Borso d'Este Bible

The Bible of Borso d'Este is a two-volume manuscript. The illuminated miniatures, work of Taddeo Crivelli and others, were executed between 1455 and 1461. The work is held in the Biblioteca Estense di Modena (Ms. Lat. 422–423).

History
The Bible of Borso d'Este is one of the most notable illuminated manuscripts of the Renaissance. It was executed over a six-year period by a team of artists directed by Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi. It was taken from Ferrara to Modena in 1598, where it remained until the end of the duchy in 1859. Then it was taken together with the most precious treasures of the royal house by Francesco V. Carried out of Italy, it was recovered during the First World War when it was acquired by a senator, Giovanni Treccani. It was then donated to the Modena library.

Description and style
Every page of this bible is decorated with an elegant frame of scrolls and other ornaments, surrounding two columns of texts. The margins contain various scenes, especially in the lower parts, where one often finds scenes drawn in perspective, borrowing from advances in painting of the time. Scenes are also depicted between the columns of text, usually next to the capital or illuminated letters. In the volutes in the corners, there are often animals, depicted with lively imagination that is part of the courtly style of the time, and often tied to heraldic symbols of Borso and his family.

Reproductions
In 1923, the businessman Giovanni Treccani acquired in Paris, for the enormous sum of 5 million lire, the Borso d'Este Bible, that was due to be sold in America, and donated it to the Kingdom of Italy. On his initiative, various other copies have been created