MASTER of the Codex of Saint George
(active first half of the 14th century)

Codex of St George (Folio 85r)

1325-30
Tempera and gold on parchment, 373 x 263 mm
Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican

The Saint George Codex belonged to Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi and, traditionally until the nineteenth century, its miniatures were attributed to Giotto. The author of the miniatures was first christened the master of the Saint George Codex at the beginning of the twentieth century. The text of the codex contains a portion of the sanctorale (March 25-June 9)and a history of St George, as well as hymns in his honour written by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi. The history of St George is based on Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend and is similarly anecdotal.

The codex is richly illustrated with eighteen historiated initials and one bas-de-page miniature. The decorative vocabulary and palette of the codex are Florentine, whereas the mise-en-scene and preciousness have been appropriately linked to contemporary French illumination. The lettering has been characterized as typifying Italian work in Avignon. The manuscripts that were illuminated exclusively by the Master of the St George Codex or his workshop all seem to have been produced in Avignon during Cardinal Stefaneschi's continuous residence from 1309 until his death at the age of eighty in 1341.

Folio 85r contains St George Saving the Princess by Slaying the Dragon in an initial D. At the bas-de-page: Cardinal Stefaneschi kneeling before his patron saint.