Benedictional of St. Æthelwold

The Benedictional of St. Æthelwold (London, British Library, Additional MS 49598) is a 10th-century illuminated benedictional, the most important surviving work of the Anglo-Saxon Winchester School of illumination. It contains the various pontifical blessings used during Mass on the differing days of the ecclesiastical year along with a form for blessing the candles used during the Feast of the Purification. The manuscript was written by the monk Godeman at the request of Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester.

The manuscript is decorated on an extremely lavish scale, and is generally accepted as the masterpiece of late Anglo-Saxon illumination, and of the Winchester style. There are 28 full-page miniatures, 19 other framed pages, and two full-page historiated initials, one framed. The programme is incomplete, and there were probably intended to be a further 15 full-page miniatures and more framed pages.

A wide range of colours, many overpainted to achieve a different effect, and much gold and silver are used. The style of the miniatures is characterized by brilliant colour and exuberant acanthus ornament. Influences from Carolingian illumination can be seen in the book's elegant Caroline script and its paintings which draw upon the schools of Ada and Reims; Ada in the "statuesque poses, the crumpled veils, and the diagonal folds of draperies", Reims in the eddying clouds. A strong sense of Englishness shines through, however, in the "exhilirating dance of colour and line" and the agile brushwork which frees the figures to "glide effortlessly over the frames".

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