Il «Breviario [...] in carte bone littera modernache fo principiato per in sinoal tempo del duca Borso»:un nuovo codice di Martino da Modena

• Published in: Bibliofilia Vol. 123; no. 1; p. 7
• Main Authors: Lollini, Fabrizio, Veneziale, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Italian
• Published: Florence Casa Editrice Leo S. Olschki 01.01.2021
• Subjects: da Modena, Martino
• ISSN: 0006-0941; 2035-6110

The first section of the article presents an unpublished manuscript breviary (University of Liège, Bibliothèque, MS W. 10) and describes its codicological and textual features. Some elements of the text, and a change in a coat of arms, clearly demonstrate its geographical origin and date: Ferrara between the dukedoms of Borso (d. 1471) and Ercole d'Este, and a possible production in the late 1460s, with later additions. These circumstances are confirmed by documents from the Este court, which lead to the identification of the copyist as the well-known Andrea delle Vieze. The second section focuses on the illuminations in the manuscript, a very fine work by one of the most celebrated artists of the officina ferrarese, Martino da Modena. The period proposed for the production of the Liège volume finds a perfect match with Martino's first period of activity, between the seventh and eighth decades of the 15th century. This new work by him is an important contribution to our knowledge of this artist, who would go on to work in Venice, Bologna, Ferrara, as well as in his native town.