This refined miniature shows the stylistic characteristics of Veronese illumination from the late 15th century and is similar to the works of Liberale da Verona, whom the author of our illumination certainly knew. Liberale da Verona is an important artist of the second half of the 15th century. He was the son of Jacopo, a baker from Monzo, and Jacoba, daughter of Veronese painter Zeno Solimani and sister of painter Nicolò Solimani. It remains unclear whether it was Nicolò or Vincenzo di Stefano, a painter from Verona, who trained Liberale da Verona: in his Vite, Giorgio Vasari confuses Liberale da Verona's uncle with Vincenzo di Stefano. Strongly influenced by Andrea Mantegna and Jacopo Bellini, Liberale da Verona quickly became a leading artist and opened his own workshop in Verona. Our Figure of a Prophet is painted with a fine and refined brushstroke, vivid and saturated colors, and a great attention to detail, particularly in the treatment of the prophet's beard and his gaze, which despite its tiny size is deep and full of expression. 

This Striking figure of a prophet is extracted from an unidentified liturgical book, from which two other miniatures (also depicting figures of prophets) are known (see Sister leaves and Published in, below). Like these two miniatures, the present illumination was most certainly part of the ornaments of a border of a large and richly illuminated page; one can imagine it taking place among vegetal or floral interlacing, as indicated by the remains of green and pink that define the miniature's contours.

We thank prof. Gaudenz Freuler for his expertise.

SISTER LEAVES
Figure of a prophet (Maggs Bros, 1995)
Figure of a prophet (important private collection of Italian miniatures, mostly established in the 1920s-1940s).