author Colonna, Francesco Attributed 1433/34-1527 Italian
Creator
Materials:
paper
WorkMaterialDescript ion
paper
Materials
Techniques:
woodcut (process)
WorkTechniqueDescrip tion
woodcut (process)
Techniques
Measurements:
33.8 x 22.2 cm
WorkMeasurementValue Text
33.8 x 22.2 cm
Measurements
Repository:
New York, NY, USA, Private Collection, New York
WorkRepositoryName
New York, NY, USA, Private Collection, New York
Repository
Category:
Villas
WorkCategory
Villas
Category
Work Type:
Books
WorkTypeDescription
Books
Work Type
Subjects:
Romances; Pleasure gardens; Dreams; Love; Vertumnus and Pomona; Spring (allegorical figure); Mythology; Abundance; Cornucopias; Nymphs; Harvest festivals; Dionysus (Greek deity)
ReproSubjectDescript ion
Romances; Pleasure gardens; Dreams; Love; Vertumnus and Pomona; Spring (allegorical figure); Mythology; Abundance; Cornucopias; Nymphs; Harvest festivals; Dionysus (Greek deity)
Subjects
Work Notes:
Collation: a6 A-Bb6 Cc8 = 164 ff., complete. With engraved woodcut title-page and 181 woodcuts illustrating the text, of which 13 are full-page, several crible initials in preliminary text, large 9-line floriated arabesque initials forming an acrostic throughout, Kerver's unicorn device (Renouard 515) on verso of final leaf. Folio, 338 x 222 mm, bound in nineteenth-century calf, marbled endpapers.
A superb French Edition of the most famous illustrated book of the Renaissance. A large number of these magnificent illustrations are dedicated to gardens. The designer of the original 1499 Aldus woodcuts remains unidentified although speculation has included artists such as Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Nor has the author of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili been identified with certainty. It was probably written by Francesco Colonna, a Dominican from Treviso, in Latin about 1445. Its two main themes are the allegorical dream-journey of Poliphilus in search of his love Polia, and the praise of Antique art and culture.
WorkNotes
Collation: a6 A-Bb6 Cc8 = 164 ff., complete. With engraved woodcut title-page and 181 woodcuts illustrating the text, of which 13 are full-page, several crible initials in preliminary text, large 9-line floriated arabesque initials forming an acrostic throughout, Kerver's unicorn device (Renouard 515) on verso of final leaf. Folio, 338 x 222 mm, bound in nineteenth-century calf, marbled endpapers.
A superb French Edition of the most famous illustrated book of the Renaissance. A large number of these magnificent illustrations are dedicated to gardens. The designer of the original 1499 Aldus woodcuts remains unidentified although speculation has included artists such as Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Nor has the author of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili been identified with certainty. It was probably written by Francesco Colonna, a Dominican from Treviso, in Latin about 1445. Its two main themes are the allegorical dream-journey of Poliphilus in search of his love Polia, and the praise of Antique art and culture.
Work Notes
Image Notes:
"On the next side I saw a marvellous carving of a maiden with a virginal face but displaying the majesty of a lady, which did great honour to the sculptor. She was crowned with ears of wheat, and her hair hung down elegantly over her nymphal garments. In her right hand she held a cornucopia full of ripe grain, and in the other three stalks with wheat-ears; and a tied sheaf lay at her feet, with this incription: 'Sacred to Yellow Harvest.' On the third side was a divine image made with remarkable skill and artistry, of a nude infant crowned with clusters of grapes, laughing lasciviously. He held in his left hand a bunch of fruiting vines, and in the other a cornucopia full of grapes, their leaves and tendrils spilling out of its mouth. At his feet there lay a shaggy goat, and the inscription was thus: 'Sacred to Autumn Vintage.'
ReproNotes
"On the next side I saw a marvellous carving of a maiden with a virginal face but displaying the majesty of a lady, which did great honour to the sculptor. She was crowned with ears of wheat, and her hair hung down elegantly over her nymphal garments. In her right hand she held a cornucopia full of ripe grain, and in the other three stalks with wheat-ears; and a tied sheaf lay at her feet, with this incription: 'Sacred to Yellow Harvest.' On the third side was a divine image made with remarkable skill and artistry, of a nude infant crowned with clusters of grapes, laughing lasciviously. He held in his left hand a bunch of fruiting vines, and in the other a cornucopia full of grapes, their leaves and tendrils spilling out of its mouth. At his feet there lay a shaggy goat, and the inscription was thus: 'Sacred to Autumn Vintage.'
Image Notes
Rights Type:
fair use
ReproRightsDetails
fair use
Rights Type
Hypnerotomachie, ou Discours du Songe de Poliphile
