An illuminated manuscript of the Summa de casibus conscientiae (Padua, University Library, MS 618)

This article examines Padua, University Library, MS 618, an illuminated copy of Bartolomeo da San Concordio’s Summa de casibus conscientiae, focusing on its composite decorative campaign and its sophisticated text–image relationship. Stylistic analysis indicates that the manuscript was illuminated in two closely successive phases in the 1340s: the opening initials were executed in Florence, plausibly by Pacino di Bonaguida or his workshop, while the remaining historiated initials were completed in Venice by an artist influenced by the Master of the Marciana Epistolary. In the analysis of the decorative programme, particular attention is devoted to illuminations in which gold leaf and powdered gold are used to depict objects made of precious metal, such as the chalice (Calix) and the wedding ring alluding to the debitum coniugale. In these cases, gold operates not only decoratively but materially and semantically, reinforcing the textual content while enhancing the mimetic and symbolic force of the image.