Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Stonehenge in the Scala Mundi manuscript of 1440


1 comment:

Littlestone said...

This sketch of Stonehenge in the Scala Mundi manuscript of 1440 is possibly the earliest detailed pictorial record of the monument we have. Thanks to Nigel Swift for drawing it to my attention. More info at - http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1957926,00.html

See also the British Archaeology magazine for January-February 2006-2007 which carries a six-page article by Christian Heck on the newly discovered sketch. There is a full-page colour illustration of the leaf containing the illustration, as well as three other illustrations of Stonehenge from early sources, one of which is a second full-page illustration of Stonehenge in the Douai manuscript which is now in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The English translation of the Latin text immediately below the sketch of Stonehenge in the Scala Mundi manuscript reads -

That year Merlin, not by force but art, brought and erected the giants' round from Ireland, at Stonehenge near amesbury.

The article concludes with a two-column postscript by Mike Pitts entitled, Was Geoffrey Right?