Renaissance illumination refers to the production ofilluminated manuscripts inWestern Europe in the late 15th and 16th centuries, influenced by the representational techniques andmotifs ofRenaissance painting. With the invention ofprinting, book painting did not disappear abruptly, but continued in certain luxurymanuscripts, and even in some printed works. Illuminators of the period used techniques ofperspective representation and iconographic themes specific to the period. Restricted to luxury works, this type of production declined in the second half of the 16th century, asengraving became increasingly competitive.
At the beginning of the 15th century, humanist scholars developed a new script. It was inspired by Romanesquemanuscripts of the 11th and 12th centuries, which in turn were inspired by Carolingian texts of the 9th century. The firstmanuscript written in this script is probably one of the works ofCatullus fromPoggio Bracciolini inFlorence about 1400–1402 (Biblioteca Marciana, Lat.XII, 80).[1]
At the same time, newinitial decorations were created, also inspired by the Carolingian manuscripts, and known as thebianchi girari (white vines in English). Composed of whitescrolls decorated with flattened knots,trilobes, andpalmettes, they are usually set against a red, blue, yellow, or green background.
The samemanuscript byPoggio Bracciolini was the first to use this type of script. These designs were later used to decorate the borders of the pages, withputti, portraits, animals, and other increasingly naturalistic plants.
This type of decoration is characteristic ofItalian Renaissance illumination of the 15th century that eventually disappeared fromItaly by the end of the century.[2]
InItaly, as well as elsewhere, illumination ceased to be an innovative art form and followed perceptible developments in other arts such as painting on wood,fresco, andsculpture. As with the latter, it gradually adopted innovations such as the use of perspective and the vanishing point, along with a concern for the realism of human anatomy, especiallynudes. Finally, the influence of architecture can be seen in the creation of largefrontispieces and margin decorations withcolonnades and antique-stylepediments. While some artists, such asLorenzo Monaco, persisted in theInternational Gothic style until the end of their lives, others embraced these innovations both in illumination and in the other art forms they were practicing at the same time. These includePisanello,Fra Angelico,Marco Zoppo,Giovanni di Paolo andGirolamo de'Corradi.[3]
With the development of drawing in the 15th century, quill and ink illuminations gradually began to compete with paintedminiatures. As the use of paper increased, more and moremanuscripts were written and decorated on this material, although it did not completely replaceparchment.[4]
The works produced had to stand out from the printed competition, as production was increasingly confined to a luxury clientele.
Thehumanism of the time led to a renewed demand for texts fromGreco-Roman antiquity. A considerable number ofmanuscripts byVirgil,Suetonius, andCicero were decorated and also the original Greek texts byHomer andAristotle were copied and decorated.[5]
TheBook of Hours, the star book of the lateGothic period, continued to be produced but was printed in standardized forms, mostly for use inRome. Some illuminators were also printers, such as Jean Pichore, who mass-produced printed religious works while continuing to supply an aristocratic clientele with luxuriousmanuscripts. Still, some collectors commissioned exceptionalmanuscripts. TheFarnese Hours of Cardinal Farnese, painted byGiulio Clovio inItaly between 1537 and 1546, and theHeures d'Anne de Montmorency (c. 1550) inFrance are the most recent examples.[4][6]
Many works from this period are also composed entirely of illustrations, although we do not know the precise purpose for which they were most often intended. This is the case ofHistoire d'amour sans paroles, now in theMusée Condé.[4]
The diversity of the artistic centers ofItalian Renaissance illumination reflects its political fragmentation. While inLombardy the tradition ofl'enluminure gothique (Gothic illumination), exemplified by theMaster of the Vitae Imperatorum, endured for a very long time, it was inPadua that the new style first appeared and flourished. Here, from the 1430s onwards, a group of "archaeological"humanists took a particular interest in ancientmanuscripts, drawing inspiration from ancientmotifs to create new decorations, dyeing parchment purple and creatingfrontispieces in the form of classical monuments. ThecalligraphersFelice Feliciano andBartolomeo Sanvito, as well asAndrea Mantegna himself,[7] were among the artists who contributed to the renewal of this art.
Although no extant manuscript is attributed toMantegna himself, he undoubtedly influenced many illuminators in the rest ofItaly. In particular, he influenced the brothers-in-law Leonardo andGiovanni Bellini in Venice, but alsoGirolamo de'Corradi, who worked inMantua andSiena, where he decorated several cathedral choir books (corali), and finally inFlorence. Other centers of production wereFerrara, where the d'Este family commissioned numerous works, including theBorso d'Este Bible, andUrbino, whereFederico III da Montefeltro enriched his library with aBible and a copy of the Divine Comedy.[8]
With the disappearance of the court of theDuke of Burgundy, illuminators had to change not only their clientele but also their style. As inItaly, they focused on a much more naturalistic depiction of figures, landscapes, and decorative borders, with illusionistic flora. They also innovated in new forms of representation, in the form ofdiptychs or triptychs, and in the art ofportraiture, imported frompanel painting, with full-length or half-length representations. Flemish illuminators, based mainly but not exclusively inGhent andBruges, specialized in the creation of personal liturgical works such asbooks of hours or richly illustratedbreviaries for an aristocratic clientele spread throughoutEurope. Orders came from the courts ofSpain,Portugal, andItaly.[9]
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From the first half of the 15th century, French illuminators were sensitive to the influence ofFlemish Primitives, through drawings and models, but also the arrival of Flemish artists, particularly inParis, such as André d'Ypres. This influence was marked by a search for greater realism, both in the use of perspective in landscapes and in the depiction of figures. It was not until the second half of the century that the influence of theItalian Renaissance was felt in the kingdom. At first, this influence was very occasional, with a few individuals who had the opportunity to travel toItaly, such asJean Fouquet, who later settled inTours, orBarthélemy d'Eyck at the court ofRené d'Anjou. Other innovative painters settled inProvence, such asEnguerrand Quarton, who worked withRené d'Anjou's master. The Italian influence became more widespread with the next generation:Jean Bourdichon andJean Poyet inTours,Jean Perréal inLyon, andJean Hey at the Bourbon court. These painters, who were illuminators as well as easel painters, all applied the innovations ofpanel painting tominiatures: on a full page, they depicted half-length figures and architectural elements inspired by antiquity. They were also inspired by theGhent–Bruges school and adopted its floral decorations.[10]
