Rome: Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz, 1468

This second edition of the works of Lactantius was produced by Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz after their move to Rome in 1467. The white vine stem initials and borders, executed by an artist who often collaborated with the press, are in a style that was popular in Roman manuscripts and incunabula from the late 1460s and 1470s. The unidentified arms in the bas-de-page demonstrate that decoration should always be approached with caution; rather than representing the arms of the original patron, these were added much later in the nineteenth century.

Inc.2.B.2.1[4567], fol. [b1] recto
Illuminated in Rome, 1460s–1470s