MINIATURIST, French
(active 1470s in Paris)

Guillaume Fichet: Rhetorica

1471
Incunable (Membranacei 53)
Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice

Guillaume Fichet (1433-1480) was a French scholar who cooperated with Johann Heynlin to establish the first printing press in France in 1470. One of the first books that Fichet published was his own Rhetorica, printed in 1471. The copy at the Biblioteca Marciana, printed on parchment, was given to Cardinal Bessarion by Fichet.

The miniature on folio 1, which precedes the text, shows the cardinal seated on the left receiving the work from the author. The scene is framed by spiraling tendrils, floral motifs and birds.




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