The Triumphs of Petrarch – 16th century – Francesco Petrarca – Petrarch before the chariot of the Sun
The Chariot of the Sun, Petrarch, and the passing of time: a miniature that still speaks to contemporary man.
This card doesn't just show Petrarch in front of the Sun's chariot: it stages a visual meditation on the passing of time. At the bottom, the poet stands still, collected, dressed in red, immersed in a green, inhabited landscape. Above, in the sky, the solar chariot races, drawn by four horses. Between earth and sky, between stillness and movement, the miniature tells a simple and universal truth: time passes, and passes for everyone. The proposed map is a limited and numbered edition reproduction from folio 231r-231v of Francesco Petrarca's Triumphs, Codex 2582, in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The subject belongs to the Triumph of Time and depicts Petrarch contemplating the chariot of the Sun drawn by four horses. The work's charm stems from the dialogue between the two sides of the sheet. On the front, the French text introduced by the rubric "du temps" prepares for a meditation on the Sun, the soul, and the superiority of the spiritual dimension over the material world. On the back, the miniature transforms that thought into an image: Petrarch depicts the solar chariot not as a simple celestial marvel, but as a symbol of the inexorable passage of time. A limited and numbered edition reproduction, designed for collectors and enthusiasts of illuminated manuscripts, Italian literature, Petrarch, medieval symbolism, and European art. An object to be treasured and admired: beautiful for the quality of its image, precious for the thought it holds.Want more information about this product? Click here and fill out the form to be contacted by one of our curators.
149,00 €
- Description
Description
Description
This page tells a story of time, light, memory, and awareness.
The map reproduces folios 231r-231v of Francesco Petrarca’s Triumphs, Codex 2582, now preserved at the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The scene belongs to the Triumph of Time cycle, one of the most profound sections of Petrarch’s work: after the triumph of Fame, human fame too is consumed by time, up to the threshold of Eternity.
On the back of the sheet, Petrarch is depicted standing, wearing a long red robe trimmed with gold.
Around him opens a green, hilly landscape, with rocks, trees, houses, small buildings, and signs of human life. High above, in the blue sky crossed by undulating clouds, races the chariot of the Sun, drawn by four horses.
The miniature is built on a powerful contrast: above, the sky is in motion; below, Petrarch remains still. The Sun’s chariot should not be read as an astronomical explanation, but as a poetic image of the passing of days. The horses, the chariot, the solar disk, and the moving sky suggest a race, succession, and passage. The Sun crosses the sky every day, seemingly unchanged, yet each day takes something away.
What makes this card particularly fascinating is Petrarch’s gesture. The poet points to the Sun’s chariot, but he doesn’t seem surprised. His gaze is composed, intelligent, almost sly. He doesn’t seem to be simply saying, “Look at this marvel.” Rather, he seems to be suggesting, “Pay attention.”
The raised finger connects heaven and earth, cosmic motion and the reader’s life. Petrarch doesn’t just point to the sun: he points to the human condition. Everything humans build—houses, libraries, businesses, memories, collections—seems destined to last, but above all, time continues to run.
The paper’s strength also stems from the relationship between the front and back. On the front, the French text introduced by the heading “du temps” reflects on the Sun, the soul, the glorious body, and the fame of man. The Sun is presented as a powerful star, capable of illuminating the world and governing the visible course of things. But it is not the ultimate measure of existence. The soul belongs to a higher order than physical light.
On the back, this meditation becomes an image. The chariot of the Sun represents time, movement, and the transience of the material world. Petrarch observes it and points to it, like someone who has understood that time conquers earthly things, but does not have the last word.
This card is therefore much more than a beautiful illuminated scene. It is a small philosophical machine: it combines the ancient myth of the solar chariot, the moral poetry of Petrarch, French court culture, medieval cosmology, and a universal reflection on the fragility of human life.
The history of the manuscript
The codex from which this card derives belongs to one of the most fascinating illuminated cycles dedicated to Petrarch’s Triumphs.
We are not faced with a Petrarch simply copied into Italian, but with a Petrarch who traveled, translated, adapted, and absorbed into a refined court culture. The manuscript is linked to the French success of the Triumphs: tradition attributes the translation to Simon Bougouyn, or Bourgoin, but the Viennese codex preserves a French prose version, a sign of a work not merely transcribed, but interpreted and reworked.
Codex 2582 includes large miniatures enclosed in gilded architectural frames: columns, pilasters, architraves, and painted structures transform each scene into a miniature visual theater. The images not only illustrate the allegorical floats of the Triumphs, but also expand the narrative, bringing ancient history, mythology, medieval memory, and moral reflection to the page.
The manuscript’s ownership history is particularly prestigious and adventurous. The codex belonged to the library of the Dukes of Lorraine, with recorded ties to René II of Lorraine and his successor, Antoine. A 1544 inventory listed two illustrated volumes of Petrarch, on parchment, handwritten, historiated, covered in purple velvet, and adorned with gilded silver.
The manuscript subsequently passed into the hands of Prince Eugene of Savoy. After his death, along with his collections, it entered the collections of Emperor Charles VI in 1738 and then the Vienna Library. In 1809, Napoleon took the manuscript to Paris; after the fall of the Empire, between 1814 and 1815, the codex finally returned to Vienna.
These passages make the manuscript not only a masterpiece of European miniature painting, but also an object with a profoundly European history: Petrarch the Italian, the French tradition, Lorraine, Eugene of Savoy, Imperial Vienna, Napoleon, and the return to the Austrian National Library.
Product Features
- Opera: Petrarch’s Triumphs
- Author: Francesco Petrarca
- Period of the original manuscript: 16th century / early 16th century
- Subject of the card: Petrarch in front of the chariot of the Sun
- Reference sheet: 231r / 231v
- Original code: Cod. 2582
- Library of the original: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna
- Iconographic cycle: Triumph of Time
- Language/Translation: French prose version of the Triumphs
- Front: Cosmological miniature with universe, sun, moon, four elements and four winds
- Back: Middle French handwritten text with decorated initials
- Dimensions: Width 21 cm x height 32 cm
- Type: Collectible double-sided illuminated card
- Edition: Limited and numbered edition of 199 copies
- Material: Special paper
- Print: Fine art with gold decorations
- Attachments to the work: Certificate, guarantee, conservation instructions, brief description of the work
- Reproduced sides: Front – Back
- Warranty: 24 months
Why collect it?
- Literature: it originates from Petrarch’s Triumphs, one of the great allegorical works of the Italian and European tradition. It does not portray the Petrarch best known from the Canzoniere, but the moral, visionary, and philosophical Petrarch, capable of reflecting on the destiny of man.
- Illuminated art: the scene is enclosed in a refined gilded architectural frame and transforms text into image. The chariot of the Sun, the four horses, the moving sky, and the earthly landscape create a composition of great symbolic power.
- A meditation on time: the miniature speaks of something that has never passed: our silent struggle with time. Every day the sun crosses the sky; every day seems the same, yet every day consumes something of human life. It is this profound relevance that keeps the map alive, not only as an ancient image, but as a question addressed to us too.
It’s a paper designed for those who love objects that don’t end with the gaze, but invite reading, observation, and interpretation. A collectible work that combines beauty, culture, and symbolic depth, transforming an illuminated page into a personal meditation on the value of days and what remains.
A meditation still relevant today
The passing of time is not a distant theme, confined to medieval culture or allegorical poetry. It is a dilemma that remains present in human thought and life, even centuries later: how to use the days, what to hold on to, what to let go, what works can truly endure when everything seems to be falling apart.
This is why Petrarch, in his red robe, continues to speak to us. He doesn’t just point to the chariot of the Sun in an ancient manuscript; he points to our relationship with memory, with time, and with the profoundly human desire for something to survive its passing.
👉 Read the full article and discover the history of folio 231r/231v of Petrarch’s Triumphs.
FAQ – Petrarch’s Triumphs, pages 231r-231v
The card depicts Francesco Petrarca contemplating the chariot of the Sun drawn by four horses. The scene is part of the Triumph of Time and represents the course of the Sun as a symbolic image of the passing of time.
The map is taken from Francesco Petrarca’s Triumphs, an allegorical work in which the poet imagines a series of symbolic victories: Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time, and Eternity. Folios 231r-231v belong to the section dedicated to the Triumph of Time.
Folios 231r-231v belong to Codex 2582, preserved at the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The manuscript is part of the French tradition of Petrarch’s Triumphs.
No. The map offered is a limited and numbered reproduction of the original manuscript. It is therefore not a sixteenth-century manuscript, but a collector’s map inspired by a historic miniature preserved in Vienna.
The original manuscript dates back to the 16th century, therefore to the early 16th century. It is a refined example of the European success of Petrarch’s work and of the French illuminated manuscript culture associated with courtly circles.
Petrarch’s gesture is not merely descriptive. The poet points to the sun as a symbol of the passing of time. The solar chariot becomes a moral warning: time passes over human affairs, consuming fame, works, buildings, and earthly ambitions.
On the front of the sheet is a page of text in French introduced by the heading “du temps,” meaning “of time.” The text discusses the Sun, the soul, the glorious body, and the superiority of the spiritual dimension over physical light and the material world.
Because the two sides of the sheet of paper interact. On the front is a meditation on time, the Sun, and the soul. On the back is an image of Petrarch pointing to the solar chariot. Together, text and illumination transform the page into a visual and philosophical reflection.
The manuscript belonged to the library of the Dukes of Lorraine, then passed to Eugene of Savoy, and in 1738 entered the collections of Emperor Charles VI in Vienna. In 1809, it was taken to Paris by Napoleon and returned to Vienna after the fall of the Empire, between 1814 and 1815.
Because it unites literature, illuminated art, and philosophical reflection. It is linked to Petrarch, to the Triumph of Time, to the European tradition of illustrated manuscripts, and to one of the most universal images in Western culture: the sun racing across the sky and the passing of time.
Commentary Liber Abbaci + 3 cards (Folios 2 - 4 - 124)