April 16, 1209 , Pope Innocent III grants his approval to the formula vitae with which Saint Francis of Assisi and his brothers commit themselves to live in poverty, obedience and chastity, following the doctrine and example of Jesus Christ. This is the approval of the Franciscan Rule and the birth certificate of the Order, which this year celebrates its eighth centenary. It is with great pride and emotion that Vallecchi dedicates to this important anniversary the first and only complete reproduction of the manuscript Vittorio Emanuele 411, the most important illuminated manuscript in the National Central Library of Rome, containing one of the oldest and most precious versions of the Legenda maior sancti Francisci, the official biography of the Saint of Assisi written by Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio at the request of the Order of Friars Minor and approved by the General Chapter of Pisa in 1263.
The Vittorio Emanuele Codex 411 reproduced by Vallecchi in an accurate facsimile edition was produced in the 14th century, about a century after Bonaventura had written the Legenda maior. It contains the complete text, is larger than the other codices of the Legenda, is written in a regular littera textualis and is richly decorated with a notable abundance of illuminated initials and no less than seventeen images depicting episodes from the life of the saint on a gold background, so much so that it is a rarity, given that few illuminated codices of the Legenda belong to that period.
The format, different and larger than the smaller, handy manuscripts, appears to be that of a library manuscript. Unfortunately, its exact origin is unknown, but scholars believe it dates back to the Emilia-Romagna region and was most likely commissioned by a wealthy patron; a kneeling female figure appears several times in some of the miniatures. The text begins with the Prologue, in which Bonaventure praises the sanctity and salvific mission of Francis, sealed by the stigmata, explains the reasons that led him to write his life, and explains that he organized the narrative not in chronological sequence but by grouping episodes related to a single theme. The Vita follows, divided into fifteen chapters. Each chapter begins with an illuminated vignette illustrating a theme or episode from the text, as in the text by Saint Bonaventure, gradually following, with a few exceptions, Giotto's cycle of the life of Saint Francis in the Upper Basilica of Assisi. The final chapter is entitled In festo translationis beati Francisci and is divided into nine lectures to be recited on the saint's feast day.
The facsimile is presented in a marbled paper-lined slipcase and accompanied by a commentary containing essays by Professor Franco Cardini, an internationally renowned medievalist, Dr. Francesca Niutta, head of the Manuscript Collection of the National Central Library of Rome, and Dr. Maria Alessandra Bilotta, a scholar of medieval miniatures.