THEOPHILUS the PRIEST ~ On DIVERS ARTS
THEOPHILUS the PRIEST ~ PROLOGUES from DE DIVERSIS ARTIBUS
back to main page
[Excerpted from On Divers Arts: The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking and Metalwork, translated by John G. Hawthorne and Cyril Stanley Smith. Dover Publications. New York. 1979]
[quote]
Prologue to Book I, the Art of the Painter:
Theophilus, humble priest, servant of the servants of God, unworthy of the name and profession of monk, to all who wish to avoid and subdue sloth of mind and wandering of the spirit by useful occupation of the hands and delightful contemplation of new things: the recompense of heavenly reward!
We read in the account of the creation of the world that man was created in the image and likeness of God, and was given life by the breathing-in of the divine breath; that by the excelling quality of such distinction he was preferred above all other living creatures, so that, capable of reason, he might participate deservedly in the wisdom and skill of God's design, and that, endowed with freedom of choice, he should respect the will and revere the sovereignty of his Creator alone. But, although he lost the privilege of immortality through the sin of disobedience, being pitifully deceived by the cunning of the devil, nevertheless he transmitted to the generations of posterity his distinction of knowledge and intelligence, so that whosever devotes care and attention to the task can acquire, as by hereditary right, the capacity for the whole range of art and skill.
Holding this purpose before it, human ingenuity, in its varied activities in pursuit of gain and pleasure, brought this purpose through the waxing of time eventually to the predestined era of the Christian religion. So it came to pass that a people devoted to God converted to His worship that which His own ordinance had created for the praise and glory of His name.
Wherefore the pious devotion of the faithful should not neglect what the ingenious foresight of their predecessors has transmitted to our present age, and man should embrace with avid eagerness the inheritance that God bestowed on man and should labor to acquire it. Let no one after acquiring this glorify himself in his own heart as though it had been received from himself and not from elsewhere. But let him be humbly thankful in the Lord from whom and through whom all things are and without whom nothing is. Let him not hide his gifts in the purse of envy nor conceal them in the storeroom of a selfish heart but, thrusting aside all boasting, let him simply and with a cheerful mind dispense to those who seek. Let him also fear the judgment in the Gospel on that merchant who failed to return the talent to his master with interest and went without thanks, and by the evidence of his own mouth deserved the epithet, thou wicked servant.
Fearing to incur this judgment, I, an unworthy human creature, almost without name, offer freely to all who desire in humbleness to learn the gifts that God, who gives abundantly and undemanding to all, has deigned to grant freely to me. I admonish them to see exemplified in me the blessed kindness of God and to wonder at His ample generosity. I urge them to believe unquestioningly that the same is there for them if they will add their own efforts. For just as it is wicked and hateful for a man through evil ambition to grasp at a forbidden thing that is not his due or to take possession of it by theft, so also it must be ascribed to laziness and to folly in he leaves without trial or treats contemptuously a rightful inheritance from God the Father.
Therefore, whoever you are, dearest son, whose heart God has inspired to investigate the vast field of the divers arts and to apply your mind and attention to gather from it whatever pleases you, do not disparage any costly or useful thing just because your native soil has spontaneously and unexpectedly produced it for you. For he is a foolish merchant who suddenly comes across a treasure while digging the soil and neglects to gather it up and save it. If your common shrubs should produce myrrh, frankincense, and balsam, if your local springs should pour forth oil, milk, and honey, if spikenard, cane, and various aromatic herbs should grow in place of nettles, thistles, and other garden weeds, would you despise all these as cheap local products and travel over land and sea to procure foreign ones that are no better and are perhaps of less value? Even in your own judgment this would be a great folly. For although men normally accord highest rank to, and guard with greatest care, every precious thing that has been sought after with much sweat and acquired at extreme expense, yet if now and then similar or better things turn up or are found for nothing, they are guarded with similar or even greater vigilance.
Therefore, most gentle son - whom God has wholly blessed in that there are freely offered to you things which many obtain only after intolerable effort, plowing the waves of the sea at the greatest danger to their lives, constrained by the necessities of hunger and cold, or wearied by long servitude to the professors, and yet remain unflagging in their desire for learning - gaze covetously and avidly upon this treatise on divers arts, read it through with tenacious memory, and embrace it with an ardent love.
If you study it diligently you will find here whatever kinds of different pigments Byzantium possesses and their mixtures; whatever Russia has learned in the workings of enamels and variegation with niello; whatever Arab lands adorn with repousse or casting or openwork; whatever decoration Italy applies to a variety of vessels in gold or by the carving of gems and ivories; whatever France loves in the costly variegation of windows; and whatever skillful Germany applauds in the fine working of Gold, silver, copper, and iron, and in wood and precious stones.
When you have read this again and again and entrusted it to your tenacious memory, you will repay your instructor for his pains if every time you have made good use of my work, you pray for me that I may receive the mercy of almighty God who knows that I have written what is here systematically set forth neither out of love for human praise nor from desire for temporal reward, and that through envious jealousy I have neither stolen anything precious or rare nor silently reserved anything for myself alone, but rather that I have given aid to many men in their need and have had concern for their advancement to the increase of the honor and glory of His name.
Prologue to Book II, the Art of the Worker in Glass:
In the preceding book, dearest brother, through a feeling of sincere affection, I did not hesitate to urge n you how much honour and advancement there is in avoiding idleness and subduing indolence and sloth, and how sweet and delightful it is to expend your efforts on the practice of divers useful arts after the words of a certain orator who said: To know something is to merit praise; to be unwilling to learn is to merit blame. Nor should anyone be slow to draw near to the man of whom Solomon said: He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth labor, because if he thinks carefully about this, he will be able to see how much advancement of the soul and body arises therefrom. For it is as clear as day that anyone who indulges in idleness and frivolity also spends his time in empty gossip and in slander, idle curiosity, drinking, drunkenness, brawling, fighting, murder, riotous living, thieving, sacrilege, perjury, and other things of this kind which are repugnant in the eyes of God, who looks with favor on a humble quiet man working in silence in the name of the Lord and obedient to the precept of the blessed apostle Paul: But rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Therefore, longing to be an imitator of this man, I drew near to the forecourt of holy Wisdom and I saw the sanctuary filled with a variety of all kinds of differing colors, displaying the utility and nature of each pigment. I entered it unseen and immediately filled the storeroom of my heart fully with all these things. I examined them one by one with careful experiment, testing them all by eye and by hand, and I have committed them to you in clarity and without envy for your study. Since this method of painting cannot be obvious, I worked hard like a careful investigator using every means to learn by what skilled artists the variety of pigments could decorate the work without repelling the daylight and the rays of the sun. By devoting my efforts to this task I have come to understand the nature of glass, and I see that this effect can be achieved by the use of glass alone and in its variety. I have made it my concern to hunt out this technique for your study as I learned it by looking and listening.
Prologue to Book III, the Art of the Metalworker:
The greatest of the Prophets, David (whom the Lord God in His wisdom predestined before the ages of time, whom He chose after His own heart for the simplicity and humility of his mind, whom He appointed prince over His beloved people, whom He strengthened with princely spirit so that he might nobly and wisely establish a regime of such renown), concerning the whole power of his mind toward love of his Creator, uttered, among others, these words: Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house.
Whether a man of such authority and capacious understanding meant by this house the habitation of the celestial court in which God presides with inestimable brightness over the singing choirs of angels (for which David himself yearned with all his inmost being, saying, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.) or whether he meant the refuge of a devout breast and a most pure heart (in which God truly dwells, a guest ardently desired by David, who prays, Renew a right spirit within me, O Lord.), nevertheless it is certain that he avidly desired the embellishment of the material house of God, where is the place of prayer. For he entrusted to his son Solomon almost all the materials - gold, silver, brass, and iron - for the Lord's house, to be the founder of which he himself yearned with most ardent desire although he was not worthy because of his frequent shedding of human, albeit enemy, blood. For he had read in Exodus that the Lord had given instructions to Moses to build a tabernacle, had chosen by name the masters for the various kinds of work, and had filled them with the spirits of wisdom, of understanding, and of knowledge in order that they might devise and execute work in gold and silver and in brass, in precious stones, in wood, and in universal craftsmanship. He knew from devout reflection that God delights in embellishment of this kind, which he was arranging to be executed under the direction and authority of the Holy Spirit, without whose inspiration he believed no one could attempt anything of this kind.
Therefore, most beloved son, you should not doubt but should believe in full faith that the Spirit of God has filled your heart when you have embellished His house with such great beauty and variety of workmanship. And lest perhaps you are diffident, I shall unfold clearly and systematically that whatever in the arts you can learn, understand, or devise, is bestowed on you by the grace of the seven-fold Spirit.
Through the spirit of wisdom you know that created things proceed from God and that without Him nothing is.
Through the spirit of understanding, you have received the capacity for practical knowledge of the order, the variety, and the measure that you apply to your various kinds of work.
Through the spirit of Counsel you do not hide away the talent given you by God, but, working and teaching openly and with humility, you faithfully reveal it to those who desire to learn.
Through the spirit of fortitude you shake off all the apathy of sloth, and whatever you commence with quick enthusiasm you carry through to completion with full vigor.
Through the spirit of knowledge that is given to you, you are the master by virtue of your practical knowledge and you use in public the perfect abundance of your abounding heart with the confidence of a full mind.
Through the spirit of piety you set a limit with pious consideration on what the work is to be, and for whom, and, lest the vice of greed or cupidity should steal in, on the amount of the recompense.
Through the spirit of fear of the Lord you bear in mind that of yourself you are nothing able and you ponder on the fact that you possess and desire nothing that is not given to you by God, but in faith, trust, and thankfulness you ascribe to divine compassion whatever you know or are or can be.
Inspired by these covenants with the virtues, dearest son, you have confidently approached the house of God and decorated it well and gracefully. By setting off the ceiling panels and walls with a variety of kinds of work and a variety of pigments, you have shown the beholders something of the likeness of the paradise of God, burgeoning with all kinds of flowers, verdant with grass and foliage, cherishing the souls of the saints with halos according to their merit. Thus you have caused them to praise God the Creator in this creation and to proclaim Him marvelous in His works. A human eye cannot decide on which work it should first fix its attention; if it looks at ceiling panels, they bloom like tapestries; if it surveys the walls, the likeness of paradise is there; if it gazes at the abundance of light from the windows, it marvels at the inestimable beauty of the glass and the variety of this most precious workmanship. But if a faithful soul should see the representation of the Lord's crucifixion expressed in the strokes of an artist, it is itself pierced; if it sees how great are the tortures that the saints have endured in their bodies and how great the rewards of eternal life that they have received, it grasps at the observance of a better life; if it contemplates how great are the joys in heaven and how great are the torments in the flames of hell, it is inspired with hope because of its good deeds and shaken with fear on considering its sins.
Therefore, act now, prudent man (happy before God and men in this life, happier still in the future life), by whose labor and zeal so many burnt offerings are being shown to God. Henceforth be fired with greater ingenuity: with all the striving of your mind hasten to complete whatever is still lacking in the house of the Lord and without which the divine mysteries and the administering of the offices cannot continue. These are chalices, candlesticks, censers, cruets, ewers, caskets for holy relics, crosses, missal covers, and all the other things that practical necessity requires for use in ecclesiastical ceremony.
If you wish to make these begin in the following way.
[end quote]