Search of sources of Bersuire's Ovidius moralizatus after two illuminated passages

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to put forward possible relationships of Bersuire's Ovidius moralizatus with other medieval works departing from two illustrations that accompany passages of the text in two different manuscripts: Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Cassaforte 3.4, and Treviso, Biblioteca Comunale, 344. Therefore, analyzing the texts on which the two illustrations are based, we try to determine which works can be the source for them, and we also try to understand the figures represented in the illustrations. So, the figure of Vanity from the Treviso manuscript seems to be unique in its representation, but the text, with some distinctive features, seems to be based on the Ymagines Fulgencii. The representation of the story of Bacchus in the Bergamo manuscript is found in other illustrations, and its accompanied text seems to rely on the mythographical tradition present in an anonymous Liber de natura deorum of the twelfth century.