Facsimiles distributed by Panini

So as to provide an even fuller and richer service, Franco Cosimo Panini Editore has selected the best works from other Italian art publishers and has devoted a special catalogue to them. Every book collector will want to own the outstanding editions of Salerno Editrice.

Grimani Breviary:

Grimani apertopiatto_0001

Such a magnificent codex could not possibly be omitted from the Panini list. This is the superb Grimani Breviary, one of the principal treasures of the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, reproduced by the publisher Salerno Editrice in only 750 numbered copies. Created around the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth, the Grimani Breviary is one of the most famous Flemish codices of the European Renaissance, and may be regarded as a genuine unicum ― unique of its kind ― among the luxury book production of its time. It is not known who commissioned it, but it was owned by Margaret of Austria, and around 1520 it was purchased for no less than 500 golden ducats by Cardinal Domenico Grimani, who bequeathed it to the Most Serene Republic of Venice, on the condition that it be “shown only to persons of the greatest importance and in exceptional circumstances”. Since 1781 the Grimaldi Breviary has been part of the Treasure of San Marco. The codex has 835 leaves (= 1670 pages), and is richly bound in crimson velvet decorated with finely chased cornices enclosing cartouches and medallions portraying the Doge Antonio Grimani and Cardinal Domenico, all in gilded bronze. What is extraordinary about this illuminated codex is not only the number and quality of full-page miniatures (120), but the extremely varied subject matter, alternating religious and secular themes, and with rich decoration on every page. The lettering, often introduced with an illuminated capital, is clear and elegant, and is generally enriched with decorative motifs. The manuscript is characterised by extensive, though sober and delicate, use of gold.

For further information, consult the detailed notes on this work at the Salerno Edritrice website

 

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