Reinterpreting the Antiquity in the Roman Humanistic Manuscript

Laura Zabeo
During the cultural policy promoted by Pio II (1458-1464) and Paolo II (1464-1471), the rediscovery of Classical Antiquity became the dominant orientation to which the production of the papal scriptorium looked at, in anticipation of the mature season of the 'all'antica' illumination developed under the papacy of Sisto IV della Rovere (1471-1484). In the Eternal City, every prominent member of the clergy was surrounded by his own court, with circles of intellectuals and a personal library: this attracted illuminators with the most various backgrounds, transforming Rome in an eclectic forge of artistic experimentation. The new humanistic manuscript affirmed thanks to Pope Piccolomini's artistic patronage allowed to slowly unify the plurality of the stylistic proposals into an original school distinguishable as “Roman”, which is not simply a derivation of the Florentine models of Classical revival. This new language is primarily expressed through the luxury manuscripts of Pio II's literary works, produced in multiple presentation copies, often in very close collaborations, by the “miniatori di Sua Santità”: Andrea da Firenze, Jacopo da Fabriano and Niccoḷ Polani. The latter, in particular, imported in Rome the first Renaissance miniature developed between Padua and Venice. Some unknown manuscripts of his Roman production show, in fact, the use of antiquarian and archaeological elements in the style of Mantegna, along with early medieval ornamental motifs, such as the decorative interlace patterns, adopted in Venice with a reuse operation by Andrea Contrario and Cristoforo Cortese during the second quarter of the 15th century.

Index

Massimo Bernaḅ The Smirne Phisiologus and Two More Illuminated Paleologan Manuscripts
vai all'articolo » pag. 17-21
Sonia Chiodo A Small Book and Its Travels, between Reuse, Integration and Manipulation
vai all'articolo » pag. 22-28
Giulia Guerini Revival of Antiquity and Erudite Quotations: Reflections around the Miniature of the Triumph of Glory in the Manuscript of the De viris illustribus by Petrarch
vai all'articolo » pag. 29-36
Giordana Mariani Canova Revival of Antiquity and Quotations, Re-uses between Venice and Milan in the 15th-Century Illumination: The Case of Francesco Filelfo and Filarete
vai all'articolo » pag. 37-45
Emanuela Spagnoli Coins in Decorated 15th-Century Margins. Preliminary Notes and Two Case Studies
vai all'articolo » pag. 46-54
Ulrike Bauer-Eberhardt Repeating or Modifying? The Illustrations in De re militari by Roberto Valturio
vai all'articolo » pag. 55-62
Federica Toniolo A case of reuse. The miniatures of the Infortiatum and of the Digestum novum (Vat. lat. 2514 and Vat. lat. 1425)
vai all'articolo » pag. 63-75
Laura Zabeo Reinterpreting the Antiquity in the Roman Humanistic Manuscript
vai all'articolo » pag. 76-86
Chiara Paniccia The Icon of a Prince and His Models: The Illuminated Portraits of Federico da Montefeltro
vai all'articolo » pag. 87-95
Giuseppa Z. Zanichelli Reuse Strategies for Book of Hours
vai all'articolo » pag. 96-103
Teresa D’Urso Antiquity Revival and Mantegnesque Citations in Aragonese Naples: The Manuscripts with Stained Membrane Pages Commissioned by Diomede Carafa
vai all'articolo » pag. 104-112
Hans-Joachim Eberhardt Giulio Clovio and Girolamo dai Libri in Candiana: Illustrating Vasari and the Contemporary Activity of Two Geniuses
vai all'articolo » pag. 113-120
Beatrice Alai Litterae deauratae et pictae: Illuminated Fragments from the Sistine Chapel in Albums in the von Nagler Collection
vai all'articolo » pag. 121-130
Chiara Ponchia From Devotion to Collecting. An Illuminated Cutting from a Venetian Mariegola of the 15th Century (Venice, Correr Museum, Cl. II 673)
vai all'articolo » pag. 131-139
Margherita Zibordi Replicated Illuminations: Some Cuttings in the Museo Correr and Their Relationships with the Gradual of the Chapter of Udine
vai all'articolo » pag. 140-148
Eleonora Mattia The Copy and Its Creative Interpretation: Pietro Krohn and His Illumination Models at the Designmuseum Danmark
vai all'articolo » pag. 149-156
Francesca Manzari, Milva Tolentinati A Mysterious Example of Collecting in Ancona: The Illuminated Cuttings at the Biblioteca della Soprintendenza Archeologica delle Marche
vai all'articolo » pag. 157-167
Fabrizio Crivello Reuses, Revivals and Influences of Carolingian Illumination between the 12th and 19th Centuries
vai all'articolo » pag. 168-176
Francesca Soffientino Frederick II in the Palermo Speciale Codex and in the Falconry Treaty in Vienna
vai all'articolo » pag. 177-184
Silvia Maddalo Fortuna general ministra e duce. Suggestions for a Political Interpretation of Dante's Commedia
vai all'articolo » pag. 185-192
Andrea Improta Geometric Initials in Some Neapolitan Choir-Books of the 17th Century
vai all'articolo » pag. 193-199
Lucinia Speciale The Middle Ages Forgeries of Fabio Vecchioni (1597-1673): About the Lost Exultet-Roll of San Giovanni delle Dame Monache in Capua
vai all'articolo » pag. 200-208
Paola Guerrini Tarot's Inheritance in the Use and Reuse of Images of a 17th-Century Codex: Vitt. Em. 307 in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Rome
vai all'articolo » pag. 209-215
Emilia Anna Talamo Revival and Reuse in 19th-Century Illuminations: Ettore Sampaolo
vai all'articolo » pag. 216-221
Gianfranco Malafarina Dreaming the Middle Ages. Mediaevalism and Quotationism in the Clothilde Missal, Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum, Ms. W.934
vai all'articolo » pag. 222-232
Giulia Orofino Rabano Mauro and Mimmo Paladino. The Nachleben of an Illuminated Medieval Codex
vai all'articolo » pag. 233-242