Divinae Institutiones; De Ira Dei; De Opificio; De Ave Phoenice
Ser Ricciardo di Nanni; Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius
about 1456
Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink, Tempera Colors, Ink
An illuminated manuscript page features text surrounded by decorative borders and miniature scenes. The main text is in Latin, with a large initial letter and ornate gold leaf embellishments. This manuscript comprises four thematically related texts by the Roman Christian author Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 240–ca. 320 CE). The first, which takes up the largest portion of the volume, is The Divine Institutes. It is followed by Lactantius’s treatises On the Wrath of God and The Works of God as well as his poem The Phoenix. Lactantius’s texts belong to a type known as apologia, or defenses, of the Christian faith. A pristine example of Florentine book art during the Renaissance, the manuscript attests to elite patrons’ interests not only in ancient sources and the writings of the early Church, but also in the
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