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Detailed record for Harley 3229
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| Author |
Bonaventure |
| Title |
Legend and Life of Francis of Assisi (with Miracles) |
| Origin |
Italy, Central (Florence) |
| Date |
1504 |
| Language |
Latin |
| Script |
Humanistic |
| Scribe |
Alessandro da Bologna |
| Artists |
Attributed to Stefano Lunetti (see Gazelli 1985) |
| Decoration |
Prologue miniature surrounded by full border in colours and gold, ornamented with antique motifs, roundels of saints, and a coat of arms (f. 26). 3 historiated initials at the beginning of chapters: Francis before his conversion (f. 29), receiving the stigmata (f. 81), and appearing to the pope (f. 91). 13 large decorated initials in colours and gold with floral extensions at the beginning of the other chapters (ff. 31v, 35v, 39v, 44v, 49v, 54, 59, 64, 68v, 72, 76v, 85v, 88). Numerous smaller initials in colours and gold. Numerous pen-flourished initials in red and blue. |
| Dimensions in mm |
280 x 205 (180 x 130) ( in two columns) |
| Official foliation |
ff. 116 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and at the end) |
| Form |
Parchment codex |
| Binding |
BM/BL in-house. |
| Provenance |
Written by Alessandro da Bologna, Augustinian friar and scribe, at the hospital of St Paul in Florence in 1504: colophon, 'Expleta per me Fratrem Alexandrum Bononiensem ordinis sancti. Augustini in hospitale sancti pauli di Florentia, Anno domini M.ccccc iiij iii nonas Augusti' (f. 115).
Francesco Zeno, OFM, Vicar General: inscribed, 'Concessus est hic liber ad usam fratris Andree senioris de florentia per me fratrem Franciscum Zenum V[icarium] G[eneralem] Imitum manu propria...' (f. 116v).
Giovanni Francesco di Malatesta [Tramontano, podestà of Lucca?]: his arms (f. 26).
Conyers Middleton (b. 1683, d. 1750), Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1706, head librarian of the University Library at Cambridge (1721-50); sold to Harley on 25th February 1724/5 (see Wright 1972; Diary 1966).
The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘25 die Februarij, A.D. 1724/5’ (f. 1).
Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. |
| Notes |
ff. 1 and 116 are parchment leaves.
Scholars concur that this manuscript was illuminated by Stefano Lunetti who was active in Florence from 1483 to 1534 (see, for example, Ancona 1914, Levi d'Ancona 1995, Bollati 2004). |
| Select bibliography |
A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), no. 3229.
Paolo d'Ancona, La miniatura fiorentina: Secoli XI-XVI, 2 vols (Florence: Olschki, 1914), nos. 1368, 1672.
Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series 3, 3rd edn (London: British Museum, 1925), pl. 48.
The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by C. E. Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), II: 1723-1726, p. 342.
J. J. G. Alexander and A. C. de la Mare, The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J. R. Abbey (London: Faber and Faber, 1969), p. 160.
Mirella Levi D'Ancona, The Wildenstein Collection of Iluminations: the Lombard school (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1970), pp. 104-05.
C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 424.
Andrew G. Watson, Catalogue of Dated and Datable Manuscripts c. 700-1600 in The Department of Manuscripts: The British Library, 2 vols (London: British Library, 1979), no. 739.
Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440-1525: un primo censimento, 2 vols, ed. by Annarosa Garzelli ([Florence]: Giunta regionale toscana, 1985), II, pl. 1045.
I corali del monastero di Santa Maria degli Angeli, ed. by Mirella Levi D'Ancona and others (Florence: Centro di, 1995), pp. 181, 184.
Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: Secoli IX-XVI , ed. by Milvia Bollati (Milan: Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004), p. 406. |
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f. 26
Francis of Assisi |
f. 29
Francis before his conversion |
f. 29
Francis before his conversion |
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f. 81
Francis receiving the stigmata |
f. 81
Francis receiving the stigmata |
f. 91
Francis appearing to the pope |
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f. 91
Francis appearing to the pope |
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