The ornamental design of book covers as well as gilding techniques were adopted in Italy and France from the Orient in the late 15th century. Here, the decorative gold-leaf elements were impressed into the leather by hand using stamps, rollers and plates. The book cover in the Düsseldorf collection is entirely covered with delicate arabesques. The design of the corner- pieces in the central section and medallions in the border were also based on Islamic book bindings. The blank oval section in the central panel features Mannerist-style painting with the motif ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’. It shows the moment when Thisbe discovers the dying Pyramus and then stabs herself. The myth of the two lovers, who cannot be together owing to their parents’ rivalry, is first mentioned in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The combination of Oriental gold ornamentation and Mannerist painting points to Venice as the place of origin, which at this time was a kind of melting pot for Western and Oriental influences. (Katja Storalow)