Mitteleuropäische Schulen IV (ca. 1380‒1400). Hofwerkstätten König Wenzels IV. und deren Umkreis

The catalog is dedicated to those manuscripts of the Austrian National Library which were commissioned by King Wenceslas IV (1361–1419) and the Prague court. Together with the catalog Central European Schools III (Bohemia – Moravia – Silesia – Hungary, ca 1350–1400), published in 2004, it forms a unit and completes the basic research work concerned with the art of book illumination in the central and eastern European regions during the second half of the 14th century on the basis of the manuscripts held by the Austrian National Library. The catalog entries of this volume are divided into two sections: The first section contains the richly illuminated astrological and astronomical manuscripts made for King Wenceslas IV (Cod. 2352, 2271 and 2378). The second section offers descriptions of the two magnificent projects “Wenceslas’ Bible” (Cod. 2759–2764) and “Willehalm Codex” (S. n. 2643), the “Golden Bull” (Cod. 338), as well as smaller works, whose book decorations refer to close connections between the commissioners and the Royal Court in Prague. In order to make the reader familiar with the Bohemian courtly style, the text includes thorough information on all workshops, their illuminators and filigree drawers who worked on behalf of the court. Thus the present volume provides a first comprehensive list of Prague court manuscripts and illuminators and continues the research of Gerhard Schmidt (1969) and Josef Krása (1971). It gives a compilation of their oeuvre, which includes not only the Vienna codices, but considers all eligible libraries. The explanations of the text volume are accompanied by a richly illustrated volume of color plates as well as comprehensive registers.