The Visual World of the Hungarian Angevin Legendary

The miniatures are all clearly distinguishable and in bright colors. Charts, tables and drawings guide the reader about the structure and history of the codex. The handy format of the book is adapted to the examination of the icons.

The manuscript known as the Hungarian Angevin Legendary, made for Hungarian royal patrons, is an extraordinary relic of medieval book illumination. Dispersed in four countries and six collections, the 142 richly gilded leaves recount the legends of fifty-eight saints at varying length.Dispersed in two continents, four countries and six collections; many of its pages were cropped, cut into four, or lost forever; its history, origin, commissioner and audience are obscure; still, in its fragmented state it presents fifty-eight legends in abundant series of images, on folios fully covered by miniatures, richly gilded, using only one side of the fine parchment; a luxurious codex worthy of a ruler; a unique iconographic treasury of medieval legends; one of the most significant manuscripts of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom – these are all what we call the Hungarian Angevin Legendary.