The De situ orbis from Albi is an illuminated manuscript of Strabo's Geography, of Italian provenance, dated 1459 and today housed in the (Ms. 77). It is an example of Renaissance illumination.
This text by Strabo was translated from Ancient Greek into Latin by Guarino of Verona on the orders of Venetian general Jacopo Antonio Marcello and presented as a diplomatic gift to René of Anjou on September 13, 1459. It constitutes part of a collection of books sent by the Italian military officer to the French prince, both bibliophiles and enthusiasts of ancient culture. The esteemed manuscript was presumably composed in Padua in a humanist style, embellished with exceptional faceted initials inspired by antiquity. The manuscript is particularly noteworthy for its two miniatures, which are presented as small paintings. These depict the translator, the patron, and the recipient of the work. The miniatures have been attributed to various artists by art historians, but are currently considered to be the work of Giovanni Bellini. They played a role in disseminating the style of the Italian Renaissance in France, particularly in the illuminated manuscripts of King René. The manuscript is thought to have reached Albi at the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the following century and is now part of the collections of the library of Albi Cathedral.
History of the manuscript
Translation and production
Guarino of Verona (1370–1460), an Italian humanist residing in Ferrara, was commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to translate the Geography of the ancient Greek author Strabo into Latin. This is referenced in the manuscript's dedication. The Pope had also enlisted another translator, the Roman Gregory Tifernas, to work on the second part. However, the Pope's death in 1455 ended their collaboration. Jacopo Antonio Marcello (1399–1464), a Venetian military officer and senator, then commissioned Guarino alone to complete the translation. Guarino translated the entire work, including the part previously assigned to Tifernate. Marcello received the finished manuscript on July 13, 1458.Bodleian Library, Oxford, Ms.Canon.Class.lat.301.
Marcello promptly had two copies produced, one of which, a highly esteemed exemplar, became the Albi manuscript between 1458 and 1459.The other is kept at the Laurentian Library, Florence, XXX.7. Upon completion and illumination of the copy, it was presented to René of Anjou, King of Naples, as evidenced by the dedication dated September 13, 1459.
A Venetian gift to René of Anjou
The Albi manuscript is part of a collection of rare books that were exchanged between the Venetian general and the French prince. The Republic of Venice, represented by the general, had temporarily endorsed René of Anjou's claim to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples. René engaged in conflict with Alfonso V of Aragon intending to conquer the Neapolitan kingdom. This was undertaken after Queen Joan II of Naples, who had no children, had designated both princes as her heirs. René engaged in combat with the King of Aragon in Italy between 1438 and 1442 but was ultimately unsuccessful. In recognition of his support, Marcello was inducted into the Order of the Crescent, established by René in 1448, along with Francesco Sforza, who had also assisted the French prince. During this period, the Venetian general sent books to René of Anjou and his wife, Isabelle of Lorraine. This correspondence fostered a genuine intellectual friendship, rooted in a shared passion for books and ancient authors. The collection comprised approximately ten books, each identified by its dedication at the beginning of the manuscript.
In a notable shift of alliances, the Republic of Venice eventually formed an alliance with Alfonso V of Aragon, René's rival and the victor in Naples, against the Sforza family, who had assumed control of Milan in 1450. Marcello sought to maintain the alliance with the French and to preserve cordial relations with René of Anjou. In 1453, he dispatched René a Martyrdom of Saint Maurice and his Comrades, the patron saint of the Order of the Crescent, some of whose miniatures are also attributed to Giovanni Bellini or his father Jacopo.Library of the Arsenal, Ms.940. Subsequently, upon assuming the governorship of Padua, the Venetian general dispatched another illuminated work to the Angevin prince on March 1, 1457. This comprised a Latin translation of Claudius Ptolemy's Geography (or Cosmography),National library of France, Lat.17542. accompanied by a world map, a sphere, and descriptions and maps of the Holy Land. This work was produced by a scribe and illuminator from Padua. De situ orbis appears to be the final manuscript in this series of diplomatic exchanges, which concluded with the death of Marcello's son and his relocation to Udine in 1461.
Fate
The subsequent history of the manuscript following its passage through the hands of René of Anjou and after his demise is not definitively known. The precise manner by which it came to be in Albi remains uncertain. According to tradition, the work reached the town during the episcopate of Louis d'Amboise, which is thought to have spanned the period between 1474 and 1503. D'Amboise served as an advisor to the French kings and bequeathed his extensive library to the Albi Cathedral. Nevertheless, the manuscript also bears the hallmarks of the previous bishop of the city, Jean Jouffroy, who served between 1462 and 1473. Jouffroy was a close associate of King René and undertook diplomatic missions on his behalf in Italy. Jouffroy was a bibliophile known to have pillaged the libraries of the abbeys he oversaw as a commendatory abbot, extracting manuscripts containing rare and ancient texts. Additionally, he was connected to Guarino of Verona. They both took part in the Council of Ferrara in 1438, and Jouffroy was in Italy when Guarino completed the translation of Strabo in 1458. Furthermore, the Italian humanist consented to provide tutoring to the French prelate's nephew. Additionally, Jouffroy possessed a Latin translation of the Vita Xenophontis, completed by Guarino's son. In his study of the manuscripts, art historian François Avril determined that a group belonging to René of Anjou was preserved for a time in the chapter library of Albi Cathedral before being dispersed into foreign collections. Following the French Revolution, the cathedral's manuscripts entered the collections of the city's public library, first at the and later at the current Pierre Amalric Library.
The book's binding dates from the 1900s, but it originally had a 15th-century binding until that time. This binding was decorated with hot gilding and was one of the oldest known in Europe. However, it was severely damaged, and its spine was restored in the 18th century. Following the replacement of the binding, the original cover was preserved separately; however, it was subsequently lost during a loan for study to the Library of the Arsenal in Paris in the 1960s. Its current state is only known through a record made by a binder in the early 20th century.
Description
Composition and text The manuscript contains 389 folios. The Latin text includes:
The first dedicatory epistle (folios 1 - 2 recto), written by Jacopo Antonio Marcello and addressed to René of Anjou, dated September 13, 1459; The second epistle (f.2r - 3r), written by Guarino of Verona and addressed to Pope Nicholas V, the original patron of the text; The third epistle (f.4 verso - 6v), also written by Guarino and addressed to the second patron, Marcello; The text of the seventeen books of Strabo's De situ orbis (f.7v - 389r), translated into Latin by Guarino.
Guarino of Verona's autograph manuscript, with his annotations, is preserved at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and this allows the text of the Albi manuscript to be reconstructed. In contrast with Guarino's assertion in the dedication, the text was not translated from the ancient Greek manuscript held in the collections of the Greek Cardinal Ruthenus.Vatican Library, Vat.Gr.174. Indeed, books I to X were translated from an alternative Greek manuscript belonging to Cyriacus of Ancona.The first part is now preserved at Eton College, Ms.141. Books XI to XVII were translated from a manuscript that is currently located in Moscow.State Historical Museum, Moscow, Gr.204. Both manuscripts contain annotations in Guarino's hand. The Ruthenus manuscript was only sent to him by the Pope's librarian in September 1453, after Guarino had already begun his work. The Ruthenus manuscript likely served as a revision tool for his translation. The Oxford manuscript also contains the second and third epistles, which were not written by the translator but were corrected by him.
The preliminary epistles underscore the diplomatic function of the work, offering a platform to laud the recipient. In Guarino's letter to Nicholas V, the author draws a parallel between the Pope and Christ resurrecting Lazarus, as evidenced by the Pope's order for translating Strabo's text, which was to be rediscovered for the Christian West. Furthermore, in the same letter, Guarino compares Strabo's text and the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible commissioned by the Egyptian King Ptolemy II around 270 BC. In his letter to Marcello, Guarino compares him and Hercules, who is depicted holding up the globe in place of Atlas. This is a reference to the Venetian general's role in supporting the translation of Strabo's Geography, which was undertaken at the behest of the Pope. Ultimately, in Marcello's missive to René of Anjou, the Venetian enumerates the alternative gifts he could have sent instead of the book: birds, horses, dogs, or precious vases. However, in his estimation, the work of a genius was far more commensurate with the rank of René.
Script
The Albi manuscript is written in a humanist style. It seems probable that the individual responsible for the manuscript's transcription was active between Padua and Venice between 1460 and 1470. His handwriting has been identified in some manuscripts, including one containing consolatory texts dedicated to Marcello in 1461, on the occasion of his son's death;Glasgow University Library, Ms.Hunter 201. a manuscript of Tacuinum sanitatis;, Ms.3054. and other works intended for the humanists and prelates John Vitéz and Hermolao Barbaro. The titles are inscribed in polychrome, reminiscent of the handwriting of Bartolomeo Sanvito, a renowned Paduan humanist scribe active at the papal court in the latter third of the fifteenth century. Sanvito possibly was influenced or trained by the scribe of the present manuscript.
Initials As in the manuscripts of Sanvito, the Strabo manuscript contains 23 faceted initials, also known as prismatic initials. The design of these initials is inspired by Roman capitals and is intended to create the effect of relief. They are placed on a colored background adorned with scrollwork and imitation nails, which give the impression that they are fastened to the page. This type of initial is also present in the Cosmography manuscript by Ptolemy, which was previously presented to René of Anjou in 1457. American art historian Millard Meiss put forth the hypothesis that this may be an early work by Andrea Mantegna, who was deeply interested in ancient epigraphy at the time, to the extent that this type of initial was affectionately dubbed litterae mantiniane. Nevertheless, this hypothesis has not been endorsed by other historians. This lettering style was already used in other works from Padua and subsequently disseminated throughout Italy during the Renaissance. This is evidenced by a manuscript by Sanvito, the Vitae Malchi et Pauli by Saint Jerome.Biblioteca Marciana, Venice, Ms.Lat.II.39.
Miniatures
Description