Book of Treasures

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he Book of Treasures is an encyclopaedia written by Brunetto Latini during his exile in France (1260-1267.) Latini was a Florentine politician, poet, historian, philosopher, and Dante's friend and teacher.

The codex consists of three books, each written in French. The first book begins with the Biblical history, the history of Troy and the history of the Middle ages, followed by a natural history recompiled from an extensive body of knowledge of astronomy and geography. It describes some animal and bird species in detail. The second book discusses ethics, gathering ideas from classic and contemporary moralists. It studies the vices and virtues of man. The third book is the most original of the three. It deals with politics and the art of governing which according to the author, are the noblest of all sciences.

The codex belonged to the Séguier collection and was moved to Saint Germain des Prés in 1735. Later in the 18th century, it became part of Dubrowsky collection and eventually passed on to the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg.

The codex includes 115 framed miniatures and 4 decorated initials in the beginning of the preface and each of the chapters. It also has gold capitals decorated with blue and carmine.

The miniatures in this codex are extremely rich and varied, the artist's imagination, insatiable. The margins of 18 folios are filled with arabesques and drolleries. Beasts abound. Grotesque characters and strange dwarves engage in devilish revelry. Acrobats juggle and walk the tight rope. Musicians play trumpets, flutes, violas, tambourines, organs and bagpipes. Birds, jackrabbits, fawns, lions and dogs hunting wild boar appear. The birth of Eve is even among the many marvellous miniatures to be found in this encyclopaedia.

Constantinova hypothesises that these characters represent ambulant actors who are heralded by the sound of a trumpet (drawn in the beginning on the eleventh folio) to act throughout the encyclopaedia. According to her, the animals and monsters appear like marionettes, representations of men wearing costumes made from the skin of the animal they depict. The drolleries in the codex of St. Petersburg are among the oldest and most developed of this genre in the history of European miniature. Unfortunately, due to the numerous rebindings the codex has undergone, part of the ornamentation has been spliced.

The ink sketches reflect great mastery. The poses and movements are quite beautiful and noble. The illustrations in the natural history section employ the traditional Romanesque format reminiscent of the bestiaries. Noting the Picaresque influence in the miniatures, Laborde dates the illustrations back to the 1330s. Constatinova believes that the illustrations may have been done in a layman's workshop in Paris and highlights the influence of the English miniatures in the fantastic characters. The style of illustration is actually more reminiscent of the north of France in the beginning of the 14th century.

The binding is from the sixteenth century. It is made of brown goatskin with a blue, red and green mosaic. On the front cover, there is a six-pointed star and coat of arms. On the back cover, the motto "In magnis et voluisse sat est". The volume is 220 x 310 mm in size with 298 pages containing 115 illuminations.

The commentary volume will include essays written by experts in Medieval History and Art History. It will be written in Spanish.

• Codicological and palaeographic study by Doctor Ludmila Kisseleva, National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg.
• Iconographic study by Doctor Inna Mokretsova
• History of the manuscript and analysis of pigments by Doctor Inna Mokretsova and Galina Bykova.
• Study of the bestiary by Doctor Willene Clark, Professor Emeritus of Art History, Marlboro College, United States of America

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