This codex, written in humanist minuscule, contains philosophical
works by Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC): pp. 3–121
Tusculanae disputationes (“Tusculan Disputations”), pp.
121–248 De finibus bonorum et malorum (“On the Ends of Good and
Evil”), pp. 249–344 De natura deorum (“On the Nature of the
Gods”) and pp. pp. 345–416 De divinatione (“On
Divination”). The coat of arms on p. 3 (four bearded male faces
in profile, arranged in a circle) most likely was that of the later
Pope Nicholas V, born Tommaso Parentucelli (1397–1455, Pope
1447–1455). Parentucelli used this coat of arms (“stemma delle
quattro barbe”, Manfredi, p. 662) in the years before he was
elected pope. It is found in 38 manuscripts in the Biblioteca
Apostolica Vaticana in Rome as well as in a codex in the Biblioteca
Capitolare in Padua (ms. C27). The white vine initials, typical of
Florentine book decoration, are similar to those in the codex from
Padua, whose illuminations Silvia Fumian attributes to the
Florentine artist Bartolomeo Varnucci (* ca. 1412/1413). Perhaps
Parentucelli commissioned this manuscript in 1439–1443, when he
resided in Florence for the Council.
