(c) 2014 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

(c) 2023 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Divine Comedy

author Dante Alighieri (Florence, 1265 - 1321, Ravenna)

author Cristoforo Landino (Florence, 1425 - 1498, Borgo alla Collina)

printer Bonino Bonini (Lastovo, Dubrovnik Republic, about 1454 - 1528, Treviso)

designer Sandro Botticelli (Florence, 1444 or 1445 - 1510, Florence)

binder Robert Riviere (London, 1808 - 1882, London)

Date1487

Place MadeBrescia, Lombardy, Italy, Europe

MediumPrinted ink on paper

Dimensions37.2 x 26 x 5.2 cm (14 5/8 x 10 1/4 x 2 1/16 in.)

ClassificationsBooks

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession number2.c.1.7

DescriptionI Vol. (310 leaves, 620 pages) : paper : ill. ; 35 cm. (folio)

Status

Not on view

Web Commentary This edition of the Divine Comedy is illustrated throughout with a series of woodcuts inspired by Baldini's engravings after Botticelli. The borders around the woodcuts are made up of white-lined designs of strapwork and grotesque figures on a black ground, a woodcut style and technique used frequently by Venetian illustrators. The added illuminated borders and capital letters in bright pigments and gold leaf are opulent touches borrowed from the manuscript tradition, and are not uncommon in early printed books. This volume was once owned by John Ruskin, an avid student of the art of the book.

Id720507

Last Updated8/9/24

EmbARK ObjectID17672

Other NumberISTC id00031000

Source ID5923