A treasure trove of art: an album with works ranging from Giotto to Raphael and from Leonardo Da Vinci to Botticelli
Resta Codex
Italy — 16th–17th century

Resta Codex
Italy — 16th–17th century
Padre Sebastiano Resta assembled 281 drawings by great Italian masters in this 17th century album
The artists range from the Trecento to Seicento, from Giotto to Raphael and Leonardo to Botticelli
Rediscovered in the Library of Palermo, this manuscript is considered to be a treasure chest of graphic art
Resta Codex
- Codice Resta
Short Description
The famous Resta Codex is surely one of the most important art historical treasures of the Italian Renaissance! Padre Sebastiano Resta, a gifted graphic collector of the 17th century, assembled 281 drawings by great Italian masters in this album. The line-up of artists represented here stretches from Trecento to Seicento, from Giotto to Raphael and Leonardo to Masaccio and Botticelli. Exciting notes and anecdotes from the hand of the collector supplement the precious drawings. Rediscovered in the Library of Palermo after being lost for a long time, the Resta Codex is considered to be a true treasure chest of graphic art during this time!
Resta Codex
The famous Resta Codex is surely one of the most important art historical treasures of the Italian Renaissance! Padre Sebastiano Resta, a gifted graphic collector of the 17th century, assembled 281 drawings by great Italian masters in this album. The line-up of artists represented here stretches from Trecento to Seicento, from Giotto to Raphael and Leonardo to Masaccio and Botticelli. Exciting notes and anecdotes from the hand of the collector supplement the precious drawings. Rediscovered in the Library of Palermo after being lost for a long time, the Resta Codex is considered to be a true treasure chest of graphic art during this time!
A Collected Album with Exciting History
The famous Resta Codex is stored today in the Biblioteca Ambrosia in Milan. This valuable album with drawings by Italian masters is named after its author: Padre Sebastian Resta (1635–1714). Resta was a gifted collector and great connoisseur of graphic art. He pasted anlarge number of drawings into notebooks in the course of his life. They comprise 3,500 drawings in 30 volumes altogether, the so-called Resta Codex is surely the most famous. Unlike most of the 30 albums, this one was never plundered and its contents divided among collections across the world. The Resta Codex was thought to be lost for a long time, until it was rediscovered in the Palermo Public Library.
The Drawing as an Unmitigated Access to the Artist
A selection of the 100 most beautiful sheets from the total of 281 in the Resta Codex assembles works presenting a wonderful overview of the treasure that unfolds here: drawings by the greatest masters of Italian art from the Trecento to the Seicento. Among the artists represented here are such great names as Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Massacio and many more. The drawings offer an unhindered inside view into the genesis of great works of art and into the idea world of these great masters. Resta furnished the pasted pages with notes, information, speculations, anecdotes, and other comments from his hand. The 234 pages of this codex, measuring 52 x 37.2 cm, enchant nearly every lover of Italian Renaissance art!
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Codice Resta
- Type
- Manuscript on paper
- Size / Format
- 234 pages / 52.0 x 37.2 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 16th–17th century
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Previous Owners
- Sebastiano Resta (1635–1714)
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Resta Codex“
Codice Resta
- Publisher
- Vallecchi – Florence, 2003
- Limited Edition
- 1000 copies
- Binding
- Hand-bound in leather, with golden impressions like the original book.
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Gianfranco Ravasi
Languages: English, Italian - More Information
- Printed on special paper created only for this volume by Cartiere Miliani di Fabriano. The facimile includes one hundred of the original plates.
Matching Background Articles
Renaissance
What does the word “Renaissance” bring to mind for you? Art, science, and culture of course! It was a "rebirth" and...Experience more16th Century
When did the Middle Ages end and the Early Modern Period begin? Most agree it was sometime in the course of the 16th...Experience more
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Aboca Museum
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- De Agostini/UTET
- DIAMM
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Egeria, S.L.
- Extraordinary Editions
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Helikon
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- La Meta Editore
- Leo S. Olschki
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lumen Artis
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Manuscriptum
- Millennium Liber
- Nova Charta
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Popyläen Verlag
- Prestel Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Reichert Verlag
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Salerno Editrice
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- Styria Verlag
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- Trident Editore
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Yushodo