The Apocalypse, British Library, Royal MS. 19 B. XV: a reassessment of its artistic context in early fourteenth century English manuscript illumination

Abstract

• THE Apocalypse, British Library, Royal MS. 19 B. XV, is traditionally attributed to the workshop which produced Queen Mary's Psalter, BL, Royal MS. 2 B. VII; indeed, the first sixteen folios have been assigned to the Queen Mary Artist himself. For example, Sandier has recently written that 'the gatherings by the Queen Mary Master are in his inimitable style, the drawing of great grace and delicacy'. The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, it aims to dispel the above misconception by a technical appraisal of the manuscript and, secondly, it considers the wider implications of these findings by placing the Apocalypse in its rightful artistic context.