Harley Vaticinia de summis pontificibus

Harley Vaticinia de summis pontificibus

The artful Harley Vaticinia de summis pontificibus is an enthralling Quattrocento codex, in many ways the perfect work, not only by its beauty and notable quality of the illustrations, but also for the mysteries and hidden keys within its pages and images. Vaticinia Pontificum is considered to be the father and iconographic origin of Nostradamus’ work and his worldwide famous manuscript, made in 1629, almost two hundred years after the Vaticinia Pontificum, also known as the Lost Book of Nostradamus. It's the most famous manuscript of prophecy and contains a series of thirty prophecies related to the destiny of the papacy and the Church attributed to the Italian mystic Joachim of Fiore. The work contains symbolic connections with past historic events of the Vatican that have already been verified, as well as events of the modern church, and could even unveil the keys of the future of humanity.

The Keys of Humanity’s Future

The similarity of the Vaticinia Pontificum, particularly when one compares the images, with the Lost Book of the Prophecies by Nostradamus, makes it clear that Nostradamus’ work is a copy based on the British Library’s “Harley 1340.” The ten last predictions express the confidence in the arrival of a near “angelical pope” or a series of angelical popes, meaning, a saintly and purifying pope, a charismatic figure that differs himself from the rest of his predecessors by his moral integrity and high spirituality, and also that he opens a profound phase of reform within the Church. This could be related to the figure of Saint John Paul II, and even the present Pope Francis I. The miniature referring to this prophecy corresponds to the folio 13v: the naked pope. It represents a spectacular praising of the humble spirit embodied by an angelical pope that has been stripped of all of his possessions and the temporal power, with the conviction that the papacy could only be renewed through poverty and the dispossession of mundane belongings.

The Great Art of the Quattrocento

The Vaticinia Pontificum in Ms. Harley 1304 was masterfully illuminated by the Master of San Miniato and someone from the circle of Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1421–1497). Gozzoli was a Florentine master of universal painting—one of the most famous and sought-after artists of the Tuscan Early Renaissance, the so-called Quattrocento. He was not only a prolific panel painter but was especially esteemed as a fresco painter. In his more than 100 surviving works, the influence of his teacher, Fra Angelico, is clearly evident alongside lingering late-Gothic influences. The Master of San Miniato was also from Florence and was a true master of his craft. With his delicate yet expressive paintings, of which about 60 works survive today, he influenced Renaissance masters such as Sandro Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, and Andrea del Verrocchio. It is no wonder, then, that the Harley Vaticinia de summis pontificibus ranks among the most beautiful examples of Quattrocento book art.