Hildebert cursing a mouse, Everwin (Everwinvs) writing

Hildebert and Everwin were two lay

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

artists. They are the first artists known by name who were active in the area covered by today's

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. They worked as illuminators in the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

of Bishop

Jindřich Zdík Jindřich Zdík (also anglicized as ''Henry Zdík'') (c. 1083 – 1150 in Prague) was bishop of Olomouc from 1126 to 1150. Biography Zdík went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1137/1138. While he was there, Rorgo Fretellus of Nazareth dedic ...

in the first half of the 12th century. The scriptorium, which was at that time the most important illuminators' workshop in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

, was located in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

. Hildebert and Everwin depicted themselves in two illuminated manuscripts of around 1140. They took part in creating the ''Olomouc

Collectarium The ''Collectarium'' (also Collectarius, Collectaneum, Orationale, Capitulare), in the terminology of the Roman Catholic Church, is the book which contains the Collects. History In the ''Proprium de Tempore'' of the Roman Missal the title ''Stati ...

'' (known also as the ''Olomouc Horologium'' or ''Horologium Olomucense''). They also participated in illuminating the manuscript ''

De Civitate Dei ''On the City of God Against the Pagans'' ( la, De civitate Dei contra paganos), often called ''The City of God'', is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response ...

'', written by Augustine of Hippo. It is now in the Capitular Library in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(codex A 21/1, fol. 153r). It is thought that Hildebert was the master illuminator, while Everwin was an assistant or apprentice. They are probably best known from an image that appears at the end of the manuscript of ''De Civitate Dei''. Hildebert is depicted sitting, dressed in layman's clothes. Everwin is sitting below him, drawing an ornament on a sheet of parchment. Hildebert's clenched fist is raised and his gaze is directed to a nearby table (which is called ''Mensa Hildeberti'', or Hildebert's table). On the table, a mouse is eating a piece of bread. An open book on Hildebert's writing desk shows a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

inscription which reads: ''"Pessime mus, saepius me provocas ad iram. Ut te deus perdat"'' ("Most wicked mouse, you incite me to anger once too often. May God destroy you.") It is possible that the complaint was intended as a criticism of the poor working conditions of some medieval artists.

Olomouc Collectarium

The manuscript of the
Olomouc Collectarium
' is the most significant work created in Zdík's scriptorium. It has its origin in the 1130s - 1140s and contains 446 illuminations. The most renowned scene from the manuscript depicts

Pope Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

, who is surrounded by two groups of noblemen, clerics and

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monks. Hildebert, Everwin and the monk R. (apparently the scribe of the manuscript) are depicted at the bottom of the scene. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, the manuscript was taken to Sweden as

war loot Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

, and is now in the

National Library of Sweden The National Library of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga biblioteket, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish ...

(codex A 144). In 2009, it was lent for research purposes to the Czech Republic.

Olomouc Collectarium

References

Further reading