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This manuscript contains an old French allegorical romance in verses on love, written in two parts by two different authors active independently of each other and at different periods. The authors are Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200-c. 1240) and Jean de Meung (c. 1240-1305). From the end of the 13th century the Roman de la Rose (Romance of the Rose) had remained one of the most popular themes of miniature painting for over two hundred years. Approximately 500 illustrated manuscripts survive. The copy in the Morgan Library is of excellent state of preservation. It was commissioned by an anonymous person for King Francis I of France and was illuminated by an anonymous master of the School of Rouen.
The illustration on folio 7v shows what the author of the romance experienced at the age of 20 in a dream. Going for a stroll he reaches a secluded garden surrounded by a high wall. Ten allegorical figures defend the entrance, among them Villainy and Avarice.
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