MEDIEVAL IMAGES OF SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX - MA132.jpg


Category	Manuscript
Origin: artist/workshop	Giovan Pietro Birago
Date	15C/4
Reference No	MS Add 34,294, f 200v
Size
Provenance	Milan
Present Location	London, British Library
Bibliography	Evans 1992
	Leclercq 1953, 43
Illustration From	Evans 1992, ill 54
Other illustrations

Country	Italy

Description:
One of 25 miniatures decorating the Suffrages of the Saints, the finest cycle of decoration in the Sforza Book of Hours, a masterpiece of medieval illumination, originally made for Bona of Savoy (d 1503), the wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan 1466-76, and the mother of Gian Galeazzo, duke of Milan 1476-94. Most of the miniatures, including the Suffrages (fols 186r-212r), were done by Giovan Pietro Birago, whose earliest works were choir books from Brescia Cathedral 1471/4, worked in Venice in the 1480's, and by the 1490's was the leading miniaturist at the Sforza court. The Sforza Hours are his masterpiece. Other illustrations by Gerard Horenbout were later added. Some pages have the initials BM (Bianca Maria), Bona's daughter who was probably given it by her mother on her marriage to Emperor Maximilian on 30 November 1493 although it may not have been completed until after Bona's death in 1494. The saints are arranged in the order of male saints before female and in order of importance - first Michael the Archangel, then John the Baptist, then the apostles, martyrs, Fathers of the Church, monks and confessors, and finally friars before the female saints. They were not just depicted with attributes but enlivened with miracles and key events in their stories. Bernard follows St Augustine. He is shown in a grey cowl, bearded, and sitting at an elaborate desk which is raised from the floor and inscribed 'PERFICE', the first word of the prayer for Bernard from the Office of his feast: 'Perfice quesumus Domine pium in nobis sancte religionis affectum' (We beseech thee, O Lord, perfect in us the love of holy religion'). At his feet is a small grey dog and a demon attached by chain to the desk. Above him are four angels, one of them carrying his mitre and another his crozier. He is writing and at the same time looking up at the smaller figures of the Virgin and naked Child in the sky in the distance outside the room and above a wooded rocky landscape with a lake, a castle and a town in the horizon. Bernard has 'tuft'.

Description:

One of 25 miniatures decorating the Suffrages of the Saints, the finest cycle of decoration in the Sforza Book of Hours, a masterpiece of medieval illumination, originally made for Bona of Savoy (d 1503), the wife of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan 1466-76, and the mother of Gian Galeazzo, duke of Milan 1476-94. Most of the miniatures, including the Suffrages (fols 186r-212r), were done by Giovan Pietro Birago, whose earliest works were choir books from Brescia Cathedral 1471/4, worked in Venice in the 1480's, and by the 1490's was the leading miniaturist at the Sforza court. The Sforza Hours are his masterpiece. Other illustrations by Gerard Horenbout were later added. Some pages have the initials BM (Bianca Maria), Bona's daughter who was probably given it by her mother on her marriage to Emperor Maximilian on 30 November 1493 although it may not have been completed until after Bona's death in 1494. The saints are arranged in the order of male saints before female and in order of importance - first Michael the Archangel, then John the Baptist, then the apostles, martyrs, Fathers of the Church, monks and confessors, and finally friars before the female saints. They were not just depicted with attributes but enlivened with miracles and key events in their stories. Bernard follows St Augustine. He is shown in a grey cowl, bearded, and sitting at an elaborate desk which is raised from the floor and inscribed 'PERFICE', the first word of the prayer for Bernard from the Office of his feast: 'Perfice quesumus Domine pium in nobis sancte religionis affectum' (We beseech thee, O Lord, perfect in us the love of holy religion'). At his feet is a small grey dog and a demon attached by chain to the desk. Above him are four angels, one of them carrying his mitre and another his crozier. He is writing and at the same time looking up at the smaller figures of the Virgin and naked Child in the sky in the distance outside the room and above a wooded rocky landscape with a lake, a castle and a town in the horizon. Bernard has 'tuft'.