Emperor Justinianus as an enthroned king handing his lawcodes to two young men, on a large initial on a leaf from the Corpus Juris Civilis, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France (probably Paris), thirteenth century]

Emperor Justinianus as an enthroned king handing his lawcodes (here as a single-sheet document) to two young men, on a large initial on a leaf from the Corpus Juris Civilis, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment [France (probably Paris), thirteenth century]

Single large leaf, with an initial U (opening Ulpianus libro … the opening of the second book), in pale brown wash heightened with white hairline penwork, enclosing a seated monarch with a golden crown, as he receives a single-sheet document from 2 young men, all on blue grounds within thin gold frame, the remaining parts of this and the next word in elongated red and blue capitals, 4 other small initials in pink or blue on coloured grounds with gold bezants, 2 enclosing foliage, the others with a crowned kings face and a cat-like animal who bites at a bezant, another long eared drollery creature curled around the lower inner corner of the text on verso, simple red and blue elongated initials, red rubrics, elaborate red or blue paragraph marks, double column of 52 lines in a good early gothic bookhand, the margins filled with gloss, and in fact this leaf skilfully remarginated very soon after being produced with its original margins (perhaps with outdated gloss) stripped away and replaced by new, other glosses set interlineally as well as a series of references symbols added by a medieval hand in black ink over some words, split to upper margin, thinness of parchment causing some splits along ruled lines of text (but not affecting initial and visible easily only when leaf is held up to light), rubbed in places with slight losses to gloss in margin, overall good condition, 433 by 250mm.

The initial here opens the text on the jurisdiction over the Jews. The artist of this charming and well accomplished example of French thirteenth-century painting may well have been familiar with the workshops of Paris more regularly involved in the production of illuminated Bibles. The models for the seated king here and the two men standing before him are most probably those found elsewhere in the productions of the Johannes Grusch and Vie de Saint Denis ateliers (cf. R. Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris During the Reign of Saint Louis: A Study of Styles, 1977, figs. 228 & 250, where interestingly the latter illustrates two Jewish men in tall pointed hats).