| Bernard depicted at the beginning of an early fifteenth century manuscript from Florence in the opening initial V(obis fratres) of his first Sermon on the Song of Songs. Hassall says that it was probably copied by Camaldolese monks at their Florentine convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli, but the six busts within quatrefoils, one in each corner and one halfway down the folio on each side, are of Dominican friars, and it would therefore seem more likely that it originated at a Dominican house. Hassall also describes the monks featured with Bernard as Camaldolese, but they are more likely Cistercians. Two of them are young, one with his hood over his head and the other with an open book at which he is pointing, and they are both looking up at the preacher, avid for his words. The third monk is old and bearded and is absorbed by the text of the open book he is holding. Bernard is seated at a desk on which is an open book and his pen and knife used for writing. Four volumes are lying on the shelves of a castellated bookcase behind him. The border consists of the busts within quatrefoils separated by foliate decoration and ornament resembling marble inlay. Bernard has 'tuft'.
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