Sull’origine dello stile di Manerius: il contributo del "Commento ai Salmi" del canonico e magister Cotta di Vercelli

The problem of the genesis of the late Romanesque Manerius style is still under discussion due to the difficulty to agree upon the origin and chronology of the earliest manuscripts decorated in this style. The copy of Peter Lombard’s Great Gloss on the Psalms, preserved in the Biblioteca Capitolare of Vercelli (mss. LXXXVII-LXXXVIII) contains, at the beginning of the second volume, an unpublished ornamental initial in Manerius style. Since it is documented that these volumes entered the Chapter Library in 1194, we have a precious terminus ante quem for their execution. The close proximity of this added initial to those of the Manerius Bible (Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, 8-10), together with the possibility to place its creation in Paris, allows us to reopen the debate on the origin of the Manerius style, suggesting a Parisian origin, and recommend the necessity of new researches on the manuscripts decorated in this style.