Back to slow weeks with only fourteen manuscripts digitized this week. The largest contributor was Ott.lat with six manuscripts. Both Barb.lat and Vat.lat added two, and one each came from Bonc, Chig, S.Maria.Magg, and Vat.gr.

It's a bit of a meme, at least when I talk to people, about how weirdly unrealistic the oxen of St. Luke seem to be in manuscripts, considering that unlike a dragon or an elephant, the artists would have clearly seen an ox in their lifetime. The artist of Barb.lat.560 decided to take this to heart and, although many of the Gospel lections start with symbol of the evangelist, none of them are remotely realistic. Here, from top left, and in order of descending realism, are Angel/Matthew (f.33v), Lion/Mark (f.44v), Ox/Luke (f.39v), Eagle/John(f.48r)

At the bottom is a fragment of f.1v from Chig.C.VIII.232. This contains the Mass liturgy for several specific holidays, starting with Christmas Eve and ending with All Saints Day, and each feast within has a full page illustration in a high Baroque style. The Missal was made for Francesco Peretti di Montalto, see his arms at the top of f.1v. It can be dated, based on those arms containing the Cardinal's hat and tassles, to between 1641, when he was elevated by Urban VIII, and 1655, when he died. The elements of his arms, particularly the trimount element, appear later on in the manuscript decorations(see ff.10v, 17v, etc.)