You are all cordially invited to the upcoming exhibit of a selection of manuscripts and early printed books from the 15th to the 17th centuries that were illustrated with illuminations and woodcuts. The display will open in the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room (Hatcher Library North) on September 6, 2023.
Valerius Maximus (1st c. AD). Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX. Italy. 15th c. Parchment,126 fols. Fol. 5r
Throughout the European Renaissance (1300-1700), many book illustrations were exclusively ornamental, while others focused on enhancing the meaning of the text. However, as the pages on display attest, all these illustrations share a common ground: they reveal the aesthetic and intellectual fashions first proposed by Italian artists of the 1400s, who were firmly committed to recovering the past of classical antiquity.
A lecture based on the exhibit will take place in the Hatcher Gallery Event Space on September 13, 2023 (4-5 p.m.). Light refreshments will be served.
Full-page illumination from Carta Executoria de hidalguia de sangre a pedimento de Don Juan de Mansilla como curador de Doña Francisca de Mansilla, hija de Baltasar de Mansilla, vecinos de la villa de Aranda de Duero. Valladolid, 1636 Parchment, 93 fols. Fol. 2r
Full-page woodcut depicting the procession of Priapus, the Greek god of animal and vegetable fertility. Hypnerotomachie, ou Discours du songe de Poliphile Ed: Jean Martin Paris: Jean le Blanc for Jacques Kerver, 1561 Fol. 69r. Loan courtesy of William P. Heidrich