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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Visconti Hours : National Library, Florencedi Millard Meiss, Luchino Belbello, Giovannino de' Grassi;
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"This extraordinary manuscript, perhaps one of the gayest, most spontaneous and fanciful of Western illuminations, is an exceptionally rich Book of Hours painted by two quite different artists. In the late 1300s, Giovannino dei Grassi and his workshop painted the first folios for Giangaleazzo Visconti, despot of Milan, but the Duke's death in 1402 interrupted the work. Belbello da Pavia completed this dazzling manuscript for Giangaleazzo's son, Filippo Maria, after he became Duke in 1412." "As Millard Meiss has pointed out in his Introduction, the imaginative art of Giovannino survives in this book alone, wherein he combines an entirely personal vision of light radiating from saints and prophets - and from the Duke of Milan, as well - with an equally original exploration of the natural world. Moreover, the inventive forms and scintillating colors, the extensive and intriguing use of gold leaf, as well as the silver and lapis lazuli (a beautiful, rare, and expensive shade of blue) that abounds throughout the manuscript, surely make it a unique treasure among treasures." "The Visconti Hours will enchant art lovers everywhere with its contrasts and stunning extravagance."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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 Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni...GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)091Information Manuscripts and rare books Manuscripts; AutographsClassificazione LCVotoMedia: (4.62)
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The Visconti family employed one of my favorite coats of arms: a basilisk devouring a human child. Not only is this a delightful commentary of the rather ruthless nature of the Italian clans in the middle ages, it survives today, on the front of every Alfa Romeo ever made. So it is particularly interesting that the Viscontis, and this Visconti in particular, motivated by an intense desire to legitimize his position (not quite legitimately attained) as Duke, saw fit to plaster that very insignia all over his personal prayer book, making it rather like a game of 'Where's Waldo," assuming of course, that Waldo is a suitable name for a child-devouring basilisk.
On a more serious note, however, the commentary which accompanies each plate makes this an excellent volume for the study of manuscript illumination, and of Books of Hours. If I have a quibble (and it is a minuscule one), it is that the metallic ink, intended to accent those areas which are embellished with gold leaf in the original, cannot begin to convey the glory to which it refers. I might almost prefer to have the unaccented image, lest the poor pigments available damn the original with faint praise. Then again, photographing gold leaf reliably is notoriously difficult, so perhaps the spot ink serves to clarify rather than dim, in which case, I am happy to have it.
In any case, this is a beautiful book, lovingly crafted with regard to both content and production. It's a volume that should appeal to those with artistic as well as historic interest in medieval manuscripts should not be without. (