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The Vergilius Vaticanus (Vatican
Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
, Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. lat. 3225, also known as the Vatican Virgil) is an illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the Writing is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and Miniature ....
 containing fragments of Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
's Aeneid
Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
 and Georgics
Georgics

The Georgics, published in 29 BCE, is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil. Its ostensible subject is rural life and farming. It is generally described as Didacticism....
 made in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 in about 400. It is one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid and is the oldest and one of only three illustrated manuscript of classical literature.






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Vaticanvergilfol22rflightfromtroy
The Vergilius Vaticanus (Vatican
Vatican City

Vatican City , officially the State of the Vatican City , is a Landlocked country sovereignty city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the Capital of Italy....
, Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. lat. 3225, also known as the Vatican Virgil) is an illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the Writing is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and Miniature ....
 containing fragments of Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
's Aeneid
Aeneid

The Aeneid is a Latin Epic poetry written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Rome....
 and Georgics
Georgics

The Georgics, published in 29 BCE, is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil. Its ostensible subject is rural life and farming. It is generally described as Didacticism....
 made in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 in about 400. It is one of the oldest surviving sources for the text of the Aeneid and is the oldest and one of only three illustrated manuscript of classical literature. The two other surviving illustrated manuscripts of classical literature are the Vergilius Romanus
Vergilius Romanus

The Vergilius Romanus , also known as the Roman Vergil, is a 5th century illuminated manuscript of the works of Virgil. It contains the Aeneid, the Georgics, and some of the Eclogues....
 and the Ambrosian Iliad
Ambrosian Iliad

The Ambrosian Iliad is a 5th century Illuminated manuscript manuscript of the Iliad of Homer. It is thought to have been produced in Constantinople during the late 5th or early 6th century, specifically between 493 and 508, on vellum....
.

There are 76 surviving leaves in the manuscript with 50 illustrations. If, as was common practice at the time, the manuscript contained all of the canonical works of Virgil, the manuscript would originally had about 440 leaves and 280 illustrations. The text was written by a single scribe in rustic capitals
Rustic capitals

Rustic capitals is an Ancient Rome calligraphy script. As the term is negatively connotated supposing an opposition to the more 'civilized' form of the Roman square capitals Bernhard Bischoff prefers to call the script canonized capitals....
. As was common at the time, there is no separation between words. The scribe worked first leaving spaces for the illustrations. The illustrations were added by three different painters, all of whom used iconographic copybooks. The illustrations are contained within frames and include landscape
Landscape

Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including physical elements such as landforms, living elements of flora and fauna, abstract elements such as lighting and weather conditions, and human elements, for instance human activity or the built environment....
s and architectural and other details. The miniatures are set within the text column, although a few miniatures occupy a full page. The human figures are painted in classical style with natural proportions and drawn with vivacity. The illustrations often convey the illusion depth quite well. The gray ground of the landscapes blend into bands of rose, violet, or blue to give the impression of a hazy distance. The interior scenes are based on earlier understanding of perspective, but occasional errors suggest that the artists did not fully understand the models used. The style of these miniatures has much in common with the surviving miniatures of the Quedlinburg Itala fragment
Quedlinburg Itala fragment

The Quedlinburg Itala fragment is a fragment of six folios from a large 5th century illuminated manuscript of an Vetus Latina translation of the Bible....
  and have also been compared to the fresco
Fresco

Fresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins....
s found at Pompeii
Pompeii

Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Ancient Rome town-city near modern Naples in the Italy region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei....
.

The manuscript was probably made for a pagan noble. Annotations in the manuscript indicate it was in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 until 7th century and in Tours
Tours

Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France.It is located on the lower reaches of the river River Loire, between Orl?ans and the Atlantic Ocean coast....
 in the second quarter of the 9th century. A French scribe made further notes around 1400.

The Vergilius Vaticanus is not to be confused with the Vergilius Romanus
Vergilius Romanus

The Vergilius Romanus , also known as the Roman Vergil, is a 5th century illuminated manuscript of the works of Virgil. It contains the Aeneid, the Georgics, and some of the Eclogues....
 (Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica, Cod. Vat. lat. 3867) or the Vergilius Augusteus, two other ancient Vergilian manuscripts in the Biblioteca Apostolica.

Facsimile


  • Wright, David H. Vergilius Vaticanus : vollständige Faksimile-Ausgabe im Originalformat des Codex Vaticanus Latinus 3225 der Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Graz, Austria : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1984.


Additional reading

  • Stevenson, Thomas B. Miniature decoration in the Vatican Virgil : a study in late antique iconography. Tübingen, Verlag E. Wasmuth, 1983.
  • Wright, David H., The Vatican Vergil, a Masterpiece of Late Antique Art . Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993.
  • Wright, David H. Codicological notes on the Vergilius Romanus (Vat. lat. 3867). Vatican City, Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1992.