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The thirty-eight miniatures of the codex (M. 643) in the The Morgan Library and Museum constitute the richest surviving manuscript painted by Pacino di Bonaguida. The codex contains no text and may have been made as a picture book. The illuminations begin with an image of King David, which is followed by a sequence of the Life of Christ, including thirty-three biblical and apocryphal scenes. After this series are four leaves illustrating the Life of Gerard of Villamagna (c. 1174-1245).
According to the legend of Gerard of Villamagna, he grew up as an orphan in Villamagna. He participated as a page in the Third Crusade, during which he was captured. Later he made a second trip to the Holy Land, becoming a member of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. The picture shows the fourth, final miniature of the series (Fol. 37), in which the body of Gerard is laid in the branches of an oak for the veneration of the faithful.
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