Commissione of Doge Giovanni II Cornaro to Giovanni Bollani as Podestà of Chioggia
binder
Unknown
Date1718
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumRepoussé and chased silver covers, silver seal, cord and tassel of metallic and red silk thread and silk damask spine
Dimensions22 x 18 x 3.5 cm (8 11/16 x 7 1/16 x 1 3/8 in.)
ClassificationsBooks
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession number2.a.3.1
eMuseum ID719236
EmbARK ObjectID17561
Previous Number21F27e42-s
Other NumberARC.007506
TMS Source ID5823
Last Updated8/14/24
Description163 ff.Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryJustice enthroned, lion of St. Mark with book inscribed in Latin 'Peace be with you Mark, my Evangelist', and Bollani family arms. Silver seal with St. Mark blessing the doge, cord and tassel of metallic and red silk thread, and silk spine, 1718.
This is a rare example of a commissione with the bolla, or ducal seal, still attached. The subject depicted on the seal emphasized that the doge's authority was divinely ordained. The cover's female figure of Justice, holding a sword and scales, and wearing a doge's horned hat, symbolizes the Venetian government's charge to preserve peace by means of justice. She reminded the commissione's recipient, Giovanni Bollani, of his duty to administer justly at Chioggia, an important town at the southern limit of the Venetian lagoon. The covers were decorated using the metalwork techniques of repoussé, hammering the silver from the back to create a design in relief, and chasing, or tooling detail or ornament on the front. The unknown silversmith signed his sumptuous work with the initials AP.
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.
This is a rare example of a commissione with the bolla, or ducal seal, still attached. The subject depicted on the seal emphasized that the doge's authority was divinely ordained. The cover's female figure of Justice, holding a sword and scales, and wearing a doge's horned hat, symbolizes the Venetian government's charge to preserve peace by means of justice. She reminded the commissione's recipient, Giovanni Bollani, of his duty to administer justly at Chioggia, an important town at the southern limit of the Venetian lagoon. The covers were decorated using the metalwork techniques of repoussé, hammering the silver from the back to create a design in relief, and chasing, or tooling detail or ornament on the front. The unknown silversmith signed his sumptuous work with the initials AP.
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), pp. 43-44, 100.
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. 934.
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.
Anne-Marie Eze. "'Safe from Destruction by Fire': Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian Manuscripts." Journal for Manuscript Studies (Fall 2017), pp. 193, 197, 210, 212, fig. 3.
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. 934.
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.
Anne-Marie Eze. "'Safe from Destruction by Fire': Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian Manuscripts." Journal for Manuscript Studies (Fall 2017), pp. 193, 197, 210, 212, fig. 3.
MarksNotesInscribed in Latin: Peace be with you Mark, my Evangelist
Signed: AP
Marked (on binding): Bollani family arms
Signed: AP
Marked (on binding): Bollani family arms
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the sale of the library of Edward Cheney (1803–1884), art collector and watercolor painter, at Sotheby’s, London for £29 on 25 June 1886, lot 663, through Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899), London bookseller and publisher.
