The Building and Destruction of Troy
La Cité de Dieu by St. Augustine, translated and with commentary by Raoul de Praelles

By the Orosius Master and his workshop
France, Paris, c. 1408-10
Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philip S. Collins Collection, 1945-65-1, fol. 5

This decorated page is from an early fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript. Titled La Cité de Dieu (The City of God), the manuscript is a French translation of a book originally written in Latin in 413-26 CE by Augustine, an early Christian bishop and theologian. Imagine how many copies would have been made of this text between the fifth and fifteenth centuries.

Augustine's book explained human history as a conflict between the City of God (made up of Christians) and the Earthly City (composed of nonbelievers). The eternally peaceful City of God is presented in vivid contrast to the Earthly City, which is doomed to rise and fall repeatedly -- like Rome.

This page of the manuscript includes Chapter One and part of Chapter Two of Book III. The text is written in formal Gothic script, with a decorative initial beginning each chapter (J for the first chapter and E for the second). Words in red ink (rubrics) mark the end of Chapter One.

This miniature presents almost symmetrical depictions of the rise and fall of the ancient city of Troy, one of the mythological examples Saint Augustine cites to illustrate the fate of the Earthly City. A fine line divides the picture in two, and buildings on each side are labeled "Illion" ("Troy").

Phrases below the city identify what is taking place: on the left, the building of Troy ("l'edification de troie"); on the right, the destruction of Troy ("la destruction de troie"), the city is under attack, crumbling and burning. In the lower right are two warships full of armored knights brandishing shields and weapons. In the upper left a man dressed in red and gold gestures toward two gold statues in a shrine. Text on the base of the shrine identifies the gesturing figure as Laomedon, king of Troy, and the two statues as the mythological gods Apollo and Neptune. According to Saint Augustine, Troy fell because King Laomedon broke a promise he had made to Apollo and Neptune.

Vellum, ii (paper) + 173 fols. + ii (paper)
Folio: 17-1/4 x 12-1/2 inches (435 x 318 mm)
Text: 11-3/8 x 8-1/4 inches (295 x 210 mm)
French, Gothic Hand

Leaves of Gold catalog entry #69
Also featured on the Leaves of Gold CD-ROM

This is the last "slide" in this series. If you would like to see more pictures of medieval illuminated manuscripts, we hope you will explore the Gallery section of this site or the many sites listed through the Free Library of Philadelphia's medieval manuscripts section. There are also many books on medieval manuscripts available at the Free Library.

The Leaves of Gold exhibition CD-ROM is available from the Philadelphia Museum of Art online store.

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