This manuscript contains the Decretum Gratiani with the Glossa
ordinaria by Bartholomäus Brixiensis. It is a distinctive
testimony to the masterly page layout of legal texts, where the
main text is usually framed on all sides by its commentary. This
copy is signed by the scribe, brother Adigherio (fol. 341v). The
manuscript also is sumptuously decorated with large miniatures that
introduce the main parts of the text as well as the various legal
cases; in addition, there are numerous historiated initials, often
very humorous (e.g. f. 2r, 127v), and figure initials. Two book
illustrators from Bologna, the Master of 1346 and l'Illustratore,
are the creators of this decoration that was carried out in the
1340s. In 1756, the Decretum Gratiani became part of the
Bibliothèque de Genève with the bequest of Ami Lullin, who had
purchased this copy from the collection of Paul and Alexander
Petau.
