Padua, 11 March 2025

Vittorio Frighetto’s article in “Rivista di storia della miniatura” has been published.

The article examines how medieval users interacted with illuminated manuscripts, seen as a combination of text and image. Particular attention is given to images that played a role not only in devotion but also in the protection of the faithful, who were encouraged to perform ritual actions to activate their apotropaic power. The study also analyses the texts of the manuscripts which, in addition to prayers, contain apotropaic formulas, invocations, and orisons. After an introduction and an overview of physical devotional practices in the late Middle Ages, the analysis focuses on a specific manuscript: a prayer book produced in Bruges at the beginning of the 15th century (Bruges, Bibliotheek Grootseminarie, 72/175), which contains two illuminations and a rich collection of texts in Middle Dutch. The study follows a twofold approach. Firstly, the miniatures are examined stylistically and with regard to possible signs of interaction left on their surface by the worshipper. Secondly, the content of the texts is analysed, with particular emphasis on the numerous and significant instructions addressed to the user concerning the actions to be performed and the attitudes to be maintained during the daily devotion. Through a differentiated approach that highlights the various aspects of the manuscript the research aims to reconstruct how illuminated codices were used by the faithful in the individual context of the late Middle Ages, at the time of the rise of the Devotio Moderna.