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Tatiana Thesis THE EMBRACE OF THE RED QUILL AND THE BLACK LETTER FORM: The Historic Significance of Hand-Painted Initial Letters in Manuscripts and First Printed Books in Florence Tatiana Shukhin In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In Art and the Book Washington, DC Spring 2013 ©2013 Tatiana Shukhin All Rights Reserved CORCORAN COLLEGE OF ART + DESIGN 7 MAY, 2013 We hereby recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by Tatiana Shukhin entitled THE EMBRACE OF THE RED QUILL AND THE BLACK LETTER FORM: The Historic Significance Of Hand-Painted Initial Letters In Manuscripts And First Printed Books In Florence be accepted as fulfilling, in part, requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art and the Book. Graduate thesis Committee: (Signature of Student) Tatiana Shukhin (Printed Name of Student) (Signature of Advisor) Georgia Deal (Printed Name of Advisor) (Signature of Program Director) Kerry McAleer-Keeler (Printed Name of Program Director) i TABLE OF CONTENTS Thesis Statement iii List of Figures and Illustrations iv Epigraph v Chapters Flipping Pages of the Streets of Florence 1 The Birth of the Initial Letter 2 The Geographical Location and Specifics of the Production Market 4 Key Players in Florentine Book Development 6 The Medici Influence 9 Golden Age of the Florentine Manuscripts 12 Woodcut Illustrations 18 Conclusion: “She Was Called a Flower” 21 Illustration References 23 Notes 32 Bibliography 34 ii THESIS STATEMENT In 1471, the first book was printed in Florence. This was three decades after the invention of the printing press in Germany, and six years after printing first appeared in Italy, making Renaissance Florence one of the last places to embrace the new technology. Florence had a centuries-old tradition of manuscripts; Florentine manuscripts were unique and valued throughout Europe. The rulers of Florence, the Medici family, did not support the printing press, but instead continued to commission the production of manuscripts for their courts and libraries. As printed books were introduced into the Florentine life, the hand-painted initial letters were the connecting thread that linked the early printed books to the art of the manuscript. Between 1490-1510, the manuscript illumination found a new life in the woodcuts that transformed colorful miniature paintings into the black-and-white interpretations produced by the printing press. iii LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Fig.1. Fra Angelico, “Glorification of Saints Dominic,” 67v, Missal no. 558, Museo di San Marco, Florence, http://www.royal-painting.com/htmllarge/large-911.html. Fig.2. Attavante degli Attavanti, Sigismondo de’ Sigismondi, Manuscript no.24, Book of Hours, in The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J.R. Abbey, by J.J.G. Alexander and A.C. De la Mare, (Frederick A. Praeger: London, 1969). Fig.3. Maestro del Virgilio Mediceo, Opere di Virgilio per Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici, in Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, http://www.palazzo- medici.it/mediateca/en/schede.php?id_scheda=340. Fig.4. Piero Strozzi, Manuscript no.10, Florence, 1453, in The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J.R. Abbey, by J.J.G. Alexander and A.C. De la Mare, (Frederick A. Praeger: London, 1969). Fig.5. Johannes Petrus de Spoleto, Manuscript no.11, in The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J.R. Abbey, by J.J.G. Alexander and A.C. De la Mare, (Frederick A. Praeger: London, 1969). Fig.6. Unknown author, Manuscript no.14, Florence, 1460-1470, in The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J.R. Abbey, by J.J.G. Alexander and A.C. De la Mare, (Frederick A. Praeger: London, 1969). Fig.7. The Irish Gospel Book of St. Gall. in the Library of the Monastery of St. Gallen in Switzerland, Codex 51. Source: St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 51 f. 7r, http://worldupclose.com/exec/page/105/The-Gospel-Book-of-St-Gall. Fig.8. Fra Angelico, Annonciation, 1430, Florence, San Marco Missal 558, fol. 33v, Museo di San Marco, Florence, http://www.wga.hu/html_m/a/angelico/14/2illumip.html. Fig.9. Antonio di Bartolommeo Miscomini, Plotinus and Marsilio Ficino, Florence, 1492, http://www.booktryst.com/2012/07/feast-of-late-15th-century-illuminated.html. Fig.10. Printed by Lorenzo Morgiani and Johannes Petri, published by Piero Pacini, Epistole et Evangelii, Florence, 1495, in Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. Fig.11. Printed by Lorenzo Morgiani and Johannes Petri, published by Piero Pacini, Epistole et Evangelii, Florence, 1495, in Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. iv The dialog between Vespasiano and Cosimo de’Medici: —And one day, when I was with him, he said: “What plan can you suggest for the formation of this library?” I replied that if the books were to be bought, it would be impossible, for the reason that they would not be found. Then he went on, “Then tell me what you would do in the matter.” I said it would be necessary to have the books transcribed, where upon he wanted to know whether I would undertake the task. I said I would… —Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscript My Florence! Well contented may’st thou be With this digression – thee it toucheth not; Thanks to the people who advise for thee! Many have justice in their hearts; but long Delay, through fear, the meditated shot:- Thy people have it on the very tongue. —Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio v 1 FLIPPING PAGES OF THE STREETS OF FLORENCE The morning sun shines its first rays through the thin openings in wooden shutters, leaving white horizontal stripes on the ceiling. Descending high marble steps, making three sharp turns, a push on a heavy wooden door, and a step out onto a cobble- stoned street, where the sun cannot reach and the shadow inhabits. The street is narrow and winding, cramped between dark grotesque walls of the buildings. Nothing can be predicted - the path can change with each turn or a new street corner. Nothing can be seen, but the moment itself. When the passage suddenly opens, the view is stunning. The towering beauty of the Duomo, the cathedral of Florence, appears. On the other side of the opening of the Cathedral Square - Piazza del Duomo - there is another passage, again narrow, again dark. Then another piazza, this time with monumental statues, and the Palazzo Vecchio with its asymmetrical tower breaking the austerity of the narrow streets. A fresh breeze comes from the river. Crossing the bridge over the river is like opening a new chapter. Then another palace and another time and place — the entire experience of walking through the streets of Florence is akin to flipping pages of a book. The text is a narrow black passage leading to a colorful illustration just beyond the margin. With night falling on the city, the shop signs and gawking people in their twenty-first century clothes slowly disappear. In their place, one imagines Florence as she was six hundred years ago. A bookbinding shop sits neatly at the end of the street, behind a fourteenth century church. A gray-haired Italian man is rebinding old books, and another is working glue on endsheets and dips his brush into a large marble pot. Its years of use are visible in the layer of dried brown glue that coats the sides. The shop sells thick, unprinted volumes for drawing or writing. The books are covered with the bright, decorative papers for which the city is known. The streets of Florence are shrouded in the shadows of walls with closed doors. As people enter or exit through any door, it is tempting to take a peek at what is inside. 2 There are more treasures to be found here where the people live than are displayed in any museum: tiled courtyards and gardens, stairs with centuries-old rails, and windows of stained glass. The city of Florence itself is laid out like a codex. While the exteriors of buildings are an unremarkable dark gray, sometimes gilded with yellow streetlights, there is a vibrant, hidden life within. The same happens with a book, the outside so different from what lies beneath. The old proverb rings true: “don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is especially true if the book is the one first printed in the fifteenth century. THE BIRTH OF THE INITIAL LETTER Today, books are usually valued for their context, design, and illustrations, but often no one values the book for its initial letters. Since the creation of a codex book, a first letter has stressed the beginning of the text, chapter, paragraph, or even a sentence. Almost every medieval manuscript was designed to begin with an enlarged opening initial, sometimes simply in the same ink as the text, frequently in traditional red or blue, or on occasion a multitude of bold colors. A large number of medieval manuscripts had decorated initials on every page throughout the book. Illumination added more charm; illustrators decorated lettering and ornamentation in gold and brilliant colors. While the colored illustrations and designs were based largely on the art of the painter, the embellishment of the initial letters and of the lettering in general was based mainly on the art of the penman, the scribe, or the calligrapher. In the cases of enlarged initial letters and calligraphic ornaments, the illuminators did their part when the copyist had finished and left blanks for the illuminators to fill in1. The relationship between early printed text and that of painted initial letters and decoration is significant because it stays on a threshold of two eras: manuscript era — a time period of singularity and handcrafting — and the era of industrialism and technology.
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