Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ælsinus

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579772Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 01 — Ælsinus1885William Cosmo Monkhouse

ÆLSINUS (10th cent.), Anglo-Saxon miniaturist, was a monk of New Minster, or Hyde Abbey, Winchester. In a Miscellany among the Cotton MSS. in the British Museum (Titus, D. xxvii.) there is an ‘Office of the Holy Cross,’ written by Ælsinus for Ælfwine, afterwards abbot of Hyde. It is ornamented with miniatures of the Crucifixion and the Blessed Trinity. The miniatures are in outline of a greenish tint, and the composition of both is very pleasing. Prefixed to the ‘Office’ is a calendar commencing in 978, which is probably the date of the ‘Office.’

[Paper by Gage in Archæologia, xxiv. 40.]

C. M.