Vergilius Vaticanus

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Vergilius Vaticanus is called an illuminated manuscript written around 400 AD in Capitalis rustica, which came from the previous possession of Pietro Bembo and Fulvio Orsini in 1602 to the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, where the parchment codex is kept under the signature Vatican City, BAV, Vaticanus latinus 3225. It contains works by the Roman poet P. Vergilius Maro: Fol. 1r–10r: Georgica (fragmentary). Fol. 11r–75v: Aeneis (fragmentary). 76r–v: Aeneis (fragment of the 5th century). In the editions he is led under the Sigle F.

A Late Antique Gesamtkunstwerk

With its 50 (from originally about 245) miniatures to 76 (from originally about 420) Today, the Vergilius Vaticanus is considered one of the main works of late antique book painting, the oldest extant example of an illustrated Latin classical manuscript and possibly the oldest largely preserved codex of the works of Vergil.

The illustrations still show stylistic features of the ancient painting tradition, as they are still known today from murals of this epoch. In late antique book painting, for example, the Ilias Ambrosiana (5th/6th century), the Cotton-Genesis (5th century), the Vienna Genesis (6th century) and the Codex purpureus Rossanensis (6th century) still stand in this tradition. For some of the illustrations of Vergilius Vaticanus, iconographic models can be proven, which must go back to much earlier illustrated works of Greek-language Hellenistic literature. On the other hand, the illustrations of the so-called Vergilius Romanus, a somewhat later work dealing with the same subjects, indicate a departure from this classical canon of forms. The comparison of the two works can show the further development of a book illustration of antiquity represented by the Vergilius Vaticanus into medieval book painting.

The layout with a relatively petite page format of about 22.5 cm page height and about 20 cm width, but an almost square writing mirror of 21 verses per page, gives the handwriting a less monumental, but rather intimate character for the lover's hand.

There are a number of other famous yellow manuscripts of late antiquity.

History of ownership and reception
In the 9th century, the then apparently almost complete codex in Saint-Martin de Tours Abbey, where it may have come from the Court Library of Charlemagne, had served as a template for the illustrations of the Vivian Bible. Stylus traces testify to this use, which remain behind during the break-off. In the early 15. It was discovered and edited by an unknown French humanist (determination of missing pages, corrections, notes, redrawing of outlines). Still in the 15th century, the Codex was transferred to Italy, where further leaf losses occurred and, meanwhile, erased and no longer fully deciphered