Book
An open or closed book can represent learning, faith (scripture), or — in a portrait — the sitter's literacy and intellectual standing.
A closed book in a saint's hands often stands for scripture or doctrine broadly; an open one, especially in scholar and humanist portraits, is a direct claim about the sitter's learning — a detail that period viewers would have read as carefully as the sitter's clothing or posture.
Book in the collection
Paintings in the catalog documented as featuring this symbol.
Saint Jerome kneeling on a rock in front of a cross and an open book facing left
Guido Reni
Manuscript Page On The Sforza Monument
Leonardo da Vinci
Double Manuscript Page On The Sforza Monument
Leonardo da Vinci
Codex On The Flight Of Birds
Leonardo da Vinci
Madonna Of The Book (Madonna Del Libro)
Sandro Botticelli
A Book Peddler
Master of the Canesso Peddler
Divan of Sultan Husayn Baiqara
Sultan 'Ali al-Mashhadi
Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist, Saint Cecilia, and Angels
Piero di Cosimo