another find...

From this source:

The Visconti Book of Hours after

1430 Vellum, 25 x 17,9 cm Biblioteca Nazionale, Florence Giovannino de'Grassi began illuminating this two-volume prayer-book for Gian Galeazzo Visconti; but it was a long time after they both were dead that the work was completed by Luchino Belbello da Pavia and his assistants. The initial of the text, the capital C, is the nucleus of the folio with rather crowded embellishments. Encircled by the letter we can see the creation of Eve, in front of a golden background. The three figures - God the Father, Eve and Adam - are arranged in a way that follows the line of the C. Stylized golden vine-leaves, springing from a straight vine-stock on the right-hand side of the margin, surround the initial, and the seemingly irregular, curving network of vine-tendrils is also adjusted to the shape of the letter. In the arid, rocky landscape at the bottom of the folio there are some luxuriant, thriving bushes and shrubs, with different animals among them, which point back to the previous days of the Creation, when the Earth was populated by plants and animals. The bottom strip with its flat representations - connected with the principal one, as was usual at that time - expands in Belbello's miniature, as it did in the works of his contemporaries, into a spacious stage. In the two upper corners of the initial, groups of radially arranged angels support the Viscontis' unpleasant coat of arms which depicts the serpent devouring a child. We are presented with a fantastic mixture of fairytale and reality, of decoration and representation. The griffin is depicted in a three-dimensional manner as is the hunting leopard, the favourite "domestic animal" of the Viscontis, an animal the painter may have seen every day in his master's park. However, at that time it did not depend only on the presence of the model whether the artist succeeded in representing it successfully. This is shown by the fact that, although there were elephants, bears, lions, monkeys and rabbits too in the Viscontis' menagerie, in Belbello's miniature they appear schematically, in a childishly simplified form. This may be due to the fact that the painter had not had much practice in depicting them and had not mastered the skill of representing them. From among the innumerable instances of the intertwining of natural and fantastic forms it is worth while pointing to the oval, colourful flower cups swaying among the golden vine-leaves. These flowers have nothing to do with reality, and, in particular, not among vine-leaves. On the other hand, they have striking similarities to ornaments on the jewellery of the period, not only because they appear in three-dimensional forms, but because of the enamel-like layers of paint which cover them. Artist: MINIATURIST, Italian , The Visconti Book of Hours , 1401-1450 , Italian , illumination , religious

starting to post research...

I've got some research started...so I'll be posting it here from time to time to collect everything in one space...eventually I plan on writing a research paper compiling it all together.

The below information is from this source:


The Visconti Hours: A Reproduction of the Original in the National Library, Florence Published by George Braziller Inc. New York 1972

Title page of Visconti HoursThe art book of the present day is truly a wonder of modern reproductive technology. Contemporary techniques have become so advanced that art works can be vividly reproduced, at times with such clarity and veracity that it becomes difficult to tell the difference between the original and the copy. This facsimile, produced by one of the most advanced art-book publishers active today, is certainly an example.

The Visconti Hours is the second part of an exceptionally rich Book of Hours, illuminated by Giovannino dei Grassi and Belbello da Pavia. It was completed sometime around 1412, just a little more than 40 years before the introduction of printing. Giangaleazzo Visconti, the noble who commissioned this book, was one of the most powerful Italian princes of his day. His family ruled Milan for more than a century, and Giangaleazzo married no less a person than Isabelle, daughter of King John of France. Like other Italian Renaissance rulers, Giangaleazzo patronized learning and the arts. He took an interest in the University of Pavia, helping to build the library there. He was also a patron of the Lombard workshops that produced some of the most beautiful and unique illuminated manuscripts of the age.

This stunning and historically important work, which in its original state is fragile and must be protected from light, can be seen and studied by thousands anywhere in the world. In fact, because of the special conditions and handling necessary to view the original, it may actually be preferable for scholars to use facsimiles such as this one.

Note: Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to publish reproductions from this work.

Just the beginning...

I'm going to be using this blog to document my research on The Visconti Hours. I want to know all about the who, what, why, when, and how of it's creation.

I am an artist that does recreations of medieval manuscripts...my love, passion and greatest interest lays in 14th century Italian Renaissance arts...which brought me to the Visconti Hours.

So, I hope that you find my blog interesting...if you have things to share, or answers to questions I might pose...please feel free to share.

Thanks...and I hope you enjoy my journey.