Initial M cutting from Florus of Lyon, Expositio in epistolas beati Pauli (Commentary on the Letters of Saint Paul)
Title
Initial M cutting from Florus of Lyon, Expositio in epistolas beati Pauli (Commentary on the Letters of Saint Paul)
Description
This initial has been excised from an eleventh-century copy of Florus of Lyon’s commentary on the Epistles of Paul: the fragmentary text visible on the reverse side includes the conclusion of the commentary on Philemon and the beginning of the section on Hebrews. Florus (ca. 810–60) was a theologian, canonist, and liturgist educated in the spirit of the Carolingian Renaissance. His work on the Pauline Epistles was widely copied in the following centuries. The white-vine scroll decoration seen in this fragment—known in Italian as bianchi girari—is typical of manuscript illumination associated with the Romanesque period. It was later borrowed by humanist scribes and illuminators who thought the texts they were copying were ancient, or at least reliable copies of lost originals.
Date
ca. 1100–1125
Format
Manuscript cutting on parchment
Identifier
The Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E M 46:1b
Coverage
Switzerland or Southern Germany (?)
Tags
Citation
“Initial M cutting from Florus of Lyon, Expositio in epistolas beati Pauli (Commentary on the Letters of Saint Paul),” Making the Renaissance Manuscript, accessed November 21, 2024, http://makingrenmanuscripts.exhibits.library.upenn.edu/items/show/10.