Theophilus Presbyter is the pseudonymous author or compiler of a Latin text containing detailed descriptions of various medieval arts, a text commonly known as the Schedula diversarum artium or De diversis artibus, probably first compiled between 1100 and 1120. The oldest manuscript copies of the work are found in Vienna and in Wolfenbüttel. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing rediscovered the document when he worked as librarian in Wolfenbüttel, and published excerpts in 1774. These aroused great interest as they disproved Vasari's myth of Jan van Eyck developing the technique of oil painting in the early 15th century, about which antiquaries had already become suspicious. Theophilus' Schedula allows detailed insights into the techniques used in the applied arts in the high Middle Ages. The work is divided into three books. The first covers the production and use of painting and drawing materials, especially for illumination of texts and painting of walls. The second deals with the production of stained glass and techniques of glass painting, while the last deals with various techniques of goldsmithing and other metalwork. It also includes an introduction into the building of organs. Theophilus contains perhaps the earliest reference to oil paint. The work has been translated into English, French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Hungarian, German, Italian, Japanese, Bulgarian, and Russian, mostly in the 19th and 20th centuries. 'Theophilus' was quite possibly a Benedictine monk. It has been suggested that Theophilus is the same person as the artisan monk Roger of Helmarshausen. Roger appears to have come fromStavelot Abbey in the Meuse River region, was active as an artist and author between 1100 and 1107 in St. Pantaleon's church inCologne, and moved to Helmarshausen Abbey in 1107. The identity of the two men has been argued among researchers for some time, but Freise's conclusions have not yet been accepted by all researchers. Other suggestions have also been made, and at present there can not be said to be a consensus. Theophilus, as the author of a "handbook", has been described as a mere theorist, but this view is currently in the minority. The First Book, on painting, is not particularly well-informed, but adequately reliable, the Second, on glass, is better, while most of the Third Book is clearly the work of a practising metalworker. It has recently been suggested that the apparent contradictory evidence as to dating, practical experience, and location of 'Theophilus' is best explained if the Schedula is understood to be a compilation.
Works
De diversis artibus or Schedula diversarum artium
Two editions of Theophilus's work with English translations:
Dodwell, C. R. The Various Arts. De Diversis Artibus. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961, reprinted 1986
Hendrie R. An Essay upon Various Arts in three Books by Theophilus called also Rugerus. London, 1847, 1961
