Giovanni Colonna: Mare historiarum

This manuscript contains a collection of historical texts written by Giovanni Colonna (c. 1298-1343), a Dominican monk in Rome, a typical representative of early Italian humanism. His history of the world ended around 1250. The codex was commissioned by Guillaume Jouvenel des Ursins (1401-1472), chancellor to the king. It was illuminated by several miniaturists.

The miniature on folio 149r serves as a frontispiece to Book IV. It was painted by the same master as that who decorated the Boccaccio manuscript in Geneva. Terrible events are unfolding in the peaceful scenery with the fantastic city veduta in the left background. The picture tells of events from Roman history, from the civil wars to the time of the Gracchi (2nd century B.C.).