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Information about Theophilus Presbyter

Theophilus Presbyter (approx. 1070-1125) was a Benedictine monk and author of a Latin text containing detailed descriptions of various medieval applied arts. The collection of his writings is designated Schedula diversarum artium ("List of various arts") or De diversibus artibus ("On various arts") and was written between 1100 and 1120. The oldest handwritten copies of the work are found in Vienna (Austrian National Library, Codex 2527) and in Wolfenbüttel (Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Codex Guelf 69). Gotthold Ephraim Lessing rediscovered the document when he worked as librarian in Wolfenbüttel.

Theophilus' Schedula allows detailed insights into the techniques used in the applied arts in the high Middle Ages. The work is divided into three volumes. The first covers the production and use of painting and drawing materials (painting techniques, paints, and inks), especially for illumination of texts and painting of walls. The second deals with the production of stained glass and techniques of glass painting, while the last deals with various techniques of goldsmithing. It also includes an introduction into the building of organs. Theophilus contains perhaps the earliest reference to oil paint. The work has been translated into English, French, Polish, Hungarian, German, Italian, Japanese, Bulgarian, and Russian, mostly in the 19th and 20th centuries.

It has been suggested (particularly by Eckhard Freise) that Theophilus is the same person as the artisan monk Roger of Helmarshausen. Roger appears to have come from Stavelot Abbey in the Meuse River region, was active as an artist and author between 1100 and 1107 in St. Pantaleon's church in Cologne, and moved to Helmarshausen Abbey in 1107. The identity of the two men has been argued among researchers for some time, but Freise's conclusions have not yet been accepted by all researchers. Internal evidence, and his name, suggest he may have been a Byzantine monk working or travelling in Northern Europe, especially Germany.

Theophilus, as the author of a "handbook", has been described as a mere theorist, but this view is currently in the minority: Theophilus' treatise is in fact clearly the work of a practicing metalworker and is also very reliable on painting.

Works

  • De diversis artibus or Schedula diversarum artium (3 volumes, approx. 1125)

References

Two editions of Theophilus's work in English:
  • Dodwell, C.R. The Various Arts. De Diversis Artibus. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986
  • Hendrie R. An Essay upon Various Arts in three Books by Theophilus called also Rugerus. London, 1847, 1961
A good English translation:
  • Hawthorne, J.G. and C.S. Smith Theophilus: On Divers Arts. University of Chicago Press, 1963; reprinted New York: Dover Publications 1979
The following references are in German:
  • Brepohl, E. Theophilus Presbyter und das mittelalterliche Kunsthandwerk. Cologne, 1999. (2 volumes).
  • Freise, E. "Roger von Helmarshausen in seiner monastischen Umwelt". In Frühmittelalterliche Studien, 15, 1981.
  • Ilg, A. (Editor). "Theophilus Presbyter. Schedula diversarum artium". In Quellenschriften für Kunstgeschichte, volume 7. Vienna, 1874.
  • Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Vom Alter der Ölmalerey aus dem Theophilus Presbyter. Berlin, 1774.
  • Theobald, W. Technik des Kunsthandwerks im 10. Jh. Des T. Schedula Diversarum Artium, Berlin, 1933, 1953 and 1983. (Includes translations and explanations of sections of the work.)

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Benedictine (adj.) refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the autonomous communities of monks founded by him in central Italy.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's own hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" (doing things the old way) and "the rest".
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Vienna (German: Wien [viːn], see also ) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primate city; with a population of about 1.
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Wolfenbuettel.

Wolfenbüttel

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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (22 January, 1729 – 15 February, 1781) was a German writer, philosopher, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era.
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Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.

Paint is used to protect, decorate (such as adding color), or add functionality to an object or surface by covering it
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An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to produce an image or text. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen or brush or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.
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illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold
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stained glass refers either to the material of coloured glass or to the art and craft of working with it. Throughout its thousand-year history the term "stained glass" was applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches, cathedrals and other significant buildings.
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Jewellery (also spelled jewelry, see spelling differences) is a personal ornament, such as a necklace, ring, or bracelet, made from jewels, precious metals or other substance.
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organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. It uses wind moving through metal or wood pipes and/or it uses sampled organ sounds or oscillators to produce sound, which remains constant while a key is depressed.
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Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint consisting of small pigment particles suspended in a drying oil. Oil paints have been used in England as early as the 13th century for simple decoration,[1] but were not widely adopted for artistic purposes until the 15th century.
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Roger of Helmarshausen (fl. 12th century) was a well-known goldsmith and metalwork artist, and also a Benedictine monk.

Artistic career

Roger is first heard of in connection with Stavelot Abbey in the Meuse valley, a centre of Mosan art, and especially goldsmith's work.
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Stavelot is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1 2006 Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².
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Origin  France
Mouth Hollands Diep
Basin countries  France,  Belgium,  Netherlands
Length 925 km (575 mi)
Source elevation 409 m (1,342 ft)

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Saint Pantaleon (Greek: Παντελεήμων Panteleimon 'all-compassionate'), counted in the West among the late-medieval Fourteen Holy Helpers and in the East as one of the "Holy Unmercenary Healers", was a martyr of Nicomedia
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Köln
Cologne
Cologne Cathedral with Hohenzollern Bridge
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Helmarshausen Abbey (Kloster Helmarshausen) was a Benedictine monastery situated in the small town of Helmarshausen, now part of Bad Karlshafen in Hesse, Germany.

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The abbey was founded here near the River Diemel in 997 by the nobles Eckehard and Mathilde.
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