One of the Renaissance’s finest illuminated manuscripts is on display in the Italian senate for the Vatican’s Jubilee celebrations.
Rarely shown in public, the eponymously named bible was commissioned by Borso D’Este, the Duke of Ferrara and Modena, who spared no expense, with illustrations set down in gold pigment and blue dye sourced from Afghan lapis lazuli.
It is the “Mona Lisa of illuminated manuscripts,” meant to celebrate not only “not only the sacred book par excellence but also the elevated idea [D’Este] had of himself and his dynasty,” the director of Gallerie Estense in Modena, where the text is usually kept, told The Associated Press.