Add MS 19587

Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) with Latin rubrics at the beginning of each canto.

ff. 1r-60r: Inferno, with the rubric, 'Incipit primus cantus Primæ Comediæ Dantis, Poetæ Florentini, in quo tractat de infernis';

ff. 61r-118v: Pergatorio, with the rubric, 'Incipit primus cantus secunde Comedie Dantis, in quo tractat, sicut per Catonem fuit eis concessum, visionem penarum animarum purgatorii';

ff. 119r-177v: Inferno, with the rubric, 'Incipit cantus primus iij. Comedie divini Dantis, in quo tractat de paradisi'

ff. 5, 7, 10 and 12-19, 71, 72, 75, 76, 79, 80, 91, 100, 119 are copied in a later hand.

Decoration:

One historiated initial with a full border with foliate and heraldic decoration (f. 61r). 48 bas-de-page drawings in ink with colour-wash, some with gold, at the beginning of each canto (ff. 2r, 3r, 4r, 8r, 9v, 11r, 21r, 22v, 24v, 26r, 28r, 29v, 31v, 33r, 35r, 36v, 38r, 40r, 42r, 44r, 45v, 47v, 49r, 51r, 52v, 54v, 56r, 58r, 60r, 62r, 63r, 64r, 66v, 58r, 69v, 73r, 77r, 78r, 80v, 83r, 85r, 86v, 88r, 89v, 92r, 94r, 97r, 97v, 99v); ink drawings, unfinished (ff. 100v, 102v, 104r, 106r, 107v, 110r, 111v, 113v, 115r, 117r). Large initials in gold on blue grounds with white and red penwork decoration. Rubrics in red. No decoration in the Paradiso section (ff. 119r-177v).

The subjects of the drawings are:

f. 2r: Dante is frightened by three beasts in a dark wood; he sees a vision of Virgil, Inferno, Canto I;

f. 3r: Beatrice appears to Virgil (left); Virgil offers to guide Dante through the underworld (right), Inferno,Canto II;

f. 4r: Dante and Virgil enter the Gate of Hell (left); the lukewarm are stung by insects and Dante and Virgil (centre) are addressed by Charon, portrayed as a winged devil (above right); souls go up a gangplank and Dante lies in a faint (right), Inferno, Canto 3;

f. 8r: Dante and Virgil watch Minos judging a group of naked figures (left and centre); the carnal sinners are blown by the wind (above right) and Dante lies on a mound in a faint (below right), Inferno, Canto 5;

f. 9v: Dante and Virgil throw a clod of earth at Cerberus, who is standing on the gluttonous (centre); Dante and Virgil with Ciacco (right), Inferno, Canto 6;

f. 11r: Dante and Virgil meet Plutus crawling on the ground (left); the avaricious and the prodigal roll weights and the wrathful and sullen are in the marsh of Styx, Inferno, Canto 7;

f. 21r: Dante and Virgil are in a barren wood, with the harpies perched on top of thorny trees, representing the souls of suicides; hounds tear the body of the profligate Giacomo di Sant' Andrea to pieces (left); Virgil breaks off a twig and the wounded tree drips blood (centre); the other profligate, Lano di Siena, runs away from the hounds (right), Inferno, Canto 13;

f. 22v: Virgil shows Dante the three types of violent souls (blasphemers, sodomites and usurers) on the burning sand of an arid plain, exposed to a rain of fire; they reach a stream called the Phlegethon (right), Inferno, Canto 14;

f. 24v: Dante and Virgil stand beside a dam on the stream (left); Brunetto Latini pulls Dante's cloak (centre); the sodomites stand in a rain of fire (right), Inferno, Canto 15;

f. 26r: Dante and Virgil meet three sodomites (left); they reach a chasm and Geryon rises from the deep, Inferno, Canto 16;

f. 28r: Dante and Virgil talk to Geryon (left); the two mount on Geryon (centre); the usurers are seated on the burning sand in a rain of fire and Dante and Virgil descend on Geryon's back (right), Inferno, Canto 17;

f. 29v: The flatterers: Virgil shows Dante the ten concentric circles or malebolge (left); they meet the panderers, seducers and flatterers, Inferno, Canto 18;

f. 31v: The simonists: Virgil carries Dante down a slope to where the legs of the simonists project from a stone altar, with their feet on fire, Inferno, Canto 19;

f. 33r: The diviners and sorcerers: Virgil rebukes Dante (left) as he weeps for the souls, whose heads are twisted backwards (right), Inferno, Canto 20;

f. 35r: Virgil and Dante are escorted by devils instructed by Malacoda, Inferno, Canto 21;

f. 36v: The corrupt: Virgil and Dante are led by devils across a bridge over the souls of those who misused their power and are condemned to remain in boiling pitch; the barrators are tormented by devils (right), Inferno, Canto 22;

f. 38r: The hypocrites: Virgil and Dante slide down a slope (left) to meet the friars, Catalano and Loderingo among the hypocrites, who walk slowly under the weight of gilded, leaden cloaks; they are shown the crucified Annas the Sanhedrin, lying in a ditch; Inferno, Canto 23;

f. 40r: The thieves: Dante sits exhausted (left) as they climb over the mountain to the next level where they meet the thieves, who are entangled and bitten by serpents, Inferno, Canto 24;

f. 42r: The blasphemers: Vianni Fucci blasphemes in front of Dante and Virgil; a snake strangles him and Cacus the centaur, who carries a dragon on his back, confronts him; Dante and Virgil meet four Florentine blasphemers who are tormented by snakes and dragons, Inferno, Canto 25;

f. 44r: The false counsellors: Dante and Virgil clamber out of the pit to the next summit (left); they look at the flames that envelop the false counsellors, Inferno, Canto 26;

f. 45v, Dante and Virgil stand before the flames of hell, Inferno, Canto 27;

f. 47v: The sowers of discord, displaying their wounds (left); Bertrand de Born is depicted twice, showing Dante and Virgil his severed head, Inferno, Canto 28;

f. 49r: The falsifiers: Dante covers his ears so as not to hear the shrieks of the false alchemists who lie in a diseased heap (left); Griffolino and Capoccio, who were burned at the stake for false promises, speak to Dante and Virgil, Inferno, Canto 29;

f. 51r: The falsifiers: at Dante's request, Griffolino identifies the mad Gianni Schicchi, who bites Capoccio in the neck (left); Dante and Virgil see three counterfeiters who lie together, afflicted with fever and thirst, Inferno, Canto 30;

f. 52v: Dante and Virgil watch the giants Ephialtes and Briareus (left); Antaeus lowers Dante and Virgil into the pit (right), Inferno, Canto 31;

f. 54v: The traitors: Dante and Virgil walk over the lake of ice filled with the frozen souls of traitors, Inferno, Canto 32;

f. 56r: The traitors: Ugolino tells Dante and Virgil his story (left); they speak to Fra Alberigo and the souls of those who betrayed their guests (right), Inferno, Canto 33;

f. 58r: Dante and Virgil observe Satan swallowing his victims, with the souls of those who betrayed their benefactors, including Brutus and Judas Iscariot, frozen in ice below, Inferno, Canto 34;

f. 60r: Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell and see the stars, Inferno, Canto 34;

f. 61r: Dante and Virgil in a sailing boat (above); souls are weighed in a balance (below), at the beginning of Purgatorio;

f. 62r: Dante and Virgil look at the stars and Dante kneels before Cato (left); Virgil washes Dante's face, picks rushes and ties a new cord around Dante's waist (right), Purgatorio, Canto 1;

f. 63r: Dante kneels, as a ship with an angel pilot, brings souls from the mouth of the Tiber to meet him (left); Cato instructs the souls to hurry towards the mountain of Purgatory, and they are followed by Dante and Virgil, Purgatorio, Canto 2;

f. 64r: The excommunicate: Dante sees that his body casts a shadow (left); Manfred, son of Frederick II, shows his wounds to Dante and Virgil and the other souls point out Dante's shadow, Purgatorio, Canto 3;

f. 66v: The indolent: Dante and Virgil climb to a ledge and rest (left); they meet Belacqua and other lazy souls resting (right), Purgatorio, Canto 4;

f. 68r: The late repentant: Dante is chided by Virgil for looking back at one of the indolent souls (left); they meet the souls of those who died violently before they could repent, Purgatorio, Canto 5;

f. 69v: The late repentant plead for Dante's help (left); Sordello embraces Virgil (right), Purgatorio, Canto 6;

f. 73r: Dante and Virgil are in a meadow, where Sordello points to angels driving out a serpent, while the preoccupied rulers kneel, waiting for the sun to rise, Purgatorio, Canto 7, 8;

f. 77r: The 1st terrace on which three representations of humility are shown: Mary at the Annunciation, Michal in a tower watching David dance before the Ark of the Covenant (left) and the widow, who grasps the reins of Trajan's horse, asking for compensation for the death of her son (centre); Dante and Virgil observe three of the proud, laden with boulders (right), Purgatorio, Canto 10;

f. 77*r: Dante and Virgil watch Omberto Aldobrandeschi among the proud, carrying boulders up a hill, from Purgatorio, Canto 11;

f. 80v: The 2nd terrace: Dante and Virgil meet the envious, wearing course haircloth, their eyelids sealed, Purgatorio, Canto 13;

f. 83r: Dante and Virgil are addressed by Guido del Duca, one of the envious, Purgatorio, Canto 14;

f. 85r: Dante is blinded by light from an angel of mercy, who bids Dante and Virgil climb to the 3rd terrace, Purgatorio, Canto 15;

f. 86v: The 3rd terrace: Dante and Virgil, blinded by smoke, meet the wrathful, and Marco Lombardo points to the light, Purgatorio, Canto 16;

f. 88r: Dante and Virgil emerge to see the setting sun and an angel of peace bids them to climb to the 4th terrace, Purgatorio, Canto 17;

f. 89v: The 4th terrace: A crowd of the slothful rush past Dante and Virgil, while two who are left behind speak to Dante, Purgatorio, Canto 18;

f. 92r: The 5th terrace: an angel leads Dante and Virgil to where the souls of the extravagant and the avaricious lie, face down, weeping, Purgatorio, Canto 19;

f. 94r: Dante and Virgil walk past the lamenting souls of the wasteful and the greedy, Purgatorio, Canto 20;

f. 96r: Dante and Virgil meet Statius, who tries to embrace his idol, Virgil; souls lying in a heap (right), Purgatorio, Canto 21;

f. 97v: The 6th terrace: Dante, Virgil and Statius find a tree laden with fruit, its branches growing downwards so that it cannot be climbed, Purgatorio, Canto 22;

f. 100v: Dante and Forese Donati talk as they pass a crowd of the gluttonous (left); an angel of temperance shows them the way, Purgatorio, Canto 24;

f. 102v: The 7th terrace: Dante, Virgil and Statius listen to the lustful singing, Purgatorio, Canto 25;

f. 104r: The lustful are watched by Dante, Virgil and Statius, Purgatorio, Canto 26;

f. 106r: Dante lies asleep, a vision of a beautiful woman before him, and angel above; Virgil speaks his last words to Dante, Purgatorio, Canto 27;

f. 107v: The Earthly Paradise: Dante speaks to Matilda, while Virgil and Cato listen, Purgatorio, Canto 28;

f. 110r: The seven candlesticks and the crowned elders (left); Dante and Matilda (centre); the four living creatures and a triumphal cart, pulled by a griffin, with ladies dancing around it (right), Purgatorio, Canto 29;

f. 111v: The seven candlesticks, with Beatrice in a mandorla carried by four angels (left); the symbols of the four Evangelists (centre); Beatrice in a cart pulled by a griffin, surrounded by the virtues, speaks to Dante (right), Purgatorio, Canto 30;

f. 113v: Beatrice shows Dante and Virgil the griffin, the cart and the seven ladies around it, Purgatorio, Canto 31;

f. 115r: Matilda leads Dante and Statius (left); Beatrice is seated with the seven ladies in the foreground; a harlot, a giant and a fox are in the chariot, which is tied to a tree with a snake or dragon entwined in the wheel, Purgatorio, Canto 32;

f. 117r: Purgatorio, Dante, Matilda and Statius follow Beatrice and they see the seven virtues, Purgatorio, Canto 33.

The style of the miniatures has been compared to the Hamilton Bible (Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett 78 E 3), the Ordre du St Esprit (Paris, BnF fr. 4274) and Cardinal Planisio's Bible, Vatican, Bibl. Apostolica, lat. 3550. The composition of the miniatures resemble those in Florence, Laur. Strozz. 152. The colour-wash technique is similar to that used in Royal MS 20 D I, a Neapolitan copy of the Histoire Ancienne. For further description of the decoration and iconography, see Brieger, Meiss and Singleton Illuminated Manuscripts, 1969.