INITIALS ‘H’ AND ‘V’ on a leaf from a Giant Bible, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Florence, third quarter 12th century]

A leaf from what would have been an extremely imposing Giant Bible (or ‘Bibbia atlantica’). Academic consensus has it that the phenomenon of producing large-format biblical manuscripts originated in Rome, under the papal aegis, as a means of promulgating Gregorian church reform in the 11th and 12th centuries (although for an argument as to why this theory is too reductive, see L. Yawn, ‘The Italian Giant Bible, lay patronage and professional workmanship’, Les usages sociaux de la Bible, XIe-XVe siècles, CEHTL, 3, Paris, 2010). The bright yellows and blues, outlined in red, and the fine white vine decoration are typical of Tuscan manuscript illumination of the period – so appealing for its simplicity that it would be copied and replicated throughout the Renaissance in an attempt to recapture what was perceived as the purer and cleaner aesthetic of classical times. The initials here are closely related to those in a Passionary in Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Conv. Soppr. Cod. 302-3.

The text is the end of the Book of Isaiah (66:3-24), the Prologue and beginning of the Book of Jeremiah (1:1-7).

Provenance:
- The parent manuscript was probably made in Florence in the third quarter of the 12th century.
- 17th-century inscription in upper margin, only partly legible – probably an inventory number followed by the name ‘di Casca, A.’.
- ERIC KORNER (1893-1980), no 12: his sale, Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 2.

Measurements:
416 x 282mm, 47 lines in two columns, rubrics, headings and initials in red, two large white vine initials.

Bibliography:
Le Bibbie Atlantiche, eds. M. Maniaci and G. Orofino, Cassino, 2000.

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