New discoveries about the Specchio di Illuminazione by Beata Illuminata Bembo

Abstract

The discovery of some fifteenth-century manuscripts of the Specchio di Illuminazione of Beata Bembo in the so-called “Archivio della Beata Cate­rina”, kept in the Archbishop’s General Archive of Bologna, has opened up new and completely unexpected perspectives on the hagiography of St. Cathe­rine of Vigri, revealing a multiform and complex evolution of this work. Two new editions have emerged, different from the one known so far: one shorter and widely epitomized, the second longer, with significant inserts, concen­trated mainly in chapters VI-IX. Based on some significant clues, the author hypothesizes that this drafting chronologically precedes that of the so-called “autograph” and that it has been the subject of a series of second thoughts and complaints by the author herself or her circle. Some 16th century codices have also emerged, witnesses of the drafting known so far, but not without interest. Very recent paleographic studies had questioned the real autography of the edi­ted manuscript. A first examination of the new acquisitions seems to confirm that they do not derive from the “autograph”, presenting several lessons and disjunctive errors.

Keywords

• illuminata bembo
• specchio di illuminazione
• bologna
• paleography