The Book of Secret Revelation

The Book of Secret Revelation

Although many of the details regarding this splendidly illuminated manuscript remain unclear, it has been deduced by researchers that the 52 full-page miniatures brightly colored and embellished with gold leaf, some in the style of the Bolognese school and the rest in the French style, were created in Metz during the late-13th century. The image program appears to be modelled on contemporary English Apocalypse manuscripts, the Lambeth Apocalypse in particular. As such, this work is a hybrid of artistic influences that predates the International Gothic style by a generation or two. Internal elements of the text indicate that it was added to the manuscript between 1331 and 1334: a note on fol. 72v refers to the reign of the Avignon Pope John XXII, which ended upon his death in 1334, and another note on fol. 73v is dated 1331. The text was neatly written in two columns by a skilled hand and is adorned by filigree tendrils, historiated and zoomorphic initials, and various figures.

The Turbulent History of a Coveted Manuscript

Although the fate of the manuscripts in the early centuries of its existence remains a mystery, one of the previous owners may have left his coat of arms with an eight-pointed star on the inside of the previous cover and a circular ink stamp with the coat of arms of Savoy is found on fols. 1r, 33r, and 139r. The manuscript was rebound in leather with a motif of metal palmettes between 1751 and 1850 and the title APOCALISSE stamped in gold on the spine. It is known with certainty that the manuscript belonged to the Pucci family, who sold it to Count Guglielmo Libri (1803–69) in 1840. The latter took it to Paris in 1843 and sold it, together with his entire collection, to Lord Bertrand IV Earl of Ashburnham (1797–1878) in 1847. In 1884, Lord Bertrand V Earl of Ashburnham (1840–1913) sold his book collection to the Italian government, which was eventually assigned to the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence under the shelf mark Ashb. 415.