GRASSI, Giovannino de'
(b. ca. 1350, Milano, d. 1398, Milano)

Model Book

1390s
Manuscript (Ms. VII. 14), 260 x 185 mm
Biblioteca Civica, Bergamo

The coloured pen and ink drawing depicts the Gothic letters h to l and p to r. The q with two horsemen was later copied again in the engraved alphabet of the German artist Master E.S., in the 1460s, suggesting the long popularity of these inventive designs.

Hairy wildmen, a popular theme in secular art, make up the letter k, fighting knights create a q, and r is an amazing agglomeration of animals and even insects! It is significant that the animal and the human do not commingle. Their bodies, although fantastically and acrobatically intertwined, are clearly separate. This keeps these delicate drawings within the realm of the natural and in line with courtly decorum.