On the Origins of the Manerius Style: The Contribution
of the Great Gloss on the Psalms Belonging to Canon
and Magister Cotta of Vercelli
The problem of the genesis of the late Romanesque
Manerius style is still under discussion due to the difficulty
to agree upon the origin and chronology of the
earliest manuscripts decorated in this style. The copy of
Peter Lombard's Great Gloss on the Psalms, preserved
in the Biblioteca Capitolare of Vercelli (mss. LXXXVII-
LXXXVIII) contains, at the beginning of the second
volume, an unpublished ornamental initial in Manerius
style. Since it is documented that these volumes entered
the Chapter Library in 1194, we have a precious terminus
ante quem for their execution. The close proximity
of this added initial to those of the Manerius Bible (Paris,
Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, 8-10), together with
the possibility to place its creation in Paris, allows us to
reopen the debate on the origin of the Manerius style,
suggesting a Parisian origin, and recommend the necessity
of new researches on the manuscripts decorated in
this style.