Darmstadt Mirror of Human Salvation

Darmstadt Mirror of Human Salvation

The Speculum humanae salvationis (Mirror of Human Salvation) was one of the most widely read works of devotional literature in the late Middle Ages. It served primarily to help lay people understand Christian salvation history and the connections between the Old and New Testaments.
As a typological work, the Mirror of Salvation presented so-called prefigurations: Each New Testament story (‘antitype’) was juxtaposed with three ‘types’ from the Old Testament and, in some cases, from Greek and Roman mythology, whose manifold analogies were intended to prove that the arrival of the Messiah Jesus Christ was predestined and already hinted at in the Jewish writings of the Bible. From this, the all-encompassing plan of salvation by the Christian God was concluded.

Innovative Layout for Deep Contemplation

In the countless manuscripts and prints of this popular work, the text is usually accompanied by miniatures that visually juxtapose the types and antitypes. Typically, text and images are presented together on the pages. In the Darmstadt Mirror of Salvation, the book artists found a different solution: Each pictorial double page is followed by two pages of text, so that text and images can be viewed separately. The miniatures were apparently intended to be viewed first and to stimulate spiritual meditation before the text could be used to delve deeper into the content.

136 Typological Miniatures

The 68 facing pictorial pages are each divided into four sections in red frames and usually show the New Testament ‘type’ in the upper left corner, with three miniatures of Old Testament, ‘antitypical’ scenes below and on the right-hand side. The scenes are often compositionally related to one another. The numerous figures usually appear against a parchment-colored background, which makes the actions seem all the more colorful. Careful inscriptions in narrow scrolls leave no doubt as to who is depicted.

Calligraphic Verses

While the illuminations were probably created by two different hands, only one skilled hand was responsible for the text. This hand wrote the Latin verses in a single column in the most formal and artistic font of the time: the Textura formata. Each double page is also introduced by a large red or blue initial, and each rhyming couplet by a small lombard, also alternating between red and blue.

For the Salvation of Franciscan Nuns

It is still unclear who commissioned this magnificent copy of the Mirror of Salvation. However, it must have been in the possession of the Dortmund priest Thidemann, known as Cleppinck, shortly after its creation around 1360 as he bequeathed it to the Clarenberg Convent of the Poor Clares in Hörde, very close to historic Dortmund, at the end of the 14th century. It was intended for the salvation of the nuns, as indicated by the note of ownership and donation at the end of the manuscript. The convent was converted into a noble ladies' foundation in 1591 and was probably given a new pigskin binding at that time. Sometime before the end of the 18th century, the codex found its way out of the convent and eventually came into the possession of the Baron Hupsch (1730–1805), where it is documented in 1793 and 1803. When the manuscript came to Dortmund, however, remains uncertain. Today it is preserved there under the signature Hs 2505.