The census of the manuscripts containing Italian translations of the Golden Legend provides an expansive view of the reception of hagiographic texts in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy, which includes significant data regarding production environments, copyists, owners, product quality, and dynamics of transmission. This essay investigates the reuse and reception of selected chapters from the Golden Legendrelated to the Church Fathers (Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Bernard of Clairvaux), as well as the relationship between translations of the Golden Legendand preaching (as evidenced by collections of sermons such as Genoa, Biblioteca Franzoniana, MS Urb. 56 and Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1301). We propose a categorization for the main types of vernacular hagiographic manuscripts, the miscellany and the legendary (which can be either structured (following liturgical or sanctoral ordering criteria) or unstructured, with a focus on the rare cases of illuminated legendaries. By examining the organizing principles of selected legendaries (MSS Panc. 39, Ricc. 1276, Ricc. 2223), we also discern the rising role of the laity in copying, reorganizing, and disseminating vernacular hagiography between the 14th and 15th centuries.
Le traduzioni italiane: itinerari nella tradizione manoscritta
Speranza Cerullo
2023-01-01
Abstract
The census of the manuscripts containing Italian translations of the Golden Legend provides an expansive view of the reception of hagiographic texts in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy, which includes significant data regarding production environments, copyists, owners, product quality, and dynamics of transmission. This essay investigates the reuse and reception of selected chapters from the Golden Legendrelated to the Church Fathers (Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Bernard of Clairvaux), as well as the relationship between translations of the Golden Legendand preaching (as evidenced by collections of sermons such as Genoa, Biblioteca Franzoniana, MS Urb. 56 and Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 1301). We propose a categorization for the main types of vernacular hagiographic manuscripts, the miscellany and the legendary (which can be either structured (following liturgical or sanctoral ordering criteria) or unstructured, with a focus on the rare cases of illuminated legendaries. By examining the organizing principles of selected legendaries (MSS Panc. 39, Ricc. 1276, Ricc. 2223), we also discern the rising role of the laity in copying, reorganizing, and disseminating vernacular hagiography between the 14th and 15th centuries.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
