|
|
The other book on the lower shelf is a Lutheran hymnal. The first edition of Johannes Walther's Geistlich Gesangbuchli (Holy Hymn-book) was published at Wittenberg in 1524. There are two hymns given here in German on facing pages, both in the tenor part. On the left is the 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' (Come Holy Spirit) and on the right is the 'Ten Commandments'. Both were traditional anthems of the Catholic Church, but Lutheran Wittenberg published German versions, following the publication of the Bible and other church texts in German. The book shown in the painting seems, however, to be a carefully doctored version of the original, for the two hymns are neither consecutive in Walther's editions, nor numbered as here. [Cf. M. Jenny: Ein frühes Zeugnis für die kirchenverbindende Bedeutung des evangelischen Kirchenliedes. In: Jahrbuch für Liturgik und Hymnologie VIII, 1963, 124-128. Jenny states that the 1525 edition is closer to Holbein's painting than the first edition of 1524.] The 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' is here XIX, but in the book is II. The 'Ten Commandments' is there XIX and is found many pages further on. The effect is as though several pages have been removed. It is conceivable that Holbein copied an unknown or defective edition, but probable that these two hymns have been specifically chosen for display: the whole opening of this book is clearly visible and readable, which is not the case with the arithmetic book. Moreover, it seems unlikely that this book was chosen at random. Although Holbein had attended Protestant services in Reformed Basel and was to create a number of designs for Protestant publications in England, and even a painting, neither Jean de Dinteville nor Georges de Selve was a Protestant convert. A Lutheran text in German, to conservative opinion a highly contentious book, could hardly have been included in the portrait without the express wish of the sitters.
It is probable that it was Georges de Selve, on whose side of the picture the book is placed, who wished the book to be included. In 1529 de Selve had composed his Remonstrances ... aux dicts Alemans, in which he had urged the German nation to leave behind their differences and unite with the whole of Christendom. If the Lutheran translations allude to discord, the texts themselves were of universal Christian significance, and their choice could be read as a plea to German reformers: the traditional prayer for the intervention of the Holy Spirit (always the unifying force in the universal church), on the left-hand page, can be seen as a reinforcement of de Selve's message in his own book. Christian disunity was the most important issue in Europe in 1533, and one with which both ambassadors were closely concerned. Jean de Dinteville was observing the disintegration of the Catholic Church in England during his own embassy, and in France there were deep divisions over which Francis I was maintaining unity with some difficulty. Anne Boleyn herself was to receive French Protestant exiles at the English court, one of whom, Nicholas Bourbon, had his portrait taken by Holbein (Foister et al. 1997 , 40-42).
On the lower shelf are, in addition, musical instruments. There is a lute, the case of which lies upturned on the floor beneath the shelves. There are also flutes of differing diameters in a leather case which fastens with a lock and key. Some similar instruments, as well as the remains of a leather case which may have been of this type, have survived from the wreck of the Mary Rose [Cf. F. Palmer: Musical instruments from the Mary Rose: A report on work in progress. In: Early Music, January 1983, 53-59.] However, such flutes were not generally considered instruments for gentlemen, and would almost certainly not have been played by Holbein's sitters. They might, however, have learned the lute. [For example de Selve's own translation of Plutarch's Lives, Les Vyes de huict excellens ... personnages ..., Paris 1543, p. 60v, where the playing of flute and lyre is contrasted, 'mais du ieu des fluttes il le fuyoit, & evoit en horreur'.] Again, the lute is extremely accurately depicted with the right number of strings, and would be eminently playable were it not for the single broken string.
Musical instruments were common symbols of harmony, and heavenly harmonies were imagined when the spheres in the cosmos moved about the earth. [Cf. E. M. W. Tillyard: The Elizabethan World Picture. Harmondsworth 1972, chap. 8, 107-114, and J. Hollander: The Untuning of the Sky: Ideas of Music in English Poetry, 1500-1700. Princeton, NJ 1961, 47-48; see also J. Baltrusaitis: Anamorphoses: les perspectives depravées, Paris 1984, 106-107.] Lack of harmony, discord, was a commonplace metaphor for worldly conflict, and is used in precisely this sense in the emblem book published in 1531 by Andrea Alciati, an Italian who had spent much time at the court of France, and whom Dinteville is likely to have known. Alciati's book also included the Latin line Virtutis Fortuna Comes (Fortune is the companion of Virtue), which members of the Dinteville family had adopted as their motto. Alciati's emblems, many of which had been in circulation for some time, consisted - when published - of a woodcut image, an enigmatic motto and some verses. The emblems were riddles, devices of the sort which courtiers such as Dinteville often wore as badges, with literary texts. One of Alciati's emblems shows a lute, and the text refers to the broken string of the instrument, signifying discord. [Cf. J. Hollander: The Untuning of the Sky: Ideas of Music in English Poetry, 1500-1700. Princeton, NJ 1961, 48, points out that Horapollo: Hieroglyphs, published in1505, includes the lute as the symbol of political leader.] Since Dinteville's embassy took place in the context of pan-European divisions and disharmonies, with which de Selve was also deeply concerned, it is hard to believe that the lute has a function other than to highlight their troubled world. Moreover, the flutes too may be intended to underline this sense of lack of harmony, for one of them is missing from the case. In addition, the music of flutes is associated with war, and it has been suggested that the function of the flutes might therefore be to underline the presence of conflict and dissension in the world of the two sitters. [M. Rasmussen: The case of the flutes in Holbein's The Ambassadors'. In: Early Music, February 1995, 114-123.]
(Foister et al. 1997 |