawbone-part-II-10-10
• Current part
• Intermezzo II, part 4 (Visuals 1401–1500) → https://telegra.ph/Cains-jawbone-part-iiii-10-13

The footnotes are explained here →https://telegra.ph/Footnotes-for-Intermezzo-II-10-09

Note: I collected as much visual material as I could from the earliest possible to the end of the sixteenth century. But in the course of preparation of Intermezzo II I concluded to separate the visuals from the sixteenth century and present them later — after the survey of Abigor Totschläger album is finished. The reason is the drastic increase of amounts of visual material starting from the end of the fifteenth century, and systematizing it would mean another month or two of work. Thus, the visuals from the sixteenth century will be presented when time comes.

Visuals

(ca. 1026+) Old English Hexateuch

Also known as Aelfric’s Paraphrase of the Hexateuch, the piece was created in the Benedictine abbey of Saint Augustine in Canterbury; the Old English text was written around the second quarter of the eleventh century (1026–50), although Britannica says Aelfric flourished ca. 955–1025. The images must have appeared at approximately the same time as the text. The one presented here is considered to be the earliest known picture of the jawbone in Cain’s hand and “since the date of the prose Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn is unknown beyond the assumption that it is pre-1100, the illustration [in the Old English Hexateuch] may be as old as, or even older than, the first literary allusion.” (Henderson)

The manuscript is known as Cotton MS Claudius B IV, and is now stored in the British Library. The displayed page is folio 8v. “The text of Aelfric, faithful to the Bible, specifies no instrument of murder. The painter was apparently inspired by vernacular tradition or by an image from another source.” (Schapiro)

The piece in the manuscript is sometimes called Aelfric’s Paraphrase of the Hexateuch (British Library, Shapiro), sometimes Aelfric’s Paraphrase of the Heptateuch (a few works in the bibliography on the British Library website, Guilfoyle, Britannica), and Aelfric’s Paraphrase of the Pentateuch and Joshua (Henderson).

(ca. 920+) High crosses in Ireland

Arthur Kingsley Porter was probably the first one to suggest the earliest image of the jawbone can be found on a number of Irish stone crosses: on the early tenth century Cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice, for example, which is hard to date precisely, but sources say it was created ca. 915–25.

Porter⁵⁶:

In all the reliefs of the Murder of Abel on the Irish crosses Cain holds a peculiar curved instrument. I should be quite at a loss to know for what this was intended, were it not for the following passage in the Book of Lecan…

There exist two Books of Lecan, the Yellow one and the Great one. Porter in fact quoted from neither of them, but from Seymour⁵⁷ who edited and abridged the jawbone part found in the Great Book of Lecan⁵⁸:

Cain took in his savage hand
the guilty jaw-bone of the camel;
to Abel he leapt with violence,
so that he slew him with a blow.

Seth set his hand to the jaw-bone,
on seeing the blood of the sin:
he is the man without deficiency
upon whom the first beard grew.

So why is Porter’s theory wrong?

Without diving too deep into research (not relevant for this text) the Great Book of Lecan is connected to Lebor Gabála Érenn, although I don’t understand now which one is the part of which. The Great Book of Lecan manuscript dates 1397–1418. Lebor Gabála dates ca. 1168. The jawbone mentioned in the GBoL is the earliest Irish written source of the image. Both dates are far away from the Aelfric’s Paraphrase of the Hexateuch (1026–50), and even further from the crosses’ creation dates. This is one argument against Porter’s theory.

The second argument is that the jawbone on the Irish crosses is unrecognisable. Some crosses are so deteriorated with time that one hardly can recognize anything on them. The murder weapon on the Muiredach Cross (above) doesn’t look like a jawbone. Neither does it on the South face (side) of the High Cross of Durrow:

But if we look at the ​​Scottish Inchbrayock stone we see a clear indication of the jawbone — the teeth which we cannot see on the Irish crosses. The warrior on the Inchbrayock stone is Samson.

Henderson: “…an examination of the best preserved Irish example of Cain’s murder-weapon, that on the Muiredach Cross, does nothing to support Porter’s identification of it as the jaw-bone referred to in the Book of Lecan. The Irish weapon has neither the form nor the features of a jaw-bone. […] It is not impossible that the Irish murder-weapon is a primitive spade.” Later Henderson assumes Cain on the Irish crosses most probably holds a plough coulter (“based on discoveries unearthed in some excavations”), and he finishes with “whether or not the Irish murder-weapon is a plough coulter, it seems certain that it is not a jaw-bone. […] We are left, therefore, with the English evidence for the origin of the tradition.”

(ca. 1110) St Edmund King and Martyr Church, West Kingsdown, Kent

All information I found on this cannot be 100% trusted. The image seems to be the only image of the object available online.

The earliest record of the church is from 1120, historians suggest that around 1030 the oldest part of it was built. This window decoration was discovered in 1908 and was dated as 1110 by a librarian and an authority on twelfth century art. (Source: church website)

(ca. 1150+) Winchester Psalter

aka Psalter of Henry of Blois
Date: Mid twelfth century to second half of the thirteenth century.
Note: made for Henry of Blois (ca. 1096–1171), the bishop of Winchester.
Stored in the British Library as Cotton MS Nero C IV.
First murder: folio 2r.

(ca. 1190+) Picture Bible from the Abbey of Saint Bertin in Saint-Omer

Stored at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague as MS 76 F 5 (or KW 76 F 5).

Date: ca. 1190–1200 (KB manuscripts); end of the 12th century–end of the 13 century (KB WorldCat)

The first murder: folio 2v, scene 2b.

“The asymmetrically dented, thickened end of the curved club in Cain’s hand may be a vestigial trace of a jaw-bone in the model. Other miniatures in the same manuscript show English types—the Hell Mouth, the Ascension with only the legs of Christ visible, etc.” (Shapiro) — only because of this remark by Shapiro I include the picture, but indeed the jawbone is hardly recognisable in it.

(ca. 1189+) Psalter of St Louis aka Leyden Psalter

Stored at the University Library in Leiden (Leyden), Netherlands, as BPL 76 A; aka MS 76 A, aka MS Latin 76.

Date: 1189–1207

The first murder: folio 10v.

The psalter was created “almost certainly in York”⁵⁹ and belonged to Geoffrey, the archbishop of York 1189–1212, who stayed in France from 1207 until his death five years later. “As a result of the export of English illuminated manuscripts, such as the Leyden Psalter which passed at an early date into the hands of St Louis, the jaw-bone as Cain’s murder-weapon became known on the Continent, and is represented in continental sculpture and painting…” (Henderson)

St Louis was the king of France, Louis IX.

(ca. 1200+) Wall paintings in the Church of St Thomas à Becket, Capel, Kent

I found no information which I would fully trust, but let’s assume this forum message is true:

Inside, on the North wall, are the remains of mediaeval wall paintings, some dating from about 1200, and others dating from about 50 years later. They were hidden from view for centuries under plaster. Evidence of their existence first came to light in 1868, then in 1927 they were uncovered by Professor E W Tristram. In 1970 they were conserved by Mrs Eve Baker and Mr John Dives. The wall paintings were used as a visual aid to teach the Christian faith to ordinary people who couldn't read or write.

(The original photos were taken from Sporran flickr account and edited.)

(ca. 1212+) Huntingfield Psalter

Stored in The Morgan Library, NYC, as B1 350 B MS M.0043. Also known as Pierpont Morgan Library MS 43. Maybe it was also known as MS 16 (Boase⁶⁰).

Created in 1212–20, probably in Lesnes Abbey⁶¹, southeast London. Shapiro mistakenly dates it twelfth century. At one point it belonged to William Morris himself, who wrote in it his name and the date, May 2nd 1895.

First murder: folio 8r.

Scene caption in Anglo-Norman French says Ci tue Cain Abel sun frere par enuie.

(ca. 1225+) Bible Moralisée, Codex Vindobonensis 2554

This example is not connected to the first murder weapon, but I include it because I hadn’t known about such “typological illustration” and maybe someone else doesn’t know it either. Guifoyle: “…in typological illustration Samson’s jawbone was seen in the hand of Christ at the Resurrection.”

Codex Vindobonensis 2554 is maybe stored in the Austrian National Library. A picture book was published in Graz and Paris in 1973, edited by Reiner Haussherr.

(ca. 1230+) De Brailles Psalter

Stored in The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, as MS 330.ii

Created ca. 1230–52 in Oxford, England, illuminated by William de Brailes, probably ca. 1238–52.

First murder → https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/iiif/media-3125590323

(ca. 1230) Cathedral of Saint Mary of Tudela, the West door (La Puerta del Juicio)

The construction process lasted ca. 1168–1270. The opening of the West door took place ca. 1230. How the jawbone appeared on one of its sculptures isn’t clear to me. Although the website https://qinnova.uned.es/ptajuicio/ (from which I took the second picture) says the “execution [of the door] was inspired by French models, keeping a special relationship with the sculpture of the South door of Chartres Cathedral.” — This may be an explanation of the jawbone appearing in Spain.

Additionally, the website says (Google-translated from Spanish):

In the scene appears a third character who flies over the brothers. Due to the deterioration of the image, his identity cannot be determined, but everything indicates that he is a demon that contemplates fratricide and that he even seems to direct the hand of Cain. The version that defends that this figure is a demon is based on the fact that his destruction is clearly intentional, just as many diabolical images have suffered throughout history.

(ca. 1250+) “Manuscript in Eton College”, Figurae Bibliorum

The manuscript is stored in Eton College Library as MS 177, previously known as Bl.5.7 (Figurae Bibliorum, Bible miniatures), created ca. 1250–1300.

I do not share the image from the Eton College manuscript here. They keep it away from the world wide web, but are ready to share with everyone who wishes to get a copy, by contacting the College Library. (Took me three e-mails and fifteen minutes to get a copy.)

The first murder: folio 2.

The description of the first murder image⁶² says:

Death of Abel. Abel is brown, prostate on green rock. Cain on [the] r[ight] in red, with black legs, strikes him on the head with a jaw-bone. Behind, in air, are two sheaves (?) (each has a band round it) flaming: that on [the] l[eft] flames upwards, that on [the] r[ight] downwards.

Cain in the image has quite a Jewish appearance. (See the Huth Psalter for an analogy.)

(ca. 1265+) Oscott Psalter

Stored in the British Library as Add MS 50000,

Created ca. 1265–1270, probably in Oxford

First murder: folio 16v.

(ca. 1270+) St John’s Psalter

Stored in St John’s College Library, University of Cambridge as MRJ 231 or MS 231, and/or MS K.26. Formerly known as Dyson Perrins MS 11.

Created in 1270–80 (library website) or 1260–70 (Roll⁶³). The origin is unclear. Cockerell says⁶⁴ of the pictures in general: “They are monumental compositions of the greatest interest and importance, and it is unfortunate that there is no clue to their place of origin.”

The first murder: folio 6r.

Unfortunately, no higher resolution image could be found, except one found online, but cropped to having almost no jawbone.

(ca. 1275) Grandisson Psalter

Stored in the British Library as Add MS 21926.

Created ca. 1270–1280 maybe in Chichester, West Sussex.

The first murder: folio 150v.

The Huth Psalter (ca. 1280+)

Stored in the British Library as Add MS 38116.

Created ca. 1280–1300 maybe in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.

The first murder: folio 9r.

A note from the British Library:

The book’s anti-Semitism emerges in the fourth scene: Cain, a Jewish caricature, slays the fair-haired Abel with a huge jawbone as his discoloured sacrifice emits a sickly smoke descending into the mouth of Hell.

(ca. 1300+) The Cope of Daroca (Capa de Daroca)

Stored in Museo Arqueológico Nacional: This liturgical garment from the end of the 14th century is made out of colored silk upon golden threads with linen lining. It is an example of the so-called opus anglicanum, a complex and laborious embroidery technique of which only five specimens remain in Spain. It was donated by Pope Benedict XIII, known as Papa Luna, to the Aragonese collegiate church of Daroca.

More photos on wiki.

La Twyere Psalter (ca. 1304+)

Stored in the New York Public Library Spencer Collection as MS 002.

The library record provides several dates, ranging from 1304 to 1320.

The first murder: folio 3.

The Queen Mary Psalter (ca. 1310+)

Stored in the British Library as Royal MS 2 B VII.

Created in Westminster, London ca. 1310–20.

The first murder: folio 5r.

Lancelot-Grail aka The Prose Vulgate Cycle (1316)

Stored in the British Library as Add MS 10292.

Created in 1316 in the North of France (Saint-Omer or Tournai).

The first murder: folio 33r.

Holkham Bible Picture Book (ca. 1327–35)

Stored in the British Library as Add MS 47682. Formerly known as Halkham Hall MS 666.

Created in South East England, maybe London.

The first murder: folio 5v.

Taymouth Hours (ca. 1326–49)

Stored in the British Library as Yates Thompson MS 13.

Created in the second quarter of the fourteenth century, possibly in London.

The first murder: folio 28r.

Spieghel Historiael (The Mirror of History) (ca. 1330)

Stored in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek of the Netherlands (now the National Library) in The Hague as KA 20.

Created in 1325–35 in West Flanders. (Composed in the late thirteenth century by Jacob van Maerlant — the writer of the aforementioned Rijmbijbel).

The first murder: folio 5r.

St Omer Psalter (ca. 1335)

Stored in the British Library as Yates Thompson MS 14. Formerly known as Add MS 39810.

Created in several stages ca. 1330–1447, but the first murder scene particularly was created ca. 1330–40 in Norfolk.

The first murder: folio 7r.

Omne Bonum (vol. 1, Absolucio-Circumcisio) (Every Good Thing) (ca. 1360+)

Stored in the British Library as Royal MS 6 E VI/1. Formerly known as Westminster no. 1326.

Created ca. 1360–75 by James le Palmer in London.

The first murder: folio 2r and folio 31r.

Bohun Psalter and Hours (ca. 1375)

Stored in the Bodleian Library as MS. Auct. D. 4. 4.

Created ca. 1370–80 in England.

The first murder: folio 40r.

Petrialtar retable, Hamburg (1379)

Originally in Hauptkirche St. Petri in Hamburg, now in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The altarpiece is also known as the Grabow Altarpiece.

Created (probably partly) by Bertram von Minden aka Meister Bertram. The work began “An[n]o dom[in]i M CC CLXXIX”, and ended probably in 1383 or later.

Der Brudermord is on the altarpiece retable.

End of this chapter. Continue reading → https://telegra.ph/Cains-jawbone-part-iiii-10-13