Similar
February: men pruning; Pisces - Public domain medieval manuscript
The Greek camp; Agamemnon in the temple of Artemis
Birth of Caesar from BL Royal 17 F II, f. 9
Image from BL Harley 4375, f. 33
Le champion des dames - Rare book, public domain, Library of Congress scan
Worshipping Happiness (Felicitas), a late-comer to the ranks of Roman gods
Le doctrinal du temps présent - Rare book, public domain, Library of Congress scan
Chronicon Pictum 126 - Public domain medieval manuscript
The Agony in the Garden - Public domain medieval manuscript
Related
Marcie with mirror and sculptor's tools from BL Royal 20 C V, f. 104
Giovanni Boccaccio - Marpesia and Lampeto from BL Royal 20 C V, f. 20v, illuminated manuscript
Martin from BL Royal 20 D VI, f. 111
Bel-Acoeil taking the chaplet and mirror from BL Royal 20 A XVII, f. 104v
Martin from BL Royal 20 D VI, f. 99
Margaret from BL Royal 20 D VI, f. 220
Cressida from BL Royal 20 D I, f. 106v
Capture of Vitellius from BL Royal 20 C I, f. 287v
Margaret from BL Royal 20 D VI, f. 220
Marcie with mirror and sculptor's tools from BL Royal 20 C V, f. 104
Summary
Miniature of 'Marcie qui fut de Varron' (i.e. Jaia of Cyzicus) with mirror and sculptor's tools. Image taken from f. 104 of Des cleres et nobles femmes, De claris mulieribus in an anonymous French translation (index De claris mulieribus, Le livre de femmes nobles et renomées). Written in French.
The BL Royal Manuscript Collection, also known as the Royal Collection, consists of over 2,000 manuscripts that were once owned by the British monarchs, including English and later British kings and queens from the late 12th to the 19th centuries. These manuscripts are notable for their historical and artistic value.
The collection was initially stored in various royal libraries and palaces, such as the Tower of London and Westminster Palace. During the English Civil War in the 17th century and the subsequent Interregnum, many royal treasures, including manuscripts, were dispersed and sold. Some manuscripts were lost, destroyed, or ended up in private hands.
In 1757, King George II donated the Old Royal Library to the British Museum (which later became the British Library), where the manuscripts were integrated into the museum's collections. This marked the formal establishment of the Royal Manuscript Collection within the British Museum.
Giovanni Boccaccio, 1313 – 1375, was an Italian writer and poet and an important Renaissance humanist. He wrote mostly in the Italian vernacular, as well as some works in Latin, and is particularly noted for his realistic dialogue which differed from that of his contemporaries. Boccaccio spent his childhood in Florence. His father had no sympathy for Boccaccio’s literature inclinations and sent him to Naples, to an office of the Bardi, who were money lenders, to learn business. In Naples, Boccaccio became a consul (or senior officer) of the Arte del Cambio (the Guild of the moneychangers and money lenders) and met with the learned men of the court and the friends and admirers of Petrarch. It was about 1340 when Boccaccio returned to Florence due to the bankruptcy of the Bardi and brought in a store of literary work already he already completed. After 10 years and financial challenges, in 1350 he became a Florentine ambassador and visited Rome, Ravenna, Avignon and Brandenburg. During this period he formed a lasting friendship with Francesco Petrarch. In 1358 he completed his main work, the Decameron. During the plague at Florence in 1348, seven ladies and three gentlemen left the city for a country villa and over a period of ten days told one hundred stories. Boccaccio selected the plots of his stories mostly from the fabliaux which had passed into Italy from France, medieval stories that had classical form. The influence of the Decameron on European literature is enormous. Chaucer and Shakespeare both borrowed from it.