The Strozzi Petrarch is an illuminated manuscript of the Trionfi ("Triumphs"), a long allegorical poem by Petrarch, preceded by a group of sonnets by Giovanni da Cascia, Caluccio Salutati, Butto da Firenze, and Petrarch. It was created in Florence in the mid-fifteenth century. The scribe, Bese di Giovanni Ardinghelli, signed his work. Its twenty-three miniatures are the work of Apollonio di Giovanni and assistants. Seven portraits accompany the sonnets, and sixteen miniatures illustrate the Triumphs.
Each allegorical figure of the Triumphs—Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time, and Eternity (Divinity)—appears in a chariot drawn by animals, as in an ancient Roman triumphal procession (fols. 19r, 28v, 32v, 35v, 44r, and 47r). Each one defeats the preceding.
A Florentine Master
The manuscript's chief illuminator, Apollonio di Giovanni, is renowned today for his paintings of domestic interior furnishings, especially marriage chests. He was responsible for the underdrawings of the miniatures. Less able assistants applied the color, which has, in places, flaked away, revealing Apollonio's drawings.
One of the best-preserved miniatures shows Chastity dressed in a flowing robe of iridescent shot (two-color) silk. The vanquished figure of Love is pictured bound and kneeling in Chastity's chariot, drawn by a pair of unicorns, symbols of chastity (fol. 28v).
Literary Portraits
The manuscript features a series of portraits among the sonnets, among which are representations of the three early masters of the Italian vernacular (fols. 4v, 6v, and 7v): Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). Also pictured here is the Florentine humanist Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406), the author of one of the manuscript's sonnets (fol. 3v).
The Script of Merchants
The manuscript's scribe, Bese di Giovanni Ardinghelli, wrote the poetic text of the Triumphs in long lines (a single column) in a stylized Mercantesca, the cursive script originally written by merchants. The first letter of each tercet of the poem in terza rima is a majuscule set off into the left margin.
One of a Pair
Apollonio di Giovanni and Bese di Giovanni Ardinghelli collaborated on another manuscript of the Triumphs, the Vatican Petrarch. That manuscript is better preserved, but its program of illumination is less ambitious. It shares, however, the inclusion of portraits of Dante and Petrarch.
From the Library of a Scholar
A coat of arms and inscriptions in the manuscript point to ownership by a member of the Bencivenni family, a certain Matteo di Antonio Guerceti, Giacomo Domenico Ciancialomuli (?), and Cosimo Maliani. The manuscript eventually came into the possession of Carlo di Tommaso Strozzi (1587-1670), a scholar and statesperson.
Leopold II (1747-1792), Grand Duke of Tuscany and future Holy Roman Emperor, purchased Strozzi's library in 1786. He divided the manuscript collection between the Biblioteca Laurenziana and the Biblioteca Magliabechiana, one of the foundation collections of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale.
We have 1 facsimile edition of the manuscript "Strozzi Petrarch": Francesco Petrarca, I Trionfi facsimile edition, published by ArtCodex, 2012
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