Divinia Comedia, Codex Altonensis
Manuscript Informatio
Title of manuscript: Divinia ComediaMS call number (and folio selected): n/a
Current location: Altona, Hamburg Germany
Place of creation: Still debated between Bologna, Tuscana, and Siena
Date of creation: 1350 -1410 AD
Codicology and Paleography
Language(s) of text: ItalianScript: Gothic Rotunda
Abbreviations: n/a
Textual corrections
Contemporary:Erasure scraping on bottom of 22v
Later:
Marginal Commentary
Contemporary: 'Nota Bene" or "Manicule Marginalia" at Stanzas 10 and 12 of Canto II.
Later:
Rubrication: Marked in the red ink, first two lines of the text, before Canto II begins.
Instructions for scribe: n/a
Instructions for rubricator and/or artist: n/a
Provenance
The manuscript, and other items, entered the Christianeum in 1768 by Collector Johann Peter Kohl (1698-1778). Between the time of its creation, and its donation to the Christianeum, its provenance is unknown.Marks of ownership: *Not on this page
Previous owners: Johann Peter Kohl, a German Theologian and book collector, others unknown
Mise en page
wo column layout with a miniature interrupting these columns on 22vColumns: 2 each folio
Lines per column: 36 lines
Decoration (in hierarchical order)
Gilding: Yes, in the initial of the 'N' that starts Canto II is painted with gold inkSmall ink initials: Beginning of Canto II, the first letter, 'N' is a small initial, with painted foliage reaching along the edges of the text.
Pen flourished initials: n/a
Painted initials: see 'small ink initials'
Gold initials: See 'small ink initials'
Foliate initials: First 'N' of Canto II
Zoomorphic initials: n/a
Anthropomorphic initials: n/a
Historiated initials: n/a
Miniatures:
Miniature placed on 22r, 14 lines wide, interrupts two columns of text. Depicts the forest of Suicide- Part of the illustration breaks through the thin-red border around the miniature.
- Level of artistry in miniatures seems to vary – this one taking on basic skills, in order to demonstrate what is happening in the texts, not to be seen as “artwork”, according to Etienne Gilson (qtd by Charles S. Singlton, Chapter 2, pg 12)
Marginal Illustrations: 'nota bene' also see 'Marginal Commentary' To indicate an important notation
Full page illustration: n/a
Other Information:
Oxidization on the top right-hand corner of 22v, near the text. This is from the gold gilded ‘N’ on the other facing folio, 21r.Further readings:
Brieger, Peter; Meiss, Millard; Singleton, Charles S. Illuminated Manuscripts of the Divine Comedy. Princeton University Press. 1969. Print.Noeske, Felicitas. “SCHMUCKPROGRAMM. CODEX ALTONENSIS”. Biblioteca.gym. January 18, 2017.
This page has paths:
- Lit 150 Winter Quarter Kristy Golubiewski-Davis
