ms 233 the burning of Troy
by Martina Pugliesi
Among the treasures of the Biblioteca Casanatense is the magnificent ms. 233. The large-format codex (425 x 305 mm) contains a Universal History in French, from the creation of man to the war between Caesar and Pompey. Written in French bastard script arranged in two columns, the manuscript can be attributed to the 15th century and is finely illuminated in full Flemish style.
The iconographic apparatus is the work of Loyset Lyédet, a Dutch painter, illustrator and illuminator active at the court of the Dukes of Burgundy between 1460 and 1478. There are eleven illustrations inherent to the text that make the codex a true monument of art: two major ones – but it is likely that there were originally three and that the first one was removed – and nine minor vignettes in which the characters are depicted in black and white and illuminated in gold. All scenes are depicted using costumes, architecture, scenery and landscapes of 15th-century France, with particular reference to the areas of Burgundy and Provence.
On c. 171r., within a frame occupying the upper half of the page is a highly refined depiction of the scene of the burning of Troy, made dramatic by the presence of the tongues of fire enveloping the buildings and the corpses and wreckage adrift at sea. In the center of the scene is a procession consisting of women and children who, led by Aeneas, are preparing to leave the burning city.
The illustration and text are enclosed by a rich frieze consisting of plant and floral motifs, dotted with gold.
The manuscript retains its original binding consisting of wooden boards and a leather cover. On the plates are stamped, in small irons, the fleurs-de-lis of France, within a rectangular field with several frames divided in turn into smaller fields cut into diamonds by diagonal bands. The spine has seven nerves and the cut is gilded.
The codex belonged to the Library of the Casa Professa del Gesù in Rome, as testified by an old possession note on c.3r: ‘Domus Professae Romanae Societ. Iesu Bibl. Comm.’ and became part of the Casanatense collections in 1774 following a purchase.