| Commentary: |
Notes from Snow 1977, no. 292: "An invaluable study of the CSM codices which are minutely described and compared. The Florence MS is shown, rather convincingly, to be both the often cited codex once in the possession of J. Lucas Cortés and the second part of the truncated Escurial MS T.j.l. The incomplete state of the illumination process of the Florence codex provided the author with the basis for the description of a reasonable seven step procedure by which the Alfonsine artists created the CSM miniatures. Then, granting the possibility of French, Italian, and even Germanic illumination styles, M.P. compares two illustrations from a 1237 copy of al-Hariri's Maq?mat with CSM 185l and 165k (from T.j.l), a comparison which shows, to the author's satisfaction, the influence of Arabic miniature style on Alfonso's very diverse artists. He adduces, furthermore, the names of six of the artists (and scribes) who doubtless shared in the great artistic enterprise of the CSM." |
