Illuminating the Page in Transylvania Around 1500. The First Contact/Enluminer la page en Transylvanie vers 1500. Le premier contact

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to make an introductory presentation of the existing information regarding the decoration of the manuscript book in Transylvania at the end of the Middle Ages. At the same time, the author suggests a series of connections between apparently disparate data and proposes the identification of a group of works that seem to belong to the same artist. This “Vigiliale group” comprises three manuscript volumes of liturgical content, but also a papal indulgence, probably decorated in Braşov around 1500. This fact, along with other forms of decorations in various places within Transylvania, in addition to documentary information, shows a surprisingly intense activity of book and charter illumination in Transylvania in the decades before the Protestant Reformation.