Print Specifics:
- Type of print: Lithograph - Original French antique print
- Publisher: Librairie de Firmin Didot, Paris, Rue Jacob 56, 1885-1887.
- Condition: 1 (1. Excellent - 2. Very good - 3. Good - 4. Fair)
- Dimensions: 11 x 15.5 inches (28 x 40 cm), including blank margins (borders) around the image.
- Paper weight: 2 (1. Thick - 2. Heavier - 3. Medium heavy - 4. Slightly heavier - 5. Thin)
- Reverse side: Blank
- Notes: 1.
Green color 'border' around the print in the photo is a contrasting background
on which the print was photographed. 2. Detail of the print is sharper than the photo of the print.
Legend to the illustrations:
- In
this plate, motifs n° 1, 14 and 15, which are reproduced in their
entirety, and n° 4, 7, and 10, which come from parts of an initial, are
from the Florentine school, represented by one of its most illustrious
masters, Monte di Giovanni, who flourished between 1500 and 1528. He
was a powerful artist who brought to the art of miniature painting the
advantages of an education received in the goldsmith's shop, coupled
with a proficiency in the art of mosaic. It is assuredly this latter
quality which lends remarkable range to his works. The style of
ornamentation practised by Monte di Giovanni di Favilla allies grace
with strength and reveals knowledge of the acanthus of Antiquity which
is manipulated with the freedom and imagination of a true goldsmith,
who has no need to resort to the voluble flourishes of the scribe.
There is evidence, in these works, of the vigorous training of the
mosaicist, who, knowing the means at his disposal are limited, is aware
that to achieve variety in colour ornamentation, he must not exploit
all the possibilities of colour in every scene, or every piece, but
that, on the contrary, he must choose for each of them a dominant,
accentuated tone, in such a way as to obtain true variety through
parallels which are the basis of a superior decorative richness. No. 14
is also an initial, an M with three downstrokes, all of which the
artist has retained since the middle stroke was not an obstacle in the
overall composition of the scene. This beautiful letter of
architectonic design is also treated in a powerful monochrome, the
unity of which forms a felicitous contrast with the subject painted in
full colour. The scene depicts the temptation of Jesus by the Devil.
These miniatures by Monte de Giovanni are found in choir books from the
Cathedral of Florence. Fragments no. 2, 6, 8, and 9 are taken from the
Gradual of the Cathedral of Siena, and date from the period of Liberate
di Giacomo. N° 13 and 16, the character of which is more modern, are
found in the Antiphonaries of the Cathedral of Florence and are taken
from the pages painted by Antonio di Girolamo. Fragments n° 3, II, 12
and 17 are taken from the choir books of the Charterhouse of Pavia,
Brera Library, Milan. N° 5 is from the Missal of Clement VII, Chigi
Palace Library, Rome.
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