The Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations. The Lombard School

Leo S. Olschki, Firenze, first edition, 1990. Cloth, mounted cover illustration, 4to, 28 cm,. xii, 179, [1] pp, 28 colour plates, 17 black-and-white ills. With a Preface by Bernard Berenson. From the introduction: "The Lombard illuminations in the Wildenstein Foundation in New York are part of a large and very beautiful group of Italian illuminations collected by the late Mr. Georges Wildenstein, who had a rare taste for quality. The plates in this volume reveal the beauty of the works, while the text explains their importance in the development of Lombard book-illumination. The Italian school of book-illumination produced its masterpieces from the thirteenth century through the sixteenth. Among the more important schools in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are those of Lombardy, Tuscany (Florence and Siena), Emilia (Bologna and Ferrara) and the Veneto. .. The Lombard illuminations are particularly well represented in the Wildenstein Collection, and several works can be attributed to the most famous artists of that school. ..The Lombard illuminations have been prefaced in this volume by a brief historical sketch of their development, indicating their chief characteristics, the main trends and the most active exponents. The discussion concerns each miniature, or group of miniatures by the same artist, and is either preceded by a short biographical sketch of the artist, or by a note regarding the artistic personality. In several cases it has been possible to identify artists for whom new names are proposed, or to bring others into closer focus. A full discussion of each item in the Wildenstein Collection includes description of its subject, colors, iconography, dating, documentation, as well as the modem history of the work. In some cases I have discovered the authentic manuscripts from which the Wildenstein illuminations were taken and I have traced them to particular workshops. The discussion of each artist represented in the Wildenstein Collection is followed by a list of his works and a complete bibliography." Contents include: Preface; Introduction; Signs of Abbreviation; Historical Development; Fifteenth Century: Master of the Vitae Imperatorum; Master of the Franciscan Breviary; Master of the Budapest Antiphonary; Luchino di Giovanni Belbello da Pavia; Girolamo di Giovanni Dei Corradi da Cremona; School of Cristoforo de' Predis: Bartolomeo de' Ricossi da Gallarate; School of Giovanni Pietro Birago : Master of the Book of Hours of Charles VIII. Sixteenth Century: Master of the Monogram 'B.F.' (Francesco Binasco?); Thadeo de Scoriatis Milanese? Alessandro Pampurino? Johannes? Lombard Artist; Decorated Letters, Fifteenth Century: Lombard about 1465 (Venturino Mercati?); Index of Artists; Index of Manuscripts, Incunabuli, Illuminations; Iconographical and Subject Index; Bibliography. Very Good.