Pope Honorius II confirming the Rule of the Premonstratensian Order

Hans Schaufelein

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Hans Leonhard Schäufelein. The drawing shows a busy interior with a man sitting on a throne to the left, a lavishly dressed man kneeling before him with an open book, and a balcony in the upper centre of the composition. Behind the man on the throne is a crowd of people and there is a group of men dressed in monk's habits kneeling at the right of the composition. In the centre middle ground is an opening with a single pillar down the middle. A room beyond can be seen through this opening in which there are two figure seated at a table and a flight of stairs. This was probably a design for a mural as details of the wall on which it would be mounted (a doorway and shelf) can be seen at the lower edge of the drawing. Text in the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "No. 28 HANS LEONHARD SCHÄUFELEIN (b. about 1480; d. 1539-40) POPE HONORIUS II CONFIRMING THE RULE OF THE PREMONSTRATENSIAN ORDER British Museum, 1909-1-9-17. From the S. Scheikévitch Collection, Paris. Pen and ink. 28.8 x 26 cm. (11 5/16 x 10 3/16 in.). The Pope, attended by a Cardinal and three other persons, receives and blesses a book presented to him by St. Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensian Order, who became Archbishop of Magdeburg in the same year (1126), though not before the confirmation had taken place. Five canons regular in the white habit of the Premonstratensians kneel on the right, preceded by their abbot. Spectators in a balcony hold a big scroll, which has remained, unfortunately, without the inscription for which it was designed. The interpretation of the subject here adopted was kindly suggested by Mr. Egerton Beck. The name 'Albert Durer' to the left, and monogram to right, of a small arcged opening at the foot of the drawing are, of course, late additions, but beneath the former may be seen what seems to be the remains of a shovel, part of Schäufelein's genuine signature, the lower part of which has been cut off. The drawing is one of the most important examples of this master that have survived, and may be dated about 1510-12 by comparison with his woodcuts. C. D."