The episode of the Empty Tomb, reported in the Canonical Gospels, narrates the unexpected discovery by some women followers of Jesus, who, having gone to the tomb to embalm his body, found the tomb open and empty. An angel was waiting for them, who informed them of the Resurrection of Jesus.
In ms.716 c3r of the Casanatense the miniaturist has translated with admirable grace the evangelical passages that describe the women’s coming to the tomb early in the morning to embalm Jesus.
In front of them is an angelic figure, cloaked in blue, who with the index finger of his right hand points to the tomb and, almost in a gesture of denial, seems to exclaim: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth: he is risen, he is not here!”.
Here, in fact, on the far right, is the now empty tomb from which the edges of the shroud emerge.
In the lower part, as if crushed by the Angel, three armed men can be seen: they are the guards who, “trembled and fainted because of the fear”.
The episode is placed inside a historiated initial M in blue, with the characteristic “aedicule” shape on a gold background.
The parchment codex, datable to the second half of the 12th century, is part of a group of liturgical manuscripts from Pistoia. The text, a Homily, is written in an elegant Carolingian minuscule by two hands and is enriched by a precious decoration consisting of phytomorphic initials, geometric, zoomorphic, figurative initials and historiated initials depicting, in addition to the aforementioned, Saint Augustine, Saint Ambrose and a Virgin with Child. The style of the miniature is typical of the Pistoia area.
The codex became part of the Casanatense collections on 11 April 1744 together with Mss. 717-723, purchased at the request of Benedict XIV.
Signature: Ms. 716 Homiliary. Summer section (from Holy Easter to the Trinity, from the Nativity of St. Mark to St. Andrew) Provenance: Pistoia Date 11th century