| Magnificently illustrated manuscript of the Sermons on the Song of Songs by Bernard and Gilbert of Hoyland with elegant decoration by two artists of the Florentine School dated between 1475 and 1482. One of several examples where Bernard's Sermons were continued with those of Gilbert of Hoyland (others include Arsenal 324 and Vat.lat. 666 & 667). A full-page miniature shows a young Bernard on his knees and writing at a stone desk with a pen in his right hand, and, together with two other monks, looking up at the Virgin who appears surrounded by a multitude of angels within an oval disc in the sky. Below the vision two monks are shielding their eyes from its brightness. The scene is a mountainous landscape with some peasants and a donkey and three further monks walking on a path in the background and the monastery representing Clairvaux on the far left. The elegantly decorated border which encloses it has two figures of saints, perhaps representing Bernard, and a small portrait, perhaps that of Federico do Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, as well as the arms of Federico. In the opposite folio (8r) there is a magnificent border by Francesco d'Antonio del Cherico or his school, with figures and the arms of the same duke and a very ornate initial with the figure of Bernard. See also MA244 for an image of Bernard within the opening initial of Sermon One on the facing folio.
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