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An anthology of masterpieces

The custom whereby professional painters were called upon to decorate certain luxury manuscripts was fairly widespread in Renaissance Bologna.
But the del Perugino Book of Hours was undoubtedly an exceptional case. Its patron decided to have some of the greatest artists of his time work on the same manuscript, entrusting each with an illuminated page.
Thus, the del Perugino Book of Hours can be considered an anthology of the cream of early 15th century Italian art. Or rather, a gallery, a true miniature art gallery. It was as though the patron wished to compete, on a reduced scale, with the extraordinary project of Isabella d’Este, who had commissioned paintings from the greatest Renaissance artists in order to embellish her private “camerino” in the Ducal Palace of Mantua.

 

THE ONLY MINIATURE BY PIETRO PERUGINO
The most famous artist who contributed towards the decorations in the del Perugino Book of Hours was undoubtedly Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino, of whom Raphael was a pupil. That is to say, one of the most successful masters, not only of painting in Umbria and Central Italy, but of Europe as a whole.
Perugino painted the Martyrdom of St Sebastian for the del Perugino Book of Hours, the only miniature signed by him in golden capitals on the grass in the foreground: “Petrus Perusinus Pinxit”.
He had evidently wished to highlight his work in the field of book illustration. Work that had a great deal of influence on the “Lombardic” artists as they were then called, i.e. ones that worked in the area of the Po Valley.
After all, the scene of the martyrdom was created in exquisitely pictorial terms, with the protagonist depicted as a handsome blonde youth hoisted on to a tall trunk and still immune to the wounds from the arrows the archers were shooting.
The two angels on high are also elegant as they flutter in the blue sky and crown the saint with a halo. The gentle landscape shades from the hillside in the foreground into a distant hazy blue.

 

THE OTHER ARTISTS
There is another signed miniature in the del Perugino Book of Hours. It’s a painting depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds by Amico Aspertini, a Bolognese painter who, after having assimilated the gentle style of his teachers, Costa and Francia, expressed his art in a very different way, with a refined palette, sharp and incisive contours, rugged landscapes and by his interest in ancient monuments.
The style displayed by Lorenzo Costa (a refined and elegiacal artist who worked in Bologna from the year 1485) in the miniature depicting King David playing the Psaltery, was very different.
Francesco Raibolini, known as il Francia, also Bolognese, proved, in his St Jerome, that he had abandoned the initial hardness of his Ferrara training in favour of a classicism inspired by the teachings of Perugino.
The lovely Annunciation was the work of Matteo da Milano, a painter but especially an illuminator who did a lot of work in Lombardy and Emilia. He illustrated various manuscripts and in this case, was responsible for the grotesque decoration, rich in classic allusions.

 

L'Unica miniatura firmata del Perugino
L’Unica miniatura firmata del Perugino


La scena del martirio
La scena del martirio


L’Adorazione dei pastori
L’Adorazione dei pastori


David con la cetra
David con la cetra


San Girolamo
San Girolamo


La bellissima Annunciazione
La bellissima Annunciazione


La pagina del Perugino
La pagina del Perugino

L'artista più illustre impegnato nella decorazione del libro d'Ore del Perugino è senza dubbio il Perugino.

la legatura
La legatura

La legatura del libro d'Ore del Perugino è un lavoro coevo di estrema complessità.

La vicenda del codice
Le vicende del codice

Dopo essere appartenuto agli inizi del XVI secolo alla famiglia bolognese del Perugino.