St George

The Codex of St George is a missal made at Avignon, France in the early 14th century for Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi (c.1260 - 1341). Stefaneschi was a Roman poet and arts patron who also commissioned the Navicella (earlier post) in Old St. Peters for 2,200 florins from Giotto. Here is an image from the missal that evidently shows Stefaneschi himself, probably in about 1325 or so.

The miniature and initials are by an anonymous painter who is known only as the Master of the St George Codex and is famed for the fine expression and composition of his figures. Here is St George battling the dragon, according to the legend, and the onlookers watching fearfully (folio 85r):

The codex is one of the 44 new manuscripts uploaded Dec 14 on Digita Vaticana, taking the posted total to 3,420. The full list follows, whereby I will not comment on the Pal. lat. series which was made publicly available a couple of years ago in Heidelberg, Germany.

1. Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.C.129, Codex of St George (above).
2. Borg.lat.898, a copy of the Itineris ad septentrionales fructus by Johannes van Heeck, a Dutchman who was a co-founder of the Accademia dei Lincei.
3. Cappon.114,
4. Ott.lat.319, a 7th-century uncial manuscript of Augustine on Psalms. Notes at St. Louis.
5. Pal.lat.931,
6. Pal.lat.942,
7. Pal.lat.996,
8. Pal.lat.997,
9. Pal.lat.1002,
10. Pal.lat.1007,
11. Pal.lat.1009,
12. Pal.lat.1011,
13. Pal.lat.1012,
14. Pal.lat.1013,
15. Pal.lat.1016,
16. Pal.lat.1021,
17. Pal.lat.1025,
18. Pal.lat.1027,
19. Pal.lat.1029,
20. Pal.lat.1031,
21. Pal.lat.1048,
22. Pal.lat.1065,
23. Pal.lat.1073,
24. Pal.lat.1076,
25. Pal.lat.1077,
26. Pal.lat.1079,
27. Pal.lat.1088,
28. Reg.lat.1492, Jean de Meun's continuation of the Roman de la Rose, his French translation of Boethius's Consolations of Philosophy, and other works. Bourges, 1470. Description at St. Louis. With fine miniatures such as this woman with a bow:
    
    This is Venus firing a flaming arrow at the castle, which sets vast parts of the building on fire at the climax of the story. The text reads: "Comme Venus (tirait?) au chastel un brandon de feu pour embraser ...  " and this is obviously a lot racier than older versions like Princeton Garrett MS. 126.
29. Ross.1069,
30. Urb.lat.7, 14th-century Bible with Jerome prologues and fine initials. Here is David fighting Goliath at folio 185r
    
31. Urb.lat.21, Nicholas of Lyra, Postillae morales
32. Urb.lat.24, Thomas Aquinas on Aristotle
33. Urb.lat.159, finely illuminated law text by Bernardo Bottoni on Gregory's Decretals, with a 14th-century arbor consanguinatis where the tree is held in a planter by the law-giver (discussed by Hermann Schadt, Arbores, at p 259 ff.)
    
34. Urb.lat.218, Gasparino Barzizza, c. 1360-1431, Commentum super epistulas Senecae Cordubensis ad Lucillum.
35. Urb.lat.254, 1614, begun by Francesco Maria II della Rovere, duke of Urbino, 1548-1631, mostly blank
36. Urb.lat.262, geomancy and astrology
37. Urb.lat.270, 16th century on carriage equippage
38. Urb.lat.285, Narciso Aurispa on fortifications
39. Urb.lat.298, Robert Kilwardby
40. Urb.lat.330, Petrarch
41. Urb.lat.358, Punic Wars
42. Vat.gr.327,
43. Vat.gr.903,
44. Vat.gr.1820,

As always, if you can add more information, use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for more postings. [This is Piggin's Unofficial List 33.]