Gregorius IX Liber Decretalium
Artist/Maker
DatesMade: Made second quarter of the 14th Century
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 43 x 28 cm
Inventory numberNMB 1652
AcqusitionPurchase 1951
Other titlesTitle (sv): Gregorius IX Liber Decretalium
DescriptionDescription: NMB 1652 A Gregorius IX Liber Decretalium from the South of France. [Montpellier or Avignon, c. 1325-1349] Catalogue raisonné: NMB 1652 A Gregorius IX Liber Decretalium from the South of France. [Montpellier or Avignon, c. 1325-1349] Physical Description MATERIAL: Parchment. BINDING: Red silk damask binding from c. 1700. Embroidered coat of arms on the front board, which includes gold threads and represents the Italian and French families of the Libri and Gérin respectably. Damask endbands. Written title on the front edge of the textblock. DIMENSIONS: 430 × 280 mm (pages)/440 x 304 x 103 mm (binding). NUMBER OF LEAVES: 312ff. RULING: 81 lines of text in two columns. LANGUAGE: Latin. SCRIPT: Italian rotunda. RUBRICATION: Red/blue fleuronné rubrics. Text Gregory IX’s decretal collection with the glossa ordinaria of Bernard of Parma. At the end of the book the scribe finishes with Michi displicuit, quia longum ipse fuit. Michi Raymundo qui non tenuit me iocundo. Decoration Five miniatures, one at the beginning of each book. There are also a large number of marginal illuminations. On five of the initials are the heraldic motifs of the first owner’s coats of arms who belonged to the Thil Chatel family. These are three golden balls on a red background (de gueles à trois annulets d’or, à la bordure ondée du même). Fol. 1r: In the presence of two cardinals, a seated Pope Gregory IX hands over his decretals to a kneeling figure who could represent Bernard of Parma. Next to the miniature is the coat of arms of the Thil Chatel family. There are numerous marginalia on this page including a cardinal talking to a bird, a parrot and a dog, a badger, and a fox and finally a red squirrel. Fol. 88v: A pope solves the litigation between two bishops. He is assisted by a learned jurist. Fol. 164v: Laymen are rejected entry into the choir while Mass is underway. Fol. 230v: A jurist pronounces a verdict in a matrimonial case. Fol. 253v: A jurist answers a layman’s complaints. The marginal illuminations are as follows (Sandgren): fol. 16r human head, 39r with coat of arms, 46v coat of arms of the Thil Chatel family, 48v head, 52r two inhabited initials with dragons, 54r human head, 54v coat of arms of the Thil Chatel family, 56r with human head, 77r human head, 94v with dragon, 95r with dragon, 95v coat of arms, 98v bag piper, and dragon, 101v soldier cock, dragon, 166v man-bird and bird, 176 human head, 179v man-bird, 182r human head, 183v coat of arms of the Thil Chatel family, 186v dragon, 189r human head , 191 cittern player and human-dragon, 197v human head, 201v human head, 213v soldier cock and dragon, 214 r human head, 227v human head, 236r human head, 237v human head, 240r coat of arms of the Thil Chatel family, dragon, 252v human head, 258r human head, human-dragon, 271r human head, 280v cittern player-cock, dragon, 281v human head, 282r two dragons, 287r human head, 307v two small dragons, and 312v human head. Provenance 1. Made, probably in Montpellier, in c.1325-1349. 2. Purchased by the Nationalmuseum at auction in 1951 from Salle Kundig in Genève. Exhibited 1. Copenhagen, National Museum, Gyldne Böger, April-May 1952. 2. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Gyllenne böcker, May-September 1952. Commentary The Decretals of Gregory IX (Decretales Gregorii IX) are a compilation of canon law texts finished in 1234. This collection replaced the older Decretum Gratiani that was compiled c.1140. The glosses on Pope Gregory IX’s decretals were made by Bernard of Parma (†1266), the Chancellor of the University of Bologna and expert in canon law. The decretal collection was used in the study of canon law at the universities of Bologna, Paris, and Montpellier. The demand for such books increased through the movement of the Papacy to Avignon in 1309. In the end of the book the scribe, named Raymond, noted that his toil had been great and lacked pleasure. Nordenfalk (1979) notes that this name indicates he was from the South of France. The decoration is French and Nordenfalk notes that the same artist illuminated a Decretum Gratiani that is now Montpellier, Bibliothèque Municipale, 34. Therefore, the manuscript seems likely to have been illustrated in Montpellier or possibly Avignon. Bibliography Berghman, Arvid, ‘Quelques précitions héraldiques reliures aux manuscrits de l’exposition des Livres d’or’ in Konsthistorisk tidskrift, 22, (1953) pp. 102-103. Miniatures médiévales en Languedoc Méditerranéen, Exposition Musée Fabre, Montpellier, October-November 1965, no. 32, (Montpellier, Ms. 34). Nordenfalk, Carl, Bokmålningar från medeltid och renässans i Nationalmusei samlingar (Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren, 1979), no. 14, pp. 65-67. Sandgren, Eva Lindqvist, Illuminated Manuscripts in Swedish Collections, https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/resultList.jsf?dswid=7830&p=1&searchType=EXTENDED&sortString=creationYear_sort_asc&noOfRows=10&af=%5B%22ARCHIVE_ORG_ID_facet%3A67%22%5D&query=&aq=%5B%5B%7B%22HOST%22%3A%22alvin-record%3A471052%22%7D%5D%5D&aqe=%5B%5D Research project 2022-2023, Illuminated Manuscript, Christian Etheridge, Art Historian.
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