Depiction of Jewellery in 15th- and 16th-Century Book
Illumination. Similarities and Differences between
Italian and Flemish Miniatures
This article focuses on the depictions of jewellery on the
borders of illuminated manuscripts. Such a decorative
motif became a widespread tendency in both Flemish
and Italian illumination throughout the second half of
the 15th century and the first decades of the 16th century.
The motif featured first on the borders of Flemish devotional
manuscripts, possibly inspired by the practice of
sewing pilgrim badges within the pages, and also by the
proximity of devotional jewels and Books of hours during
the daily domestic prayers. Furthermore, goldsmiths
were commissioned to decorate illuminated books with
jewelled clasps, straps, and bookmarks, facilitating artistic
exchanges between goldsmithing and illumination.
Comparisons between jewellery depicted on Flemish illuminated
borders, the coeval goldsmith's production and
the presence of jewels in paintings and inventories show
that Flemish illuminators represented precious objects
copied from real life. Illusionistic representations of
jewellery, in line with the religious concepts of Modern
Devotion, probably served as mnemonic tools during the
devotional practices.
In Italian miniatures, we can find jewellery depictions in
devotional books as well as in a variety of literary works.
This proves they were not to be linked with devotional
aims. Italian illuminators took inspiration from Flemish
Books of hours, but they were less involved in trompe
l'oeil representations of jewellery. Indeed, the borders
of Italian miniatures often included imaginary clusters
of pearls and gems. The different cultural background,
which fostered depictions of classical motifs such as
grotesque and pastiches of objects inspired by the Roman
antiquity, relegates to secondary relevance the representation
of actual luxury goods. Nevertheless, there
are some Italian miniature borders representing jewels
very similar to those produced by coeval goldsmiths.
More often, illuminators from the Peninsula portrayed
classical cameos, that these objects were very common
in Italian collections of antiquities.