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Excerpts from the work

From the essay by Giancarlo Benevolo “The del Perugino of Bologna: the family of lawyer Francesco and the Book of Hours”
“If one is to describe what happened between the Fifteenth century and the first decades of the Sixteenth century in one of the most well-known families in Bolognese history, such as the del Perugino, one cannot fail to dwell on the ambiguous and typical behaviour of the members of noble families on the one hand, or to outline the restless institutional phases of the city on the other. After all, the del Perugino, and obviously those more involved in the clashes, acted in a cunning and ruthless way in that strongly lacerated and hostile society.”

 

From the essay by Massimo Medica “The miniature in Bologna at the time of Giovanni II Bentivoglio”
“To us, the utterly sumptuous embellishments that adorn Bonaparte del Perugino’s famous Book of Hours may appear disproportionate to the role this family played in the political and artistic life of the city where, at least the branch with which we are concerned, it was one of the Bentivoglio’s most valiant supporters. In actual fact, the precious manuscript is one of the loftiest Renaissance works to have been created in Bologna when it comes to book decoration, as testified by the fact that some of the most renowned artists of that time were called upon to contribute towards its ornamentation, two of whom, namely Aspertini and Il Perugino, actually signed their works in an unmistakable way.”

 

From the essay by Peter Kidd “The history of the Yates Thompson MS 29”
“The coat-of-arms of the del Perugino family appears twice in the manuscript (foilios 16r, 74v), but there are various clues that must be set in order and checked before we can establish whether the del Perugino were the first owners of the work and, if this was so, who was the particular member of the family in question. The opening verse of a prayer – ‘Omnipotens sempiterne Deus miserere famulo tuo papa nostro A…’ (folio 124v) – suggests that the book was written during the papacy of Alexander VI (1492-1503). The name of St Petronius, the patron saint of Bologna, in gold in the calendar alongside the date of 4 October (folio 10r), shows that the book was made in that city. This is confirmed by the fact that the University of Bologna possesses documentary evidence attesting to the fact that scribe Pierantonio Sallando was a grammar teacher in 1489 and a lector ad artem scribendi in 1508. Combined with biographical information about the writer and the artists who contributed to the volume, the stylistic analysis indicates that the book was probably written and decorated around the year 1500. Consequently, the first owner of the manuscript was presumably a member of the del Perugino family who lived in Bologna and was of adult age in 1500.”

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.