Hildebert and Everwin were two lay medieval artists. They are the first artists known by name that were active in the area of today's Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. They worked as illuminators

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...

 in the scriptorium

Scriptorium

Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...

 of Bishop Jindřich Zdík in the first half of the 12th century. The scriptorium, which was at that time the most important illuminator's workshop in Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, was located in Olomouc

Olomouc

Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...

. Hildebert and Everwin depicted themselves in two illuminated manuscripts of around 1140. They took part in creating the Olomouc Collectarium

Collectarium

The Collectarium , in the terminology of the Roman Catholic Church, is the book which contains the Collects.-History:...

(known also as the Olomouc Horologium or Horologium Olomucense). They also participated in illuminating the manuscript De Civitate Dei, written by Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

. It is now in the Capitular Library in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 (codex A 21/1, fol. 153r). Hildebert was allegedly the master illuminator, while Everwin was an assistant or apprentice.

They are probably best known from an image attached at the end of the manuscript of De Civitate Dei. Hildebert is depicted sitting, dressed in layman's clothes, his right hand raised and his gaze set on a table (which is called Mensa Hildeberti (Hildebert's table)). Everwin is sitting bellow him, drawing an ornament on a paper. At the top of the table, there is a mouse eating a piece of bread. The image is provided with a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 inscription which read: "Pessime mus, saepius me provocas ad iram. Ut te deus perdat" (in English: "Most wicked mouse, you incite me to anger once too often. May God destroy you.") It is possible that the complaint was intended as a criticism of poor working conditions of medieval artists.

Olomouc Collectarium

The manuscript of the Olomouc Collectarium is the most significant work created in Zdík's scriptorium. It has its origin in the 1130s - 1140s and contains 446 illuminations. The most renowned scene from the manuscript depicts Pope Gregory the Great, who is surrounded by two groups of noblemen, clerics and Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monks. Hildebert, Everwin and the monk R. (apparently the scribe

Scribe

A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...

 of the manuscript) are depicted at the bottom of the scene. During the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

, the manuscript was taken to Sweden as war loot

War loot

War loot refers to goods, valuables and property obtained by force from their lawful owners via looting during or after warfare. These "spoils of war" differ from tributes or other payments extracted after the fact by a victorious nation in that their extraction is largely arbitrary and immediate,...

, and is now in the National Library of Sweden (codex A 144). In 2009, it was lent for research purposes to the Czech Republic.