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21 Oct, 5 tweets, 3 min read
This circa 1665 painting of the Annunciation by the relatively obscure Dutch genre painter Godfried Schalcken (1643 - 1706) gets something exactly right, that almost all other artists - including many far more famous than Schalcken - get wrong. Can you see what it is? 1/
Here is Godfried Schalcken's version vs El Greco's..... 2/
And here is his version vs Titian's. Can you see the key difference yet? 3/
Here's the answer... 4/
Only in Schalcken's painting is the Virgin reading from a SCROLL, which would have been the correct book format at the time. The codex-form book shown in El Greco's and Titian's paintings didn't come into widespread use until at least two centuries later, from around AD 200. 5/

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More from @incunabula

Incunabula Profile picture
14 Oct
I'm trying to identify the writer of these notes on a Coptic ostracon, most likely an Austrian papyrologist or coptologist. The paper and ink suggests a date between the 1930s and 1950s, but it could be earlier or later than that.
Does anyone here recognize the handwriting?
A comment was made by @V_Feuerstein that the German handwriting looked older, more like 1890-1910. This is perfectly possible and I'd welcome more comments on this from German speakers - are there particular features in the handwriting that indicate an earlier date range to you?
Some very interesting and useful replies so far, thank you to @V_Feuerstein, @madcynic and @sista_ray. In case it helps, here is another sample of the handwriting.
Read 7 tweets
Incunabula Profile picture
6 Oct
"Perversely, those looters' inscriptions are good legal provenance, from the market's point of view. You need only look at the auction results."

This is a long but absolutely fascinating and important thread, which hasn't had anything like the recognition it deserves.
HT @hchesner for flagging this up.
“This book was taken out of a large Joss House in "Chin Kiang Foo" - the day after it was taken. 21st July 1842. S.F.”
Read 4 tweets
Incunabula Profile picture
3 Oct
Come for the posture, stay for the trousers: Captain Godfrey Rodrigues' "Correct Posture - It's Meaning and It's Results", printed in Chicago, 1925. Our hero, Capt Rodrigues, was apparently known as "The Tsar of Posture", although not, alas, as "The Tsar of The Possessive Its"... ImageImage
The book recounts the philosophy of physical health (basically, don't overstrain, but take lots of long country walks while holding in your stomach) of Captain Rodrigues, who is, as you'd expect, featured prominently in all his *HAWT* glory... Image
To add spice though, various other muscled athletic men are shown, also shirtless of course - with dire warnings that they all died young due to excessive exercise and their failure to adopt Captain Rodrigues's rules of good posture... Image
Read 4 tweets
Incunabula Profile picture
3 Oct
In which country's households are you most likely to find a copy of the Talmud? Surprisingly, the answer is probably not Israel.
The country where the Talmud is ubiquitous, where it's quoted by sports stars & celebrities, where it's sold at station kiosks, is... SOUTH KOREA. 1/
Across all editions, the Talmud may be the single bestselling book title in Korea, behind only the Bible.
More than 800 different books, from more than 300 publishers, are returned when you search for “Talmud” in the National Digital Library of Korea. 2/
In 2011, the Korean Ambassador to Israel, was interviewed on Israeli TV. “I want to show you this,” he told the host. It was a paperback book with “Talmud” written in Korean and English on the cover, along with a cartoon sketch of a Biblical character with a robe & staff. 3/
Read 15 tweets
Incunabula Profile picture
2 Oct
THE CHINESE JESUS
A set of thirty Chinese Christian prints showing scenes from the Life of Jesus, likely printed at the Zikawei press in Shanghai, at the end of the 19th century. These posters were intended for use in missionary schools to promote teachings from the Bible. 1/
Six of the posters - two examples are shown here - have inset vignettes showing Chinese people as part of the biblical scene or associated tales. 2/
The remaining 24 posters depict scenes from Jesus’s life and ministry with Chinese subtitles. Generally all the figures, Jesus included, have clearly Chinese features. 3/
Read 6 tweets
Incunabula Profile picture
6 Sep
European civilization is built on ham and cheese, which allowed protein to be stored throughout the icy winters.

Without this, urban societies in most of central Europe would simply not have been possible.

This is also why we have hardback books. Here's why. 1/ ImageImage
Cheese meant female sheep & cows were usually more valuable than male ones which were accordingly slaughtered young as they were not worth feeding through the winter. The skins of these young animals was used to make vellum, giving us the basic material of the European book. 2/ Image
Vellum tends to buckle & ripple, it doesn't lie absolutely flat like paper. So it was bound between heavy wooden boards to keep it flat - this is the origin of the hardback book, a book format - expensive, hard to make, & prone to damage - almost never seen outside Europe. 3/ Image
Read 49 tweets

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