The Life and Iconography of Gratian: a ‘mise au point’ part 2.

Giovanna Murano

doi:10.21697/sc.2025.32.2.1

Published: 2025-11-17

Vol. 32 No. 2 (2025)

The Life and Iconography of Gratian: a ‘mise au point’ part 2.

Giovanna Murano

Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings

Section: Rozprawy i Artykuły

https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2025.32.2.1

Abstract

In the first part of this study, I examined the limited biographical data available on Gratian (…–1145), the author of the canon law collection known as the Concordia discordantium canonum or Decretum. As we have seen, various sources agree that he was a monk, while some also state that he became Bishop of Chiusi in Tuscany at the end of his life. In this second part, I explore whether these biographical details found expression in iconography, which aspects of his life were emphasized in shaping his image, and the differing choices made by artists in Italy and north of the Alps - particularly in France – in their depictions of the Decretum’s author.

Keywords:

Gratian, iconography, canon law, manuscripts, Middle Ages

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Giovanna Murano, The Life and Iconography of Gratian: a “mise au point” (part I) , Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings: Vol. 32 No. 1 (2025)

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Murano, G. (2025). The Life and Iconography of Gratian: a ‘mise au point’ part 2. Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings, 32(2), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2025.32.2.1

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Giovanna Murano

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2715-147X

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Giovanna Murano is a palaeographer and essayist. She has carried out research on medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at numerous European institutions and in the United States, and has participated in international projects. She has been the recipient of prestigious fellowships and is the scientific director of the series Autographa – Autographs of Learned Italians. She has published a dozen books and over a hundred articles. Among her books are Opere diffuse per exemplar e pecia (Brepols 2005); La biblioteca arabo-ebraica di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 2022), and Florentine Humanistic Manuscripts (Olschki 2024).