A White Line Border with Two Cartouches: "A Satyr Sacrificing a Ram," and "The Choice of Hercules"

1497/1498

attributed to Benedetto Bordon

Associated Names
Benedetto Bordon

Artist, Italian, 1450 - 1530

This is a drawing of an ornately decorated page from an old manuscript. The description details a highly intricate and decorative border featuring a combination of floral and mythical motifs surrounding the text. The text itself is in Latin, and the font style is reminiscent of medieval script. The borders on either side of the page showcase elaborate patterns with alternating botanical and symbolic designs. At the top center, there is a representation of a heraldic figure or emblem, and at the bottom, a detailed scene depicts figures engaged in a scholarly or ecclesiastical discourse. The overall composition evokes an antique aesthetic, typical of medieval or Renaissance manuscripts.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut page removed from a book

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Accession Number

    2013.75.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Essling 1967, no. 1170

  • Series Title

    from Saint Jerome, _Opera_ (Venice, Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, 1497/1498)


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

W. C. Russell Allen. (R. M. Light, 1960); Arthur Vershbow, Boston; (sale, Christie's New York, 10 April 2013, no. 207); (Ursus Books, Ltd., New York); purchased 2013 by NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1967

  • Essling, Victor Messéna. Les livres à figures vénitiens de la fin du XVe siècle et du commencement du XVIe. Turin, 1967: no. 1170.

Inscriptions

in center of page: Prologus. / INCIPIT EXPOSITIO BEATI HIERONYMI / PRAESBYTERI IN PSALTERIVM. ET PRIMO / PROLOGVS EIVSDEM... ; in lower cartouche: S. C. / P. I; verso :printed text

Wikidata ID

Q77005319

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