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1 GAIUS SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS, Divus Iulius from De vita Caesarum (The Life of Julius Caesar from The Lives of the Caesars) In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment With 10 miniatures by the Spanish Forger Northern France, Paris, c folios on parchment (stiff, unevenly cut, modern), modern foliation in pencil top outer corner recto, complete (collation, i- iv 6 v 6 [2, f. 26 and 5, f. 27, single] vi 6 vii 4+1 [1, f. 37, single] viii 4 ix 2 x-xi 6 xii 6 [-6, cancelled with no loss of text] xiii 6 [-6, cancelled with no loss of text]), no catchwords or leaf and quire signatures, ruled in red ink with the top and bottom horizontal rules full across and full-length single vertical bounding lines (justification, x mm.), written in seventeen long lines in a modern imitation of a gothic bookhand, one- and two-line alternately red or blue initials, 10 miniatures prefacing the chapters. Bound in nineteenth-century half vellum over pasteboard, tooled in blind to imitate earlier bindings. Dimensions 203 x 150 mm. Richly illuminated with ten miniatures, inspired as usual by the volumes by Paul Lacroix on life in the Middle Ages, this manuscript is typical of the Forger s neo-gothic style, celebrated in a oneman exhibition at the Pierpont Morgan Library. There is a splendid catalogue raisonné of his work. This manuscript stands out, however, in that it is the only instance known to date where the Spanish Forger manufactured the entire artifact, not only the miniatures, but the parchment, calligraphy, and binding. It thus emerges as a very unusual document of his working methods and those of his circle around 1900, as well as a hint about his audience for medieval art. PROVENANCE 1. Written and illuminated, c , likely in Paris. The painting is the by the Spanish Forger, who was active in painting medieval miniatures in Paris between the 1890s and 1920s. This manuscript one, including this one, of only eleven complete codices attributed to the Spanish Forger (most of his extant work consist of miniatures, cuttings and panels) is a modern forgery designed to look like a fifteenth-century medieval manuscript. Every feature of the codex was manufactured, beginning with the parchment that includes no signs of being medieval parchment that was scraped for re-use here. It is of fairly good quality, somewhat stiff and of even thickness, but a medieval book of this size, supposed date and type would have been copied on much thinner parchment. The script is certainly a modern scribe attempting to write a late-medieval gothic bookhand; immediate indications of its modern date include the use of ae dipthongs, but the avoidance of the letter unions actually characteristic of gothic bookhands (where two rounded letters, such as de po, and so forth, were fused together), the lack of the usual marks indicating abbreviations (absent in the early part of the manuscript, although introduced sparingly in the later leaves), and numerous details in the formation of the letters themselves. The extreme unevenness and inexpertness of the script is notable on the opening leaves (the scribe if there was only one definitely improves over the course of copying the text); even very inexpert medieval scribes were better than this.

2 The layout adopted is equally inauthentic each chapter, which would have begun in a manuscript of this type with headings in red (rubrics) in a medieval manuscript, here begin with headings copied in the same ink as the text, but beginning with a red or blue initial. Numerous details were added to underline the idea that this was a medieval manuscript; the variation in the color of the ink (some folios are quite faded in spots), was likely deliberate, and the entire manuscript was subject to vigorous applications of dirt. The binding as well is modern (although extremely dirty and warped to indicate age); the quires (mostly consisting of six leaves, which would have been quite unlikely in a medieval codex) are sewn in twine, and the thongs appear to be hemp. We have not had the opportunity to compare its text with the other classical volume by the Forger, Juvenal s Satires, sold in Munich, Hartung and Hartung, 2-4 November, 2004 (previously in H. Tenschert, Leuchtendes Mittelalters, 1989, no. 89b; and cited in the Census by Voelkle, 1978, as M.5). Certainly the full-page miniatures are similar to ours. 2. Private European Collection. TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION ff. 1-69, incipit, Annum a[g]ens Caesar xiii [sic, for xvi] patrem amisit sequentibusque cos [sic, for consulibus] flamen dialis destinatus illo pugione quo caesarem uio lauerant interemerunt [ends top f. 69, remainder and f. 69v, blank]. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, Divus Iulius, ( The Life of Julius Caesar ) from his De vita caesarum ( The Lives of the Caesars ); all eighty-nine chapters are included here, although in some cases the complete text was not copied (for example, chapter 30, f. 24, ends at line three, omitting lines four and five; and f. 41, chapter 52, omits the last line of the text). Edited by M. Ihm, 1907 (reissued numerous times); modern introduction and English translation, Hurley, 2011; translated by Robert Graves in 1957 (revised, Penguin books, 2007). Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, the most influential of the Roman biographers, was born c. 69, possibly in North Africa. He lived most of his life in Rome as a scholar and civil servant; he died sometime after c He is most well-known for his Lives of the Caesars, biographies of the first twelve Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian. Written in 121, his biography of Julius Caesar is the basis for many of our many of treasured details of Julius Caesar s life, including the quotation Veni vedi vinci ( I came, I saw, I conquered ), his capture by pirates in the Mediterranean and the crossing of the Rubicon river. Miniatures and text ff. 1-6, chapters 1-9; f. 6v, miniature, Caesar enthroned; f. 7rv, chapter 10 [Caesar s deeds while aedile (the Roman magistrate responsible for public building etc.); Within a Gothic architectural setting, Caesar sits frontally on throne draped with a blue cloth trimmed in red and adorned with a gold fleur-de-lys motif. He is clothed in a red and ermine robe

3 and holds a scepter and orb. Five female (?) attendants sit on choir benches flanking his side. They are dressed in red and blue robes with the two on Caesar s right wearing light blue and green, respectively. All are veiled in white lined, purple mantles. The deep linear perspective, elongated bodies and oval faces of the figures, and the flat pigment are all typical stylistic traits of the Spanish Forger. ff. 7v-12, chapters (ending mid f. 12, remainder blank); f. 12v, miniature, Caesar and his attacking a castle, f. 13rv, chapter 19 [Caesar is chosen consul]; Caesar, presumably the gesturing figure in the foreground, directs the viewer s attention to the castle invasion in the background. Armored soldiers in red, green and blue wade through the waters of the castle s moat to scale ladders and attack their counterparts at the top. This composition, compressed to a vertical and shallow field, is more typical of tapestry than illuminations of the late Middle Ages. ff. 13v-18, chapters 20-24; f.18v, miniature, Battle scene; f. 19rv, chapter 25 [Caesar s military accomplishments]; Soldiers clash in a hilly landscape with a Gothic castle in the background. The deep V-shaped composition directs the viewer s eye to the fallen warriors in the center foreground. Three differently colored and dressed horses add visual variety and create the center of the action. ff. 19v-24, chapters 26-30; f. 24v, miniature, Caesar leading his soldiers across the river Rubicon; f. 25rv, chapter 31 [crossing the Rubicon]; In another landscape scene decorated with a medieval town in the upper left corner, Caesar appears waist deep wading across the Rubicon. He raises his sword and his body inclines forward indicating the direction of movement, but he also turns his head to look back at his army on the shore at the right, encouraging them to follow his lead. The rippling water echoes the waving standard, held by one of the soldiers, creating a lovely sense of atmosphere that belies the narrative. ff. 25v-30, chapters 32-38; f. 30v, miniature, Caesar on horseback processioning into castle gateway preceded by trumpet players; f , chapter 39 [entertainments provided by Caesar]; In this scene trumpeters herald Caesar s entrance at a city gate. Caesar rides a white horse that is dressed in red and gold brocade and armored with a helmet forged to look like a unicorn, an appropriate creature to symbolize Caesar s mythic status. The horse and rider are surrounded by four footmen who support the baldachin over them while members of Caesar s army appear on horseback behind. As with the other illuminations red and blue dominate the palette creating a pattern like cohesiveness to the composition.

4 ff , chapters 40-45; f. 36v, miniature, Caesar shown supervising the rebuilding of his villa near the grove of Aricia; f. 37, chapter 46 (Caesar s dwellings); On the left, Caesar, clad as a medieval noble, discusses the construction of his villa with his architect who appears on the right side of the composition. Behind the two parties, workers perform a variety of building jobs on an incomplete Gothic castle. Caesar is accompanied by two noble women (in anachronistic hairstyles to each other) and a gentleman. Attended by an assistant, the architect holds a piece of paper Presumably the paper holds the building plans but it may just as likely be the bill, for the architect s purse is prominently displayed hanging from his belt next to where the paper unfurls. Might we see with this detail a little bit of the Spanish Forger s sense of humor? ff , chapters 47-52; f. 41v, miniature, A betrothal; f. 42, chapter 53 (Caesar s moderation in eating and drinking); Here we see Caesar s wedding. Nothing in the text indicates which of Caesar s three wives this might be, but just as Caesar can be identified from the other illuminations, this woman appears to be the same ermined woman in the previous illumination (fol. 36v). Perhaps then she is the wife from that period in his life. Both Caesar and his bride are attended by elegantly dressed noble members of their same gender. The couple s gesturing hands suggest they are about the perform the Roman marriage rite, dextrarum junctio, the clasping of right hands, although here the Spanish Forger has the figures extending their left hands. ff , chapters 54-58; f.47v, miniature, Caesar shown greeting the arrival of boat; f. 48, chapter 59 (lack of superstition); The only naval scene in this manuscript, this illumination depicts Caesar greeting an armada as it pulls into the harbor of a medieval town. Blue waters fade to blue skies as sailors lower the ship s sail and trumpet the arrival of their large and rotund vessel. On deck four soldiers prepare to greet their captain who gestures to them from his smaller welcoming boat. Caesar is accompanied by a helmsman, a rower, and an armored solider and his boat is decorated with the same red and gold brocade seen in this manuscripts other illuminations. ff. 48v-53, chapters 60-69; f. 53v, miniature, Caesar and soldiers holding pirates captive, with one being crucified; f. 54, chapter 70 (his leadership of Roman soldiers); A crowned and helmeted Caesar directs the punishments of captive pirates: one crucified like Saint Andrew and three others each roped at the neck (one of whom has fallen to the ground) await their turn. Where the battle scenes in this manuscript seem rather tame in their lack of blood, this illumination, although also bloodless, perhaps conveys a greater sense of the macabre

5 because of the prisoner s distressed expressions. Note for instances the furrowed brow of the fallen soldier at the foreground, which is almost mannerist in style. The Spanish Forger has made other choices to enhance the drama of this scene: the crucified pirate s red shirt splits in an inverse V-shape to show the blue lining underneath thus emphasizing the X to which he is tied. ff. 54v-59, chapter 71-77; f. 59v, miniature, The assassination of Caesar; f. 60rv, chapter 78 (Caesar s lack of respect for the Senate); Appropriately, the final illumination in this manuscript depicts Caesar s assignation. The scene is set within a Gothic throne room decorated with a tiled floor with a red and blue tapestry and baldachin. Four men wielding daggers and swords attack a kingly clothed Caesar who unsuccessfully tries to fight them off with his own dagger. A fifth man draws a dagger in the doorway to the right, but it is unclear if he has come to join the fray or come to Caesar s aid. The varied arm gestures and circular composition creates a sense that Caesar in the center will be sucked away in a whirlwind. ff. 60v-69, chapters 79-89; The inhabited initials are on folios 1 (lion), 7 (dragon), 13 (monkey), 19 (dog), 25 (fox attacking a cockerel), 31 (bird eating a butterfly), 42 (griffon), 48 (peacock), 54 (bird), 60 (centaur). The so-called Spanish Forger set out to deceive his audience. And, he succeeded, at least for a while. It was not until 1930 that Bella da Costa Green, then director of the Pierpont Morgan Library, unmasked him for what he was, namely an artist working in the medieval style. He takes his misleading name, the Spanish Forger, from her attribution to him of a painting once thought to be by a fifteenth-century Spanish artist. The name has stuck. Since 1930, remnants of old Parisian newspapers stuffed in his frames established that he worked in Paris, a fact confirmed by his reliance for his sources on chromolithographic editions by Paul Lacroix published in Paris by Firmin Didot. The ever-expanding body of work attributed to him suggests that he supervised an atelier, making it all the more surprising that no trace of his real identity has come to light. This codex stands out in his work, which consists largely of independent miniature paintings. The Forger depicts the Roman emperor Julius Caesar like a chivalrous king of France, enthroned wearing a fleur-de-lis robe, leading his men into battle, and triumphantly entering a city. Typically, when the Forger executed complete volumes, he used original manuscripts, adding miniatures to incomplete books or scraping away the surface of the miniatures, making it more difficult to detect his fakes. In this single surviving example, however, text and binding are also made by him (or his associates). LITERATURE Backhouse, Janet. The Spanish Forger, British Museum Quarterly, 33 (1968), pp Hägg, Tomas. The Art of Biography in Antiquity, Cambridge and New York, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

6 Hurley, Donna W., transl. with intro. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, The Caesars, Indianapolis, Hackett Pub. Co., Ihm, Maximilianus, ed. C. Suetoni Tranquilli opera, vol. I: De vita Caesarum libri VIII, Leipzig, Teubner, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, The Twelve Caesars, transl. Robert Graves, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1957, revised by James B. Rives, Voelkle, William. The Spanish Forger, New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, ONLINE RESOURCES Bill Thayer s online edition of the Latin text with English translation (Maximilian Ihm in the Teubner edition of 1907, with cosmetic changes as printed in the Loeb Classical Library edition, The English translation is by J. C. Rolfe, printed in the same edition.) C. Suetonius Tranquillus

GOSPEL LECTIONARY In Greek, manuscript on parchment Eastern Mediterranean, c

GOSPEL LECTIONARY In Greek, manuscript on parchment Eastern Mediterranean, c. 1200-1250 161 folios on parchment, unfoliated, (collation i 8 ii 8 iii 8 iv 4 [-3, -4, -5 and -8 with text loss] v 8 vi 8 vii