Illuminated leaf from a manuscript of Gratian’s Decretum with the Glossa ordinaria of Bartolomeo da Brescia

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• Illuminated manuscript. Leaf from a manuscript of Gratian’s Decretum with the Glossa ordinaria of Bartolomeo da Brescia. The Marlay Gratian atelier, artist. Gratian, author (Italian, d. by 1159). Brescia, Bartolomeo da, author. Parchment, columns and lines ruled in plummet, running headers, 445 x 281 mm (recto 358 x 229 mm, verso 406 x 234 mm), two text columns of 54 lines and two gloss columns of 84 lines on recto, two text columns of 60 lines with varied glossing on reverse (original recto). Production Place: Italy, Bologna. Circa 1320. CONTENTS: Gratian, Decretum, Part II, Causa XXI (A priest accepts ordination as the provost of a second church, but refuses to give up his first living; Melnikas 1975, II, 657-84). DECORATION: Marlay cutting It. 10r: One-column miniature: The Pope is addressed by a lawyer accompanied by the procurator and parishioners of the abandoned parish; the pluralist priest and companions listen to the case. ORNAMENTATION: Main text: inhabited initials with half-length portrait, letters painted in graded pink or grey on gold grounds and extending into acanthus sprays to form partial borders, for Causae: Marlay cutting It. 10r [Q, 4 ll.] Bearded man, [A, 7 ll.] Half-length figure in green cloak and hood, alternate blue and red initials [3-4 ll.] adjacent to text with red or blue pen-flourished infill and extensions for minor text divisions; alternate red and blue one-line initials with blue or red pen flourishing at the start of some sentences. Gloss: Foliate initials [3-8 ll.] in pink or grey on blue grounds with small acanthus extensions, for major divisions (corresponding to both large and small inhabited initials in the main text); alternate red and blue initials [2 ll.] embedded within column with blue or red pen flourishing for minor divisions (corresponding to pen-flourished initials in the main text); voided paraph marks with alternate red and blue display capitals [2-gloss ll.] with minor flourishing in blue or red (guide letters in upper margin) for quaestiones; alternate red and blue paraph marks; simple geometric line-fillers in brown ink to even up gloss columns at the end of Causae. Inter-column decoration: On leaves with miniatures, the spaces between text and gloss columns are decorated with foliate, acanthus and gold disc partial borders and zoomorphic motifs: Marlay cutting It. 10r Roundel with floral motifs with acanthus and gold disc extensions.
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