Treasures of Book Illumination - Mysterious Encounters

Treasures of Book Illumination - Mysterious Encounters

This single leaf collection brings together four very different, artistic book treasures.
The Prayer Book of John the Peaceful (1490–1539) is one of the most beautiful masterpieces of Flemish book illumination, with a total of 40 full-page miniatures and 86 historiated initials by Gerard Horenbout (ca. 1465–1541), among others. The three-volume work was commissioned after 1511 by the eponymous third Duke of Cleves.
The Missal of the Florentine Baptistery, on the other hand, was created between 1492 and 1502 for the baptistery of Florence Cathedral, which was under the care of the Cloth Merchants' Guild, who commissioned the liturgical manuscript. It was written by Zenobio Bartolomeo Moschino and masterfully illuminated by Monte di Giovanni di Miniato di Gherardo (1488–1532/33). The latter had already been involved in the mosaic decoration of the Zenobius Chapel of Florence Cathedral under Sandro Botticelli's direction and was therefore the perfect candidate for the decoration of the expensive codex, which repeatedly refers back to other Florentine Renaissance works of art.
The manuscript containing Bernard of Clairvaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs, which were completed after his death in 1153 by Abbot Gilbert from Hoyland in England (d. 1172), also originates from Florence. The wonderful Quattrocento copy of the high medieval theological work was commissioned by Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482), Duke of Urbino and one of the most famous condottieri of the 15th century, who, according to his vita, had a great personal interest in the writings of St. Bernard.
Finally, a particularly luxurious splendor unfolds in the Byzantine Palatina Psalter, which takes its name from its former repository – the library of the Electors of the Palatinate in Heidelberg. The Greek Psalter is decorated all over with gold and still contains four preserved, full-page miniatures.
The following miniatures from these four gems are included in the single leaf collection:

Leaf 1: Root of Jesse
Prayer Book of John the Peaceful, Duke of Cleves
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 3770
Belgium, after 1511

Leaf 2: David as King
Palatina Psalter
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. gr. 381B
Constantinople, 13th/14th century

Leaf 3: Last Supper and Passion
Missal of the Florentine Baptistery
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Barb. lat. 610
Florence, 1494–1502

Leaf 4: Vision of St. Bernard
Sermons on the Song of Songs
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Urb. lat. 93
Florence, 1474–1480