Sloane MS 361

Contents:

ff. 1-50: Speculum humanæ salvationis, consisting of the Prologue and Prohemium (ff. 1r-3v), 42 chapters consisting of 4 text columns each, with 4 miniatures above (ff. 4v-46r) and 3 final chapters without illustrations, consisting of the Seven Stations of the Passion, the Seven Sorrows and the Seven Joys of Mary (ff. 46v-50r);

ff. 50v-75v: Commentarius in Decalogum, a commentary on the Ten Commandments;

ff. 76r-119v: Vita Jesu, a meditation on the life of Christ beginning, 'Fundamentu[m] aliud nemo pon[er]e p[otes]t p[re]t[er] id quod po[s]itu[m ]est'(I Corinthians 3:11);

ff. 120r-164v: Sermones de Passione Christi, a collection of sermons.

Decoration:

124 column-width pen drawings with colour wash filling the upper half of each column in the Speculum (ff. 4v-46r). 1 large initial in red with simple pen-flourishing in red (f. 120r). Rubrics and initials in red.

The subjects of the miniatures are:

ff. 4v-5r: Angels above and Lucifer in the mouth of Hell; God creating Eve; Adam and Eve; Eve and the serpent;

f. 5v: The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden;

f. 6r: Eve spinning with a baby on her knee and Adam toiling; the dove returns to Noah's ark;

f. 6v: The angel Gabriel appears to Joachim; the dream of Astyages;

f. 7r: A walled garden with a sealed well; the prophet Balaam and the angel;

f. 7v: The birth of the Virgin Mary; the Tree of Jesse;

f. 8r: The locked door of the Temple; Solomon's Temple;

f. 8v: The Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple, with Joachim, St Anna and the priest, Abiathar; the golden table of the sun of Zabulon;

f. 9r: Jiftach sacrifices his daughter; the Queen of Persia in the hanging garden:

f. 9v: The wedding of the Virgin Mary and St Joseph and of Sara and Tobias;

f. 10r: The tower of Baris and the tower of David decorated with shields;

f. 10v: The Annunciation; Moses and the burning bush;

f. 11r: Gideon and the fleece; Rebecca and Eliezer at the well;

f. 11v: The Nativity; Pharaoh's dream;

f. 12r: Aaron's rod; Emperor Augustus and the Sibyl;

f. 12v: The three Magi;

f. 13r: Three knights bring water to King David; the Queen of Sheba kneeling at the throne of Solomon;

f. 13v: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple; the Ark of the Covenant;

f. 14r: Moses before Pharaoh; Nebuchadnezzar's dream;

f. 14v: The Baptism of Christ; the brazen urn in the Temple;

f. 15r: The washing of Naaman in the Jordan; the Ark is carried through the Jordan;

f. 15v: David destroys the idol, Bel and kills the dragon;

f. 16r: David and Goliath; David kills a lion and a bear;

f. 16v: Mary Magdalene anoints Christ's feet; King Manasseh kneeling;

f. 17r: The Prodigal Son returns; God forgives King David;

f. 17v: Christ's entry to Jerusalem; Jeremiah's lament over the destruction of Jerusalem;

f. 18r: David returns triumphant with Goliath's head; the punishment of Heliodorus;

f. 18v: The Last Supper; Moses and Jews making offerings;

f. 19r: The Paschal meal; Abraham and Melchizedek;

f. 19v: Jesus dismisses his adversaries; Samson kills his enemies with a jawbone;

f. 20r: Shamgar kills 600 men with an ox goad; David kills 800 men with one blow;

f. 20v: The Betrayal: Judas's kiss; Joab kisses Amasa;

f. 21r: Saul throws a spear at David; Cain murders Abel;

f. 21v: The capture and flagellation of Christ;

f. 22r: Ham, Shem and Japheth; Samson destroys the Temple;

f. 22v: The Israelites find Achior tied to a tree;

f. 23r: Lamech is persecuted by his wives, Adah and Zillah; Job is scourged by his wife and Satan;

f. 23v: Christ is crowned with thorns; Apamene steals Darius's crown;

f. 24r: Shimei curses David and pelts him with filth;

f. 24v: Abraham takes Isaac to be sacrificed;

f. 25r: The son of the vineyard owner is killed; two men carry the vine into the desert;

f. 25v: The raising of the Cross; Jubal and Tubal-Cain;

f. 26r: The martyrdom of Isaiah; King Moab sacrifices his son;

f. 26v: Nebuchadnezzar sees a tree in a dream; the Crucifixion;

f. 27r: King Codrus gives himself up to be killed for his people, and Eleazar Maccabeus stabbing the elephant and being crushed by it;

f. 27v: The Crucifixion; Joab murders Absalom;

f. 28r: David is mocked by Michol; Evil-Merodach cuts up his father's body and feeds it to the vultures;

f. 28v: The Deposition; Jacob mourns his son Joseph;

f. 29r: Adam and Eve mourn their son Abel; Naomi with her daughters-in-law, mourning her husband and sons;

f. 29v: The Virgin Mary mourns Christ in the tomb; David mourns at Abner's funeral procession;

f. 30r: Joseph is thrown in the well; Jonas is thrown into the sea, and lands in the whale's mouth;

f. 30v: The four tiers of Hell; the three youths, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, with the angel protecting them;

f. 31r: An angel sends Habbakuk to feed Daniel in the lions' den; the ostrich kills the serpent to use the blood to free its young;

f. 31v: Christ overcomes Satan with the cross; Benaja defeats a lion;

f. 32r: Samson kills a lion; Ehud stabs King Eglon;

f. 32v: The Virgin Mary, holding the instruments of the Passion, defeats Satan; Judith murders Holofernes;

f. 33r: Jael kills Sisera with a tent peg; Queen Thamari beheads Cyrus;

f. 33v: The Harrowing of Hell; Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt;

f. 34r: Abraham is rescued by God from the Chaldeans' fire; the angel leads Lot and his family out of Sodom;

f. 34v: The Resurrection; Samson removes the gates of Gaza;

f. 35r: Jonah emerging from the whale; the builders of Solomon's temple with the corner stone;

f. 36v: The Ascension; Jacob's ladder;

f. 37r: Christ carries the lost sheep; Elijah in the fiery chariot;

f. 37v: Pentecost; building the Tower of Babel;

f. 38r: God gives Moses the tablets; Elishah fills the poor widow's pots with oil;

f. 38v: The Virgin praying; a woman, perhaps Anna, mourning;

f. 39r: A woman searches for her lost coin; a man mourning a woman, perhaps the Virgin Mary;

f. 39v: The Assumption of the Virgin; David takes the Ark into his house;

f. 40r: The sun of the Apocalypse; Solomon's mother seated on his right;

f. 40v: The Virgin Mary kneeling, intercedes for sinners; a monk kneels before Christ holding three spears;

f. 41r: Abigail pleads with David for Nabal; a woman pleads for David's mercy on her husband;

f. 41v: The Virgin Mary protecting a sinner from the devil; Tarbis and Moses;

f. 42r: A woman of Thebes drops a millstone on Abmilech; David escapes from Michol;

f. 42v: Christ displays his wounds to the Father; Antipater shows his wounds to Julius Caesar;

f. 43r: The Virgin Mary shows her breast to Christ; Esther pleads for her people before Ahasuerus;

f. 43v: The Judgment, with Christ seated on a rainbow; the parable of the talents;

f. 44r: Parable of the wise and foolish virgins; Balthazar on the throne, with God's hand writing 'Mane thethel phares' on the wall;

f. 44v: Sinful souls are thrown into the fire; David's enemies are cut with a saw;

f. 45r: Two men talking; Pharaoh's army is drowned in the Red Sea;

f. 45v: The heavenly host; The Queen of Sheba before Solomon;

f. 46r: The feast of King Ahasuerus; Job's family feasting.

The iconography belongs to the 'Italian group' of manuscripts of the Speculum.