Triumph of an Academic from BL Add 20916, f. 1, f. 1

Miniature of the Triumph of an Academic. On a marble balustrade an academic procession is depicted as if it were the triumph of a hero of Antiquity. Against a hilly landscape a figure dressed as a doctor of Law or Humanities is seated on a chariot in the Classical style. Two putti tie owls (symbols of wisdom) to the chariot’s wheels while two others spur on the birds with a broom and club. Other putti follow the procession. One carries a shield bearing a bas-relief of a two wrestlers painted in ~trompe l'oeil~. On the projecting parapets are Hercules in combat with the Hydra (symbolising physical strength) and a philosopher writing on a scroll (symbolising intelligence). At their base is the artist’s signature in epigraphic capitals: 'Dii faveant / opus Franchi miniatoris'. In front of the balustrade a seated roe deer observes three frolicking rabbits. Image taken from f. 1 of Cutting from an academic diploma of the University of Padua or possibly the lower margin of a title-page for a manuscript or Venetian incunable. Written in Latin.