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Boethius (c.480–524)
De Musica  Copied in 1150
Courtesy of the Manuscripts and Archives Collection.  Alexander Turnbull Library.  National Library of New Zealand.  Te Puna Mätauranga o Aoteraoa.

 

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Boethius’ De Musica
1150

This manuscript probably dates from the first half of the twelfth century. It was written on vellum (prepared animal skin), possibly in the scriptorium or manuscript copying room of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. It is considered to be a particularly fine example of medieval illumination.

The volume contains influential texts on music. Shown here is a part of De Musica (formally titled De Institutione Musica) by Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius (c.480–525). Boethius is regarded as one of the greatest of the early medieval scholars. He is widely known for his work De Consolatione Philosophiae, which proposed the pursuit of wisdom and the love of God as the essentials of human happiness.

Several of his works mention music. In particular his first works dealt with the four mathematical disciplines of ancient times: arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. Of these, only the one on arithmetic, and part of De Institutione Musica, survive, but the latter expresses the substance of his musical thought and was enormously important to the history of music, having influenced Western musical thought for almost 1000 years, and as one of the earliest works of musical theory in the Western world.

The illustrations in this manuscript of De Musica emphasise key points in the text, and are part of an integrated decorative program of explanatory diagrams in which utility and beauty combine. They show a Norman French influence and may have been executed by a scribe and artist trained in France. Here, a numerical table and proportional diagrams are balanced by an elephant and framed by twin towers, with soldiers peering over the battlements. The diagram summarises the previous text, while the image of the elephant—symbol of memory—reinforces its mnemonic quality. The diagrams display both grace and precision, and their fine labelling links together the script, the decoration and the explanation.