Imagines Sanctae Birgittae

The formal proceedings for the canonisation of Birgitta Birgersdotter (1303-1373) necessitated the production of manuscripts of her Reuelaciones celestes. The task of editing the texts had been entrusted to Alfonso of Jaén, who delivered the finished selection, arranged in seven Books with additional material-Liber ad reges, Sermo Angelicus, Regula Salvatoris and Quattuor oraciones- to a workshop in the Naples area. The vellum manuscripts, sumptuouslyproduced and beautifully illuminated by two masters and their assistants, were delivered to the members of the two successive canonisation commissions and to Kings, Queens and noblemen all through Europe. Only three of these manuscriptsare known to exist today, although others (now lost) survive in three later copies. Imagines Sanctae Birgitae traces the history of the three Neapolitan manuscripts and analyses the compositionand artistic embellishment of them and their copies. Niccolòs three surviving panel paintings with the Nativity motif are also discussed and compared to his portraits of Queen Joan of Naples and some of his friends.