The Vergilius Romanus is one of the few surviving illustrated classical manuscripts. As such, its importance to art history is hard to overstate. The manuscript has 19 surviving illustrations, painted by at least two artists, both of whom are anonymous. The style of both artists represents the beginning of a break with classical style. The human form becomes abstracted and flattened and the naturalistic depiction of space is abandoned.
The first artist painted a single miniature on folio 1 recto, an illustration for the First Eclogue. In it a cowherd, Tityrus, plays a flute while sitting under a tree. The heads of three cows look out from behind the tree. Meanwhile a standing goatherd, Meliboeus, leads a goat by its horns under a tree. More goats look out from behind that tree. This miniature shows some remnants of classical style. The cows and goats looking out from behind the trees are an attempt, albeit an unsuccessful one, at creating the appearance of space. The garments of the two men are draped naturally and the heads are shown in three quarter view. The miniature, unlike any miniature in this manuscript, is unframed which shows a connection to the tradition of papyrus roll illustration.
The second artist demonstrates a more radical break from the classical tradition in the remaining miniatures. All of these miniatures are framed in red and gold. The artist seems to have no real understanding of the portrayal of the human body, and is incapable of handling a contorted pose, such as is seen on folio 100 verso, where a reclining figure is portrayed in an utterly unconvincing manner. Faces are no longer portrayed in three quarter position but are either frontal or full profile. The clothing no longer drapes naturally but is instead reduced to rhythmic curving lines. The page is often divided into separate compartments (See, for example, Folio 108r). When a landscape is depicted there is no attempt to depict a three-dimensional space. There is no ground line and items are spread evenly over the field. Care is taken so that items do not overlap each other. The effect is remarkably similar to some Roman floor mosaics, which may have served as inspiration (see folios 44 verso and 45 recto. The second artist was a fine artist. However, his interests were in patterns and lines rather than in the naturalistic portrayal of space and the human form.
The manuscript contains three author portraits (Folios 3v, 9r, and 14 r). These portraits show a reliance on the early papyrus scroll tradition of manuscript portraits. They are inserted into the text column within a frame. The portraits show Vergil sitting on a chair between a lectern and a locked chest. The portrait on folio 3v has the lectern on Vergil's right on the chest on his left, which is reversed in the other two portraits.
Provenanceedit
The Vergilius Romanus was produced in an undetermined province. Based on the style of some aspects of the illumination Martin Henig has suggested that it was produced in Britain.[1] If this is true it would make it the oldest surviving British codex. It was at the Abbey of St Denis until the 15th century but it is not known how it came to be at St Denis or in the Vatican.
^Ashbee, Paul (1998). "Centuries of Roman survival in the West". British Archaeology. 32. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
Further readingedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Vergil.
Rosenthal, Erwin. The Illuminations of the Vergilius Romanus (Cod. Vat. Lat. 3867). A Stylistic and Iconographic Analysis. Zürich 1972
Walther, Ingo F. and Norbert Wolf. Codices Illustres: The world's most famous illuminated manuscripts, 400 to 1600. Köln, Taschen, 2005.
Weitzmann, Kurt. Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination. New York: George Braziller, 1977. p. 11 and pgs. 52-59.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century, no. 204 & 225, 1979, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ISBN9780870991790; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Wright, David H. The Roman Vergil and the Origins of Medieval Book Design. Toronto, University of Toronto Press 2001, part-online via google books
Vatican, Bibliotheca Apostolica, MS Vat. lat. 3867 (Complete Reproduction)
More information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts
December 15, 2023
vergilius, romanus, vatican, city, biblioteca, apostolica, 3867, also, known, roman, vergil, century, illustrated, manuscript, works, virgil, contains, aeneid, georgics, some, eclogues, oldest, most, important, vergilian, manuscripts, with, vellum, folios, wri. The Vergilius Romanus Vatican City Biblioteca Apostolica Cod Vat lat 3867 also known as the Roman Vergil is a 5th century illustrated manuscript of the works of Virgil It contains the Aeneid the Georgics and some of the Eclogues It is one of the oldest and most important Vergilian manuscripts It is 332 by 323 mm with 309 vellum folios It was written in rustic capitals with 18 lines per page Folio 14 recto of the Vergilius Romanus contains an author portrait of Virgil Folio 100 verso Dido and Aeneas at the banquet Contents 1 Decoration 2 Provenance 3 Gallery 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksDecoration editThe Vergilius Romanus is one of the few surviving illustrated classical manuscripts As such its importance to art history is hard to overstate The manuscript has 19 surviving illustrations painted by at least two artists both of whom are anonymous The style of both artists represents the beginning of a break with classical style The human form becomes abstracted and flattened and the naturalistic depiction of space is abandoned The first artist painted a single miniature on folio 1 recto an illustration for the First Eclogue In it a cowherd Tityrus plays a flute while sitting under a tree The heads of three cows look out from behind the tree Meanwhile a standing goatherd Meliboeus leads a goat by its horns under a tree More goats look out from behind that tree This miniature shows some remnants of classical style The cows and goats looking out from behind the trees are an attempt albeit an unsuccessful one at creating the appearance of space The garments of the two men are draped naturally and the heads are shown in three quarter view The miniature unlike any miniature in this manuscript is unframed which shows a connection to the tradition of papyrus roll illustration The second artist demonstrates a more radical break from the classical tradition in the remaining miniatures All of these miniatures are framed in red and gold The artist seems to have no real understanding of the portrayal of the human body and is incapable of handling a contorted pose such as is seen on folio 100 verso where a reclining figure is portrayed in an utterly unconvincing manner Faces are no longer portrayed in three quarter position but are either frontal or full profile The clothing no longer drapes naturally but is instead reduced to rhythmic curving lines The page is often divided into separate compartments See for example Folio 108r When a landscape is depicted there is no attempt to depict a three dimensional space There is no ground line and items are spread evenly over the field Care is taken so that items do not overlap each other The effect is remarkably similar to some Roman floor mosaics which may have served as inspiration see folios 44 verso and 45 recto The second artist was a fine artist However his interests were in patterns and lines rather than in the naturalistic portrayal of space and the human form The manuscript contains three author portraits Folios 3v 9r and 14 r These portraits show a reliance on the early papyrus scroll tradition of manuscript portraits They are inserted into the text column within a frame The portraits show Vergil sitting on a chair between a lectern and a locked chest The portrait on folio 3v has the lectern on Vergil s right on the chest on his left which is reversed in the other two portraits Provenance editThe Vergilius Romanus was produced in an undetermined province Based on the style of some aspects of the illumination Martin Henig has suggested that it was produced in Britain 1 If this is true it would make it the oldest surviving British codex It was at the Abbey of St Denis until the 15th century but it is not known how it came to be at St Denis or in the Vatican The Vergilius Romanus is not to be confused with the Vergilius Vaticanus Vatican City Biblioteca Apostolica Cod Vat lat 3225 or the Vergilius Augusteus other ancient Vergilian manuscripts in the Biblioteca Apostolica Gallery edit nbsp Folio 6 recto nbsp Folio 9 recto Second author portrait nbsp Folio 11 recto nbsp Folio 16 recto nbsp Folio 44 verso nbsp Folio 74 verso nbsp Folio 78 recto nbsp Folio 101 recto nbsp Folio 163 recto nbsp Folio 188 verso nbsp Folio 234 verso nbsp Folio 235 versoReferences edit Ashbee Paul 1998 Centuries of Roman survival in the West British Archaeology 32 Retrieved 6 September 2011 Further reading edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Vergil Rosenthal Erwin The Illuminations of the Vergilius Romanus Cod Vat Lat 3867 A Stylistic and Iconographic Analysis Zurich 1972 Walther Ingo F and Norbert Wolf Codices Illustres The world s most famous illuminated manuscripts 400 to 1600 Koln Taschen 2005 Weitzmann Kurt Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination New York George Braziller 1977 p 11 and pgs 52 59 Weitzmann Kurt ed Age of spirituality late antique and early Christian art third to seventh century no 204 amp 225 1979 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York ISBN 9780870991790 full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries Wright David H The Roman Vergil and the Origins of Medieval Book Design Toronto University of Toronto Press 2001 part online via google books Treasure 3 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana displayed via The European LibraryExternal links editVatican Bibliotheca Apostolica MS Vat lat 3867 Complete Reproduction More information at Earlier Latin Manuscripts Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vergilius Romanus amp oldid 1179507116, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
