Descriptive Information

Title

De duodecim Cesaribus / Suetonius.

Call Number

Kane MS. 44

Identifier

http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dchx11xs507

Publisher

[Milan, Italy], 1433.

Language

Latin

Date Created

1433

Extent

169 leaves : parchment, illustrations ; 249 x 187 (158 x 110) mm bound to 259 x 200 mm.

Provenance

Probably made for a member of the Visconti family of Milan or of their household. Owned by Guiniforte della Croce later in the 15th century. Owned by Gabriele Giolito de'Ferrari in the 16th century. Intermediate provenance unknown. Owned by Clarence S. Bement when exhibited in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1893. Later in the library of Robert Hoe. Sold from his collection by the Anderson Auction Company in 1912 to Phoebe A.D. Boyle. Auctioned again by Anderson (sale no. 1772) in 1923, probably to Grenville Kane. Exhibited in Paris, Musée des arts decoratifs in 1926, at the Exposition du livre italien. The Princeton University Library acquired the manuscript from Kane's heirs in 1946.

Source Acquisition

Acquired; Estate of Grenville Kane, 1946.

References

See the entry in Medieval & Renaissance manuscripts in the Princeton University Library, volume 2, page 99-102 for detailed descriptions of the miniatures.

Rights Statement

No Known Copyright

Notes

Incipit: "Suetonii Tranquilli viri illustrissimi de duodecim Cesaribus liber primus incipit feliciter de Cai Jullii Cesaris diui vita. Annum agens Cesar Sextum decimum patrem amisit sequentibusque consulibus ..."

Explicit: "... abstinentia et moderatione insequentium principum. Finis Domitiani. Explicit libri Suetonii Tranquilli de duodecim Cesaribus. Per Milanum Burrum. Deo gratias Amen. Anno domini 1433."

Ms. codex.

Title from title page (fol. 1r).

Four prefatory poems attributed to Suetonius (fol. 2r-2v). Text is followed by a glossary of Latin terms pertaining to Roman government and public officials (fol. 169r-169v).

Collation: Parchment ; fol. ii (paper) + 169 + ii (paper) ; catchwords every quire ; modern foliation in pencil.

Layout: 30 long lines per page ; running header consisting of the emperor's name.

Decoration: Miniatures of the Twelve Caesars (Julius Caesar to Domitian) precede each Vita. Each is dressed in 15th-century costume, usually with colored stockings; against a gold leaf or patterned background. Full-page miniatures on fols. 3v, 27r, 59v, 113r, 139r, 143v; three-quarter page on fols. 80v, 98r, 131v, 149v, 157r, and 160v. Twelve 9-line initials, colored and patterned, on gold leaf ground for beginning of each Vita. Initial A on fol. 4r includes blue Visconti knotted veil; initial E on fol. 113v includes blue Visconti knotted veil and also the motto "Pangre beau"; initial P on fol. 132r is composed of a blue upright long-sleeved hand holding a fish-like serpent terminating with a bird's head; initial V on fol. 144r composed of a deer head with antlers.

Origin: Written in 1433 in Milan by the scribe Milanus Burrus. The miniatures are attributed to the "Master of the Vitae Imperatorum."

Binding Note

Later binding. Italy (probably Venice), mid-16th century. Dark brown calf over pasteboard. Gold- and blind-stamped decorations. Framing central gilt stamp on front and back covers. Edges gilt and gauffered (most visible on the top edge). Multi-colored endbands.

Discovery Information

Subject

Emperors—Rome—Biography—Early works to 1800

Rome—History—Empire, 30 B.C.-284 A.D.—Early works to 1800

Emperors—Rome—Art—Early works to 1800

Manuscripts, Latin (Medieval and modern)—New Jersey—Princeton

works of art

Art

Physical Characteristics

File Count

344

Institutional Information

Collection

Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean Manuscripts

IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/c713b5a6-0c21-4157-a36e-3f7a2ad30d5f/manifest

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