Sforza Legendarium
The Duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza is famous as a great patron of music and the arts. In 1476, the famous Milanese illuminator Cristoforo de Predis created one of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Italian Renaissance with the opulently furnished Sforza Legendarium. The private devotional book illustrates the histories and legends of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, the Son of God, and closes with the Last Judgement. The 324 miniatures altogether distinguish themselves through their impressive combination of lush, luminous colors, and shimmering gold filigree. Thanks to his exceptional powers of observation, the deaf-mute artist allowed small details from contemporary life to flow into the harmonious compositions.
Sforza Legendarium
As the Duke of Milan, Geleazzo Sforza was famous as a great patron of music and the arts. As such, the famous illuminator Cristoforo de Predis created one of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Italian Renaissance for him in 1476, the opulently furnished Sforza Legendarium. As a book for private devotion and meditation, the legendarium illustrated the histories and legends of the Virgin Maryβs parents, as well as her childhood up the Annunciation. Following seamlessly is the tale of the life, miracles, and Passion of Christ up to the events of the Pentecost. The life of John the Baptist is similarly portrayed. The richly illustrated volume closes out with masterful miniatures of the Last Judgement.
An Exceptional Diversity of Images
Boasting 324 miniatures altogether, the legendarium impresses its beholder. Each individual depiction shines in a metallic gloss in combination with an astounding palette of intensely luminous colors. The variety of scenes from the salvation history of the New Testament is also unmatched. The North Italian inspiration is obvious in everything from individual architectural elements to entire edifices to fashion. Galeazzo was intended to recognize his own Duchy as the backdrop of the biblical scenes. The combination of powerful colors, which are finely nuanced, and shimmering filigrees of gold lend an exceptional liveliness to the illustrations. In doing so, the creations remain in a harmonious balance between concrete reality and imaginary space, between the holy and the profane, as well as the aristocratic and the folksy.
A Deaf-and-Dumb Painter with Special Observation Skills
The Milanese miniaturist Cristoforo de Predis was born deaf-and-dumb and was already a highly esteemed miniaturist at the Sforza court since 1471. His painting is distinguished by its many small details from contemporary life and an exceptionally intuitive gesticulation of the figures. He was always carefully observant with a curious attentiveness to reality: the city surrounding him, the everyday life and emotions of his fellow human beings. Resulting therefrom are the gentle countryside of the Po Valley, wide horizons, thronged streets and Piazzas, but also elegant dining halls and simple chambers. Numerous building materials used at that time such as bricks, stone, marble, colored plaster, and wood were taken into account, and he also dealt intensely with lighting effects in interior spaces. There are even traces of the recently invented central perspective to be found in his compositions.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Sforza-Savoia-Legendarium
LΓ©gendier des Sforza
Codice Varia 124 della Biblioteca Reale di Torino
Legendarium der Sforza
Leggendario Sforza-Savoia - Size / Format
- 316 pages / 26.4 Γ 18.2 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 1476
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 324 miniatures of various size and 107 golden initials
- Content
- Legends from the New Testament beginning with the parents of the Virgin Mary through the life of Christ up until Pentecost
- Patron
- Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (1444β1476)
- Artist / School
- Cristoforo de Predis
- Previous Owners
- Galeazzo Maria Sforza
Sforza Legendarium
Portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Milan
Standing in an arcade painted sky blue and adorned with stars, Galeazzo Maria Sforza is depicted hand-in-hand with his wife, who must be Bona of Savoy because his first wife, Dorotea Gonzaga, died three years before the manuscript was created. They are both dressed in flowing red robes embellished with cloth of gold and each of their heads is surrounded by a ray nimbus. The towers of a walled city, probably intended to be Milan, can be seen in the distance.
Sforza Legendarium
Heraldic Symbols of Galeazzo Maria Sforza
For the first page of the manuscript, Cristoforo de Predis created a full-page miniature of the heraldic symbols of Galeazzo Maria Sforza that was very much in keeping with the Dukeβs luxurious artistic taste. Like the other 323 miniatures in the work, it was created using bright, powerful colors and shimmering gold leaf.
Seated in flames and sparks, a lion wearing the enclosed steel helmet of a knight holds a blue stick from which two golden buckets are swinging. The heraldic symbols are presented in a classical architecture with pink marble columns and Corinthian capitals that support an entablature with varying rows of patterns as well as garlands with fruits that are suspended from golden discs or plates.
#1 Leggendario Sforza-Savoia
Language: Italian
(3,000β¬ - 7,000β¬)
#2 Das Legendarium der Sforza
Languages: English, German
(3,000β¬ - 7,000β¬)
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