Romance Papyrus, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, cod. suppl. gr. 1294
2nd century. Greek. This is a rare surviving example of an illustrated scroll. Most classical scrolls, if they were illustrated at all were illustrated with smal quick unframed drawings inserted into the blocks of text, as seen here. This scroll contains a fragment of an unidentified Alexandrian Romance.
3rd century. Greek. This is another surviving illustrated scroll fragment with small drawings inserted into the block of texts. The illustrations are of the first labor of Heracles, the killing of the Nemean Lion. There is a fragment of an unidentified poem about the labors of Heracles on the papyrus.
5th century. The Ambrosian Iliad is the oldest surviving illustrated manuscript of Homer. This miniature shows Achilles sacrificing to Zeus. The manuscript survives as a set of illuminations cut from the manuscript. The illustrations are in late classical style and have an illusionistic presentation of space typical of that style.
About 400. The Vergilius Vaticanus is one of the oldest and best preserved extant manuscripts of Virgil. This miniature shows the flight of Aeneas from Troy.
