Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

De rerum natura.

Accession number
MS M.482
Object title
De rerum natura.
Created
Italy, ca. 1450.
Binding
18th-century Italian vellum.
Credit line
Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1911.
Description
137 leaves (1 column, 28 lines), bound : vellum, ill. ; 230 x 130 mm
Provenance
Written for an Arcimboldi of Milan (arms: or on a bend gules five pointed stars argent); bought at Rome in the 18th century by Aloysio Baroni, a Servite monk (recorded on second flyleaf verso as no. 61 of his library); Sotheby's sale (London, Dec. 23, 1852, lot 51) to H. Bohn; Guillaume Libri sale (London, Sotheby's, Mar. 28, 1859, lot 625) to Barthès; L.(?) A (?) Mostras inscribed in a 19th-century hand on first flyleaf verso; Sir Thomas Phillipps collection (no. 16338); (London, Sotheby's, 1899, lot 834) to Egerton; purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) from Pearson in 1911; J.P. Morgan (1867-1943).
Notes
Ms. written and illuminated in northern Italy, ca. 1450.
Ms. is a palimpsest; the underlying texts are 14th century deeds.
Decoration: medallion with arms supported by winged putti and a butterfly; 6 white-vine initials.
Script
humanistic script
Language
Latin
Century
Classification