The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

Leaf from a Commission: St. Mark Giving the Keys of Venice to Francesco de Priuli

Leaf from a Commission: St. Mark Giving the Keys of Venice to Francesco de Priuli

c. 1523–1524
(Italian)
Italy, Padua and Venice, 16th century
ink, tempera and gold on vellum
Leaf: 23.1 x 15.7 cm (9 1/8 x 6 3/16 in.)
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2011.69
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The coat of arms is supported by mermen, male mermaids, who are human from the waist up and fishlike from the waist down.

Description

The miniature shows the enthroned figure of Saint Mark, patron saint of Venice, presenting the symbolic keys of Venice to the kneeling figure of Francesco de Priuli upon his appointment as Procurator of Saint Mark's. Beneath the miniature are twelve lines of text, the opening of a ducale issued by Doge Andrea Gritti (1523–38) announcing de Priuli's appointment, which was made in the early 1520s. The text begins, Nos Andreas Griti, Dei gratia Dux venetiarum (Our Andrea Gritti, By the Grace of God Duke of the Venetians). The illumination relates closely to the work of Benedetto Bordon, a Paduan-born miniaturist who became prominent in Venice. The decorative borders appear to be edged in thin gilt-bronze bars that give the illusion of fine metalwork. Four oval cartouches are occupied by the Lion of Saint Mark (top), the de Priuli arms (bottom), Saint Anthony the Great (right), and his symbol, a swine (left). The Priuli Arms below are festooned with wreaths and supported by mermen with horns and pink tails. This exquisite leaf exemplifies the changes in script, page layout, border decoration, and binding developed by the Italian humanist culture of the 1400s.
  • [Sotheby's, London, 25 June 1985, lot 30]; [H. Kraus, New York]
  • Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 84, cat. no. 82 archive.org
    Szépe, Helena Katalin. Venice Illuminated: Power and Painting in Renaissance Manuscripts.New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2018. Mentioned: p. 289. 379
    Mikolic, Amanda. A Field Guide to Medieval Monsters. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Reproduced: p. 11
  • Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).
    The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000).
    CMA, 19 December 1999 - 27 February 2000, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, cat. 82, illus. p. 84.
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from a Commission: St. Mark Giving the Keys of Venice to Francesco de Priuli|url=false|author=Benedetto Bordone|year=c. 1523–1524|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.69