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Bologna / Giovanni di fra' Silvestro, / Miniatura bolognese,
Statutes of the Confraternity of Santa Maria della Morte, 1393
Estimate
€ 35.000 - 40.000
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€ 34.980
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Information
Illuminated manuscript on parchment, 14th and 15th centuries, composed of two sections: the first from leaf a ii to leaf c iii v, total of 22 leaves [missing a i and c iv-vi] datable to 1422; the second part consisting of 22 leaves and datable to 1393.
Part I : initial illuminated in red and black on the first leaf, valuable and numerous red and blue, at the beginning of each chapter, chapter titles with red headings, paragraphs highlighted with red and blue initials, signum notarized on the last card of "Paulus filius Egregii Viri Sr Joannis andree de la Schiappa" and on the reverse signed by the notary Gabriele della Malvasia, in a subsequent period.
A charter with the index of the subjects contained in the subsequent statutes and then part II.
Part II : Magnificent miniature with opening of text, initially attributed to the "Master of the Initials of Brussels" now recognized in Giovanni di Fra 'Silvestro: large miniature (143 x125 mm.) depicting the Virgin of Mercy who welcomes under her mantle, hooded, the various affiliates; next to them in a prominent position three figures in civilian clothes probably the Rector, the Prior and the Massaro, while at the bottom of the initial A appears the image of a kneeling brother, the miniature is made on a background with "ramages", the decoration of the paper is completed by a leaf frieze running on 4 sides with the symbol of the same brotherhood at the bottom, that is a wooden cross. Original fifteenth-century binding in full leather on wooden boards, double frame embossed dry on the plates, with an elaborate circular decoration in the center in which dry skulls, traces of clasps, gilded cuts, defects and lacks are imprinted.
Specialist Notes
“Besides provide useful clues for the dating of these works [i.e. those of the Master of the Initials of Brussels] and therefore also due to the initial presence in Paris of the 'Master of the Initials of Brussels', or of Giovanni di Fra' Silvestro, the new statutes of the Confraternity of Santa Maria della Morte make it possible to establish an important chronological reference to study the moment of the artist's formation in Bologna (...) "(M.Medica, p.14).
Massimo Medica, A name for the Master of Initials of Brussels: Giovanni di fra 'Silvestro , in "Art in Bologna - Bulletin of the Civic Museums of Ancient Art", 7-8 / 2010-2011, pp. 11-23. Thanks to prof. Fabrizio Lollini for the precious suggestions and indications given in preparing the form.