Ptolemaeus: Magnae compositionis libri …

This manuscript could be a turning point in Francesco da Castello’s art. He composed the decoration following the patterns of a Florentine manuscript that arrived at that time at Buda: the Hieronymus Corvina (Vienna, ÖNB, Cod. 930) illuminated by Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni. It was probably under that inspiration that the master decided to use golden ornaments. The female figures in the medallions represent the cardinal and Christian virtues of prudence (prudentia), justice (iustitia), temperance (temperantia), courage (fortitudo), faith (fides), hope (spes) and charity (caritas). This relates the manuscript to King Matthias’s representation as a ruler in which the monarch’s virtues play an essential role. It can be paired with the Regiomontanus Corvina of Vienna that, despite being a work on astronomy, praises the virtues of the queen.The codex is also a remarkable relic of the growing interest in the study and practice of astronomy in the mid-15th century in the Hungarian royal court and Johannes Vitéz’s environment: the complementary charts, as well as the horoscope of the Pozsony University on the last page, were made by court astronomer Marcin Bylica z Olkusza of Poland (1435‒1493/94). (Edina Zsupán)

Source: The Corvina Library and the Buda Worskhop: [National Széchényi Library, November 6, 2018 –February 9, 2019] A Guide to the Exhibition; introduction and summary tables: Edina Zsupán; object descriptions: Edina Zsupán, Ferenc Földesi; English translation: Ágnes Latorre, Budapest: NSZL, 2018, p. 86