Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts

Compilatio historiarum / Giovanni, da Udine
Switzerland, Basel, ca. 1476
MS M.158 fol. 41v

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Miniature, upper left: 1) Samson: slaying Lion -- Samson, mounts back of lion, rending its jaws, its head turned back. Miniature, lower left: 2) Ehud: killing Eglon -- Ehud, wearing hat, partly covering face, extends left hand to shoulder of and with right hand holds sword piercing abdomen of Eglon, crowned, seated on decorated throne. Miniature, upper right: 3) Virgin Mary: treading on Beasts -- Virgin Mary, nimbed, veiled, holds scourge with right hand and withes with left hand; She stands on and transfixes, horned devil, with claw feet, mouth open showing tongue. She is surrounded by other Instruments of Passion including: lantern, surmounting column, arm of cross, with two nails and with crown of thorns hanging around it; bucket and spear. Miniature, lower right: 4) Judith: slaying Holofernes -- Behind draped bed, Judith, raises sword with left hand and extends right hand to head of Holofernes, reclining on the bed beside sword, his head on pillow, his hat on tiled floor. Miniatures are proofs for Bernhard Richel’s Spiegel Menschlicher Behältnis (Basel: 1476) with biblical quotes, commentary and abbreviated extracts, written in German, for Chapters 29 (Samson: slaying Lion and Ehud: killing Eglon) and 30 of the Speculum Humanae Salvationis.