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of Burgundy, in order to recognise Matthias’s interpretation of images.” It is cer¬
tain that the relationship of the image, illustration, and text was different before
printing, than in the Gutenberg era. The printed book pushed the imagery to the
background, it needed different skills for reading and understanding the text. The
pictures often interpreted and re-interpreted the text. Numerous case studies ana¬
lyse this phenomenon in connection with the publication of antique authors,” in
view of this it would not be useless to re-interpret the iconography of the known
corvinas. The history of reading perspective must be included in this research.
When researching the monarch’s book usage we must also face the question of
in what quantity the first products of this new art (printing), invented around the
time when Matthias came into power, was present in the library. This issue will be
studied in the next chapter. At the end of this train of thought, I will refer back to
the question asked in the introduction: was the library of Matthias truly the most
attractive and largest in Europe in the second half of the 15th century? Without
exaggeration it can be stated: conceivably yes!
5 Le Guay 1998.
56 STACKMANN 1967.
21