MINIATURIST, Polish
(active in 1520s)

Bona Sforza's Prayer Book

1527-28
Manuscript (Ms. Douce 40)
Bodleian Library, Oxford

The book was made for Bona Sforza, wife of Sigismund I, King of Poland, who arrived from Italy in 1518. The five most beautiful pictures of the richly decorated book, depicting scenes from the childhood of Christ, were executed by an artist with monogram S.C. (=Stanislaus Claratumbensis). This artist was influenced by the engravings of the masters of the Danube school (Dürer, Altdorfer, Cranach) and he used also Italian Renaissance elements.

The miniature on folio 60, presented here, depicts the Nativity scene.