Word and Image in the Vita Gloriosissimae Virginis
Mariae Manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms.
Canon. Misc. 476)
This article examines ms. Canon. Misc. 476, a Venetian
illustrated manuscript now in the Bodleian Library of
Oxford, made in the second quarter of the 14th century
and illuminated with 319 initials dealing with the Life of
the Virgin and Christ. On the basis of a stylistic analysis,
scholars linked this work of art to the scriptorium
that produced the three liturgical books for the Basilica
of San Marco, and we can indeed recognize the hands of
two of the Marciana Masters in the pictorial program.
This study focuses on the interrelationship between the
text, a Latin apocryphal version of the Life of Mary and
Christ, and the illustration, with the purpose to make
clear the production, function, and use of this book. The
examination of the text, and its origin, helps to understand
the illustration process, revealing the adoption of
different iconographical traditions. The pictorial program
also shows visual strategies that improve the devotional
feature of the manuscript, stimulating the reader to
memorize and meditate on the moral meaning embedded
in the scenes.