MINIATURIST, Italian
(active 1470 in Venice)

Historiae Romanae Decades by Livy

1470
Incunable (PML 266)
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York

In the fifteenth century a revolution was occurring in the world of books: the invention of printing using movable characters. A German, Johann of Speier (in Italian Giovanni da Spira), introduced printing into Venice in 1469; in a short time Venice had taken possession of it, to the point of becoming the principal Italian typographical centre and one of the most important in Europe. At first the new art did not deprive illuminators of work; the printed book maintained the structure and characteristics of the manuscript, and more cultured and ostentatious purchasers wanted the copies placed in their bookshelves to be as luxuriously ornamented as the codices.

In the Historiae Romanae Decades (History of Rome), e.g., the figures were painted by Franco de' Russi, the ornamental motifs are woodcuts, and the text is printed. This book was published by Vendelino da Spira (the brother of Giovanni) in Venice in 1470.




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