Sumula seu Breviloquuium super Concordia nov et veteris Testamenti, with Sibyllic verses in Latin, by a follower of Joachim de Fiore (perhaps Angelo de Lemposa), manuscript on vellum

This volume is evidently the long-lost and hitherto unrecorded part of Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, ms. a. M.5.27 (Lat. 233), commissioned for Leonello d'Este (1407-1450), duke of Ferrara

provenance

(1) Almost certainly commissioned by Leonello d'Este from the scribe Biagio Busoni and the Master of the Felice Progresso di Borso d'Este (see below); most probably leaving his library within his lifetime or within a few years of his death.

(2) Marchese Giambattista Costabili, of Ferrara; his sale Paris 18 February 1858, lot 105 (at least one other item from the Este family was in his collection, a painting by Baldassare d'Este, illegitimate son of Duke Niccolo III, and Ferrarese court painter: see H. Cook, "Baldassare D'Este", Burlington Magazine 19, 1911, p. 228-33).

(3) William Bragge (1823-84), railway pioneer; his sale in our rooms, 7 June 1876, lot 39.

(4) Sir Thomas Brooke (1830-1908) with his bookplate (for an account of his collections, see M. B. Parkes, The Medieval Manuscripts of Keble College, Oxford, 1979, pp.xi-xiii). Sold in his sale in our rooms 19 December 1921, lot 319, for £29.

(5) Estelle Doheny (1875-1958), bought from Rosenbach (De Ricci, Census Supplement, p. 14, no. 65); her sale Christie's, 2 December 1987, lot 163, sold for £115,500 to Kraus.

text

The Sumula seu Breviloquuium super Concordia novi et veteris Testamenti appears to have been written in the mid-fourteenth century by a Franciscan follower of Joachim de Fiore (c.1132-1202), the most important apocalyptic thinker of the medieval period. Whilst attempting to gain deeper insight into the Book of Revelations, Joachim developed an interpretation of history which divided history into three eras (or statuses as Joachim names them), the first of which was represented by God, the father, and was identified as the Old Testament period and thought to last for 42 generations; the second, that of the son, was the New Testament period, also lasted for 42 generations, and ended with the arrival of the Antichrist; and was followed by the third, that of the Holy Spirit, an era of contemplative ecclesiastical utopia. The present text is an extended discussion of the place of the Franciscan order in history which underlines their important roles in the imminent third age. Through a modified version of the generations of the Old Testament kings and medieval popes (set out as a series of tables on fol.65r-75v) the text calculates that the second age will end at a point soon after 1350, when the pope will be toppled, symbolised on fol.73v by the broken papal crown and keys of St. Peter crashing to the ground. In addition the work is preceded by 122 lines of Sibyllic verse in Latin (fols.1r-2v), beginning Exposita sunt tempora per dicta prophetarum ..., which the text claims were found in the year 1343 in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Only one other manuscript of these verses has been recorded, that of Zaragoza, Cabildo MS.1272 (Stegmüller, Rep. Bib. Medii Aevi, no.4011,3, vol.iii, p.223).

M. Reeves (Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages, 1969, p.223) concluded that the author was Catalonian, on the basis that all three manuscripts of this work known to her were from Barcelona (Madrid, Bib. Naz. MS. 6972 (formerly S.247), which she takes to be the author's copy; London, Brit. Lib. Egerton MS.1150; and Vatican MS. Vat. Lat. 11581, fols.1-65, of which the latter two appear to be descendants of the former). Further apparent descendents of the Madrid manuscript exist in Tarragona, Bibl. Civ. R79 and R232, (recorded by Stegmüller, no.4011,2, vol.iii, p.223), and the verses in Zaragoza, Cabildo MS.1272 which were noted above. Crucially, she did not know of manuscripts outside of this 'Catalonian group': the present Italian manuscript or that in the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, which contains a note naming its author as Fr. N. Lemposa, magistro in Sacra Pagina  (Catalogue des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque royale des ducs de Bourgogne, 1842, no. 1473; I, 30 & II, 136). This is most probably the well-known Italian Franciscan author, Angelus de Lemposa (with a small scribal error on his initial), who immediately before 1335 wrote a similar treatise, the Opus de Concordantia Veteris et Novi Testamenti Editum cum Scala Generationum ab Adam usque ad Christum, predicting the coming of the Antichrist in that year (Stegmüller, no.1346, vol.ii, p.110, citing a single manuscript in Florence).

As noted above, the present manuscript is one of only seven known copies, and as five of those appear to be a single 'Catalonian group' descended from Madrid, Bib, Nat. MS. 6972, and the manuscript in the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique apparently has no decoration, the present manuscript would appear to be a direct descendant from the original Italian manuscript, and  may best preserve the author's own picture cycle.

The present manuscript is most probably a lost section of Modena, Bibliotheca Estense Universitaria, ms. a. M.5.27 (Lat. 233), a copy of Joachim de Fiore's Liber de causis, statu, cognitione ac fine presentis scismatis et tribulationem futurarum commissioned by Leonello d'Este, duke of Ferrara, patron of the arts and noted bibliophile (1407-50). The dimensions agree perfectly. The scribal hand is identical, and is that of Biagio Busoni (La Miniatura a Ferrara, 1998, p.84-6), who worked on commissions for Leonello in the mid-fifteenth century. This hand has not been traced in any other manuscripts, and the scribe appears to have worked exclusively for the duke. The artist, as well, is identifiable in a work commissioned by Leonello's younger brother and successor, Borso (see below), and he would also appear to have worked exclusively for the Ferrarese court.

After an early military education Leonello d'Este developed an interest in humanist studies, and c. 1429 came under the tutelage of the formidable Italian humanist and classical scholar Guarino da Verona. Following his father's death in 1442, Leonello committed the energies of the Ferrarese court to scholarship. Three weeks into his ducal office, he purged the Studium of incompetent scholars, and replaced them with the most respected academic figures of Italy. As this university continued to grow it provided his court with a stable circle of poets and scholars, such as the Greek author Theodore Gaza, and noted Latin composers and scholars such as Tito Vespasiano Strozzi and Francesco do Princivalle Ariosti, who were integrated into the literary circle immediately around Leonello and often required to meet in his court and debate with him. By the mid-fifteenth century this academic community had put Ferrara firmly on the map and had become the centre of linguistic and philological studies in Italy. Angelo Camillo Decembrio, one of these court scholars, wrote an account of Leonello's court life, the De politia litteraria, which sets out in great detail the duke's austere bibliophilia: books were selected primarily on their ability to stimulate eloquence and industry, and to help avoid foolish levity. However, they also had to be items of beauty, and good scribes and illuminators were sourced, and within the library itself the books were kept in a "suitable location and in a suitable order" in clean and dry chests or on chained bookcases, with inspiring paintings on the wall of the Caesars, the gods, classical heroes and a single portrait of Jerome writing. By 1436 the Estensi library housed 279 volumes, mostly religious and pious works, classical and patristic writers, humanistic works and a handful of French romances, and in the spirit of education for which the duke was rightly famous all manner of courtiers, secretaries, noble ladies, and even ordinary citizens were allowed to borrow volumes. Thus, on Leonello's sudden death in 1450 a large number of volumes remained outside the library, and a library inventory of 1467 records only 148 books. Within a few decades some volumes from this library are recorded on the European market, and the present volume would appear to have slipped away from its other half at this time.

As far as we are aware, the only other complete manuscript from the library of Leonello d'Este now in private hands is the Livy, 1449, sold in these rooms, 13 July 1977, lot 56.

Decoration

The naive style of painting with its distinctive lack of detail around the faces, and pale-wash palette clearly identifies the artist of this manuscript as the Master of the Felice progresso di Borso d'Este (Ravenna, bibliotheca Classense, Cod. 302; see La Miniatura a Ferrara, pp.99-101 for reproductions), which was produced for Leonello's brother and successor. The artist's distinctive hand has not yet been traced in any other manuscripts, and so both he and the scribe may have worked exclusively for the dukes. However, his artistic style did influence that of another miniaturist who worked in the Ferrara court, that of Marco dell'Avogaro, most notably in his Giovenale in his studio in London, British Library, Additional MS. 24,638.

The subjects of the miniatures are:

1. Folio 3r, 8-line initial 'C' with foliage extending into two margins, enclosing a half-length portrait of Christ holding a book and a cross, 42mm. by 45mm.

2. Folio 8r, 6-line initial 'C', enclosing a half-length portrait of a king, 35mm. by 32mm.

3. Folio 9r, half-page design of the world as a church during the first age, with Abraham, David and Solomon in the compartments of the tower and a congregation of prophets below, one falling into the lowest compartment between broken wheels of a water mill, 145mm. by 127mm.

4. Folio 10r, half-page design of the world as a church during the second age, with Solinus, Zachariah and John the Baptist in the compartments of the tower and the twelve apostles below, one falling into the lowest compartment between the wheels of a water mill, 156mm. by 120mm.

5. Folio 11r, half-page design of the world as a church during the third age, with Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard and Saint Francis in the compartments of the tower and a host of bishops below, one falling into the lowest compartment between two open doors, 117mm. by 130mm.

6. Folio 17v, the end of the first age, divided into two compartments, (a) a layman, a bishop and a king with toads emerging from their mouths to symbolise their false words, and (b) Christ among a congregation of medieval laity; within a decorative frame, 85mm. by 120mm.

7. Folio 18r, the end of the second age, divided into two compartments (a) a king, a pope and a poet, with toads emerging from their mouths, and (b) Christ among a congregation of medieval friars, clerics and soldiers; with an elaborate architectural frame, 72mm. by 135mm.

8. Folio 19r, the end of the third age, divided into two compartments (a) a king, a pope and what seems to be a woman, with toads emerging from their mouths, and (b) Christ among a congregation of medieval friars and soldiers; with an elaborate architectural frame, 75mm. by 138mm.

9. Folio 20r, the first age, with Noah's Ark, floating towards Mount Ararat below a celestial arch of suns and stars, 68mm. by 133mm.

10. Folio 20r, the second age, with Lot leading his family into the mountains above the burning cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot's wife looking back and becoming a pillar of salt, 57mm. by 130mm.

11. Folio 20v, the third age, with Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea through the parted waves, with Pharaoh's army drowning beneath the green waves, 63mm. by 132mm.

12. Folio 20v, the fourth age, with the death of Saul, and the high priest and all his peoples for their disobedience to God, set in a very elaborate Temple, with a tall tower, 105mm. by 155mm.

13. Folio 21r, the fifth age, with the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and Vespasian, and the severed heads and limbs of the Jewish princes and prelates flying above the city, around the Lamb of God, 70mm. by 137mm.

14. Folio 21v, the sixth age and the first beast of the Apocalypse, rising from the sea (Revelations 13:13:1), the lion of Rome, with red wings; within a floral and leafy cartouche, 45mm. by 135mm., with leafy extensions.

15. Folio 21v, the second beast of the Apocalypse, the bear of Germany, with three rows of teeth to eat the three princes; within an architectural frame, 80mm. by 135mm.

16. Folio 22r, the third beast of the Apocalypse, the three-headed leopard of Greece, with coloured wings, walking beneath the arc of Heaven, 45mm. by 145mm.

17. Folio 22v, the fourth beast of the Apocalypse, the creature of Spain, resembling a griffon, with teeth of iron, talons for feet, and ten horns which have speared the head of a king, set beneath the arc of Heaven, 50mm. by 130mm.

18. Folio 24v, the angel pouring out his vial upon the seas (Revelations 16), with angels in prayer on either side, beneath the arc of Heaven, 75mm. by 50mm.

19. Folio 25r, the fall of Babylon (Revelations 18), with the severed heads and limbs of the Christian princes and prelates flying above the city, around the bear with a banner, 55mm. by 125mm.

20. Folio 25v, the first of the seven stages of the war against the Elect of God, with the beast with seven crowned heads standing on the shore beside a sea, where an angel holds the sun, 53mm. by 140mm.

21. Folio 25v, the second stage of the war against the Elect of God, with Nero ordering the martyrdom of the early Christians, set in his imperial palace, 47mm. by 135mm.

22. Folio 26r, the third stage of the war against the Elect of God, with the Arian heretics arguing with the bishops and priests of Rome, set in a palace beneath the arc of Heaven, 52mm. by 140mm.

23. Folio 26r, the fourth stage of the of the war against the Elect of God, with the Muslim invasions, Saint James riding to battle among the armies of the Saracens, with Christian hermits walled up in cells in the desert on either side, 43mm. by 148mm.

24. Folio 26v, the fifth stage of the war against the Elect of God, with the pope and all his bishops and friars being accused of laxity and heresy, 63mm. by 142mm.

25. Folio 27r, the first part of the sixth stage of the war against the Elect of God, with Saint Francis and the emperor Frederick II, seated side by side in a palace, 47mm. by 135mm.

26. Folio 27v, the second part of the sixth stage of the war against the Elect of God, with Pope John XXII and the emperor Ludwig IV of Bavaria, seated side by side in a palace, 47mm. by 133mm.

27. Folio 28v, the third part of the sixth stage of the war against the Elect of God, with the pope and all the Church being inspired by the Holy Ghost to fight against the Antichrist and heresy, 45mm. by 124mm.

28. Folio 29v, the fourth part of the sixth stage of the war against the Elect of God, with the earthquake of Revelations 6:12-17, and the kings and peoples of the earth hiding in the mountains, and stars falling from Heaven, 42mm. by 140mm.

29. Folio 31r, the seventh stage of the war against the Elect of God, with Saint Francis receiving the stigmata outside his oratory, as a younger friar reads a book, 52mm. by 156mm.

30. Folio 31r, the pope, the bishops and all the Franciscan friars, seated in the papal palace, 72mm. by 140mm.

31. Folio 32r, the first of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe creating light and darkness, watched by three hovering angels, 62mm. by 120mm.

32. Folio 32v, the second and third of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe separating the water from the earth and forming the sky, 40mm. by 100mm..

33. Folio 32v, the third of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe creating plants and vegetation, 44mm. by 105mm.

34. Folio 32v, the fourth of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe separating the day from the night, 36mm. by 107mm.

35. Folio 33r, the fourth of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe creating the two great lights of the sun and moon, 50mm. by 110mm.

36. Folio 33r, the fifth of the six days of Creation, with God standing beside the universe creating animals and fish, 43mm. by 110mm.

37. Folio 33r, the sixth of the six days of Creation, with God standing in the Garden of Eden creating Adam and, in a second scene, creating Eve from the rib of Adam, 49mm. by 134mm.

38. Folio 35v, Christ in Heaven surrounded by angels and archangels, below a starry sky, 53mm. by 120mm.

39. Folio 37r, the first of the seven signs of the New and Old Testaments, Christ in Heaven holding the Lamb of God, between the eagle, ox, angel and lion, surrounded by angels and the four and twenty elders with lutes (they are harps in Revelations 5:8), below a starry sky, 55mm. by 152mm.

40. Folio 38r, the sixth sign of the New Testament, the whore of Babylon, in a robe of coloured stones and holding a gold cup, seated on the beast with seven heads (Revelations 17:4), below a starry sky, 52mm. by 130mm.

41. Folio 38v, the Antichrist rising up out of the abyss, flanked by the bear and the lion, and watched by the inhabitants of the earth, below a starry sky, 44mm. by 122mm.

42. Folio 40v, the Lamb with seven horns making war on the beast with ten horns, beside a pond in a landscape, 46mm. by 134mm.

43. Folio 46r, the seven heads of the dragons of the Old and New Testament, the beast from the sea (Revelations 13:1) with seven heads, each of which represents an enemy of God in the Bible; set in a hillside below the arc of Heaven, 106mm. by 146mm.

44. Folio 56r, the angel from Heaven holding a key and chain, casting the Devil into the Abyss for a thousand years (Revelations 20:1-3); set in a river in a landscape, below a starry sky, 51mm. by 127mm.

45. Folio 63r, the fifth angel sounding his trumpet, and a star (enclosing a face) falling from Heaven with a key to open the Abyss, from which emerges dark smoke, as from a furnace, and flying creatures like locusts with the heads of queens (Revelations 9:1-3), 50mm. by 124mm.

46. Folio 65v, the ancestry of Christ from Adam to Enoch, nine miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 260mm. by 152mm.

47. Folio 66r, the ancestry of Christ from Methuselah to Falech (Peleg in Genesis 11:16), ten miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 250mm. by 168mm.

48. Folio 66v, the ancestry of Christ from Ragau (Reu in Genesis 11:18) to Isaac, eight miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 245mm. by 130mm.

49. Folio 67r, the ancestry of Christ from Jacob to Nahshon, with collateral branches, thirty-three miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 232mm. by 170mm.

50. Folio 67v, the ancestry of Christ from Salmon to Rehoboam, with a separate table for the ancestors of Saul, fifteen miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 235mm. by 80mm.

51. Folio 68r, the ancestry of Christ from Abijah to Amasias, nine miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 232mm. by 118mm.

52. Folio 68v, the ancestry of Christ from Uzziah to Josiah, ten miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 243mm. by 156mm.

53. Folio 69r, the ancestry of Christ from Jeconiah to Azor, five miniatures, together with a broken crown and sceptre for the Babylonian captivity, seven pictures of the prophets from Daniel to Nehemiah, and Nebuchadnezzar and his court worshipping the image of gold while Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are consigned to the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), within a full-page architectural composition, 250mm. by 168mm. 

54. Folio 69v, the ancestry of Christ from Zadok to Joseph, with the Pharisees and Sadducees and Zechariah and John the Baptist, nine miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 240mm. by 108mm.

55. Folio 70r, the succession of popes from Saint Peter to Anicetus (154 A.D.), together with the apostles, twenty-two miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 230mm. by 175mm.

56. Folio 70v, the succession of popes from Eleutherius to Silvester (314), six miniatures within a full-height architectural composition, 242mm. by 45mm.

57. Folio 71r, the succession of popes from Damasus to Vigilius (538), together with Saints Benedict and Basil, eight miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 248mm. by 126mm.

58. Folio 71v, the succession of popes from John III to Gregory the Great (590), six miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 250mm. by 113mm.

59. Folio 72r, the succession of popes from Zacharias to John IX (898), together with Saint Bernard, seven miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 250mm. by 70mm.

60. Folio 72v, the succession of popes from John XIII to Gregory VII (1073), six miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 243mm. by 45mm.

61. Folio 73r, the succession of popes from Paschal II to Honorius III (1216), together with Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, seven miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 230mm. by 113mm.

62. Folio 73v, the succession of popes from Gregory IX to Martin IV (1281), followed by the predicted overthrow of the papal tiara, falling crosses and keys, with the date 1367 and five named Franciscans, eight seven miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, together with Nebuchadnezzar and the image of gold and the three children in the fiery furnace, 258mm. by 170mm

63. Folio 74r, the succession of high priests of the Old Testament, from Zorobabel (who rebuilt the Temple) to Zadoch, together with sixteen other priests, twenty-one miniatures within a full-page architectural composition, 252mm. by 170mm.

64. Folio 74v, the succession of high priests of the Old Testament, from Achim to Jacob, between flowers, five miniatures within a full-height architectural composition, 210mm. by 40mm.

66. Folio 75r, the succession of high priests of the Old Testament, from Joseph to Malalael and Caynan, with the overthrow of the priestly office initiating the final rule of the Antichrist, three miniatures within a full-height architectural composition, 230mm. by 38mm.

67. Folio 75v, the Last Judgement, Christ in a mandorla, angels and apostles on either side, saints below, angels blowing trumpets, Saint Michael weighing souls and Saint Peter welcoming the elect through the gates of Heaven at the lower left and other angels thrusting the damned into the fiery pits of Hell at the lower right; figures of Seth and Adam in architectural cartouches at the top, 256mm. by 190mm.