Commission of Doge Cristoforo Moro to Domenico Diedo as Procurator of San Marco
author
Leonardo Bellini
(Venice, about 1443 - 1490)
Date1464
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumIllumination: paint, gold paint, and gold leaf on vellum; text: ink on vellum
Dimensions28.5 x 20.5 x 2 cm (11 1/4 x 8 1/16 x 13/16 in.)
ClassificationsBooks
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession number2.b.2.5
eMuseum ID721692
Previous Number11F27e42-s
EmbARK ObjectID13678
TMS Source ID2561
Last Updated8/9/24
Description1 vol., (26 + 3 leaves; 23 lines) : vellum ; ill. ; 28.5 cm.Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryPutti holding a garland with the Diedo family arms, floral border, and foliate initials 'N' and 'I'.
Leonardo Bellini revitalized the illumination of Venetian books in the mid-fifteenth century, by introducing decorative elements from contemporary manuscripts from Ferrara, such as rich borders of blue and pink flowers, gold-leaf circles, filigree, putti and animals in medallions. Here, the delicately colored border marks the start of the main text, and the two enlarged initials highlight the different sections within it. Leonardo painted for the workshop of his family, the influential Bellini artists, who introduced the Renaissance style to Venetian painting in the second half of the 1400s. This commissione was made for Domenico Diedo. It records his solemn oath (giuramento) and the statutes (capitolare) of his post as Procurator of St. Mark's Basilica. The office was lifelong, and therefore the most important after the Dogeship.
Source: Anne-Marie Eze, Illuminating the Serenissima: Books of the Republic of Venice, special exhibition on view in the museum's Long Gallery, May 3 through June 19, 2011.
Leonardo Bellini revitalized the illumination of Venetian books in the mid-fifteenth century, by introducing decorative elements from contemporary manuscripts from Ferrara, such as rich borders of blue and pink flowers, gold-leaf circles, filigree, putti and animals in medallions. Here, the delicately colored border marks the start of the main text, and the two enlarged initials highlight the different sections within it. Leonardo painted for the workshop of his family, the influential Bellini artists, who introduced the Renaissance style to Venetian painting in the second half of the 1400s. This commissione was made for Domenico Diedo. It records his solemn oath (giuramento) and the statutes (capitolare) of his post as Procurator of St. Mark's Basilica. The office was lifelong, and therefore the most important after the Dogeship.
Source: Anne-Marie Eze, Illuminating the Serenissima: Books of the Republic of Venice, special exhibition on view in the museum's Long Gallery, May 3 through June 19, 2011.
BibliographyNotesIsabella Stewart Gardner. A Choice of Manuscripts and Bookbindings from the Library of Isabella Stewart Gardner, Fenway Court. (Boston, 1922), p. 33.
Seymour de Ricci and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. (New York, 1935-40), p. 933.
Helena Szépe. "Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian manuscripts" in Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), p. 233, fig. 173.
Helena Katalin Szépe. Venice Illuminated: Power and Painting in Renaissance Manuscripts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018), pp. 129-130, fig. 4.7.
Seymour de Ricci and W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. (New York, 1935-40), p. 933.
Helena Szépe. "Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian manuscripts" in Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), p. 233, fig. 173.
Helena Katalin Szépe. Venice Illuminated: Power and Painting in Renaissance Manuscripts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018), pp. 129-130, fig. 4.7.
ProvenanceNotesCollection of the scholar and critic Charles Eliot Norton (1827–1908), Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Charles Eliot Norton on 3 July 1903 for $2,500. (with 18 other Venetian manuscripts)
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Charles Eliot Norton on 3 July 1903 for $2,500. (with 18 other Venetian manuscripts)
Francesco Donato
17 July 1547
Nicolò da Ponte
26 August 1578
