Date and Origin

The manuscript was executed by a single scribe. The style of the handwriting and ornamental elements allow for a relatively precise localization: Terra d’Otranto in the second half of the 13th century. The codex is entirely copied by one hand that displays features perfectly aligned with the graphic ‘fashion’ of the so-called Salentine Baroque, or the so-called “classical” style. The script is slightly right-sloping, fluid, and cursive, marked by strong modular contrasts. Among the notable letterforms are the shapes of capital alpha and beta, a flattened theta with a slightly undulating horizontal stroke, a tall tau with a short, wavy horizontal line, an open omega linked with the accent, and the spade-shaped epsilon-rho ligature with the second letter’s body compressed. The anonymous scribe, known to the scholarly community as “Anonymous 8” (Arnesano 2005; Arnesano 2008, 124), is, based on current knowledge, responsible for three additional manuscripts: Par. Coisl. 190 (Nicetas of Heraclea); Par. gr. 2773 (Hesiod with scholia, produced in collaboration with two other scribes who alternated in the copying process); and Marc. gr. 257 (final section, commentaries on Aristotle).

Internal Description

Each book of the Iliad and its accompanying pseudo-Psellian paraphrasis are laid out side by side in two columns of 28 lines, preceded by the corresponding hypothesis written across the full page and followed by scholia also copied in a smaller script across the entire page width. Additional exegetical material in the main scribe’s hand is found in the margins of the Homeric text, either above the lines of the Iliad or its paraphrase, and more rarely within the intercolumnar space. The cross-referencing system between the main text and the scholia à recueil consists of Greek numerals placed in the margins of both the Homeric text and the corresponding scholia, with continuous progressive numbering for each book. The top and bottom margins measure approximately 25 mm and 40 mm respectively; the inner and especially the outer margins — adjacent to the paraphrasis — are more irregular: the inner margin varies between 30 and 40 mm, while the outer margin ranges from 40 to 50 mm. The intercolumnar space is approximately 10 mm wide. All margins have, however, been partially trimmed, most likely in the 14th century, when the manuscript underwent extensive annotation in the Eastern Mediterranean. The codex is quire-bound in quaternions, numbered in Greek numerals at the upper outer corner in brown ink—likely by the principal scribe—and again at the lower inner corner of the first folio recto of each quire, this time in light ochre ink (Sciarra 2005, 15). As for the current state and arrangement of the initial folios, it should be noted that due to various accidents, the scholia to Book 1 are now bound before the corresponding Homeric text (fols. 2r–5v), contrary to the original structure of the manuscript, where they would have followed the Iliadic text, as elsewhere in the codex. Moreover, the present fol. 3 is bound upside down, a condition already present when the manuscript entered the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Pascale 2025, forthcoming).

Decoration and Ornamentation

The chromatic palette and ornamental vocabulary are entirely consistent with the manuscript’s chronological and geographical context. Polychrome bands — one notably shaped like a pyle (fol. 207v, introducing Book 16) — precede each hypothesis, featuring ribbon motifs or rinceaux distinguished by vivid and bright colors: azure, yellow, red, and green. All rubricated letters, including those in the scholia section, are filled or outlined in color. Book titles are also written in colored inks, frequently with each letter executed in a different hue (e.g., fol. 61r). Among comparable contemporary manuscripts produced in the same region, the first section of Rome, Vallicellianus C 7 (fols. 1-129) offers a useful point of comparison (Durante 2008, 285). The vegetal and geometric designs that define much of the decorative program closely resemble those found in other codices from the area. Notably, the decorator — likely the same person as the main scribe — rarely employs the en réserve technique to outline forms, a method commonly used in similar manuscripts (Hoffmann 1984, 628 and passim; Durante 2005, 286 and passim). Instead, he tends to fill in almost all ornamental spaces. Vegetal scrolls (volutes) appear in several folios and are comparable to those in Par. gr. 2572 (late 13th century) and the aforementioned Vallicellianus C 7. Many of the ornamental frames that introduce major divisions are topped by exuberant foliate motifs, the so-called «fronzuti caulicoli » to borrow André Jacob’s phrase (e.g., fols. 102v, 127v, 180r; see Jacob 2001, 48; Durante 2005, 287). Zoomorphic decoration is also noteworthy. On fol. 127v, the right-hand border introducing the scholia to Book 10 is wrapped in the multicolored coils of a serpent. Fol. 167r features a pair of facing peacocks with multicolored tails and bodies decorated with dotted text ink. The iconographic repertoire of the Initalornamentik further includes zoomorphic figures with a teratological flair: most remarkable are the decorated alpha initials on fols. 17r, 38v, and 269v, inhabited by a serpent with a lion’s head encircling a peacock. These are similarly composed but each hybridized with distinct vegetal or geometric motifs and filled with different colors. On f. 129r, an alpha is formed by two symmetrically facing peacocks in a hieratic stance.