{"product_id":"fool-initial-d-from-illuminated-choirbook-vellum-t3kphvae","title":"A Fool, initial 'D', from an illuminated choirbook on vellum.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis is an excellent example of the work of Antonio Maria da Villafora (documented in Padua 1469-1511), showing his detailed technique and strong characterisation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough originating in Villafora in Polesina, Antonio Maria’s documented career was entirely in Padua. He was active over a long period and illuminated manuscripts and incunables for individual patrons and monasteries in and around the city. Some of his most significant works were commissions for Pietro Barozzi, Bishop of Padua for whom he worked from 1487 to 1506. In his later years he almost exclusively worked for the Benedictine congregation of San Giustina in Pada (Canova 1978, Bagatin 2001, Bollati 1994, p.69–73) for whom he illuminated a number of psalters — now held at Padua, Biblioteca Civica, ms.811, 812. He has been described as ‘the most important personality of the Paduan Renaissance in the field of illumination for the output, continuity and quality of his contributions’ (L.P. Gnaccolini*, Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani*, 2004, pp.36-9).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present initial, with the pronounced features such as slightly upturned noses as exemplified by our fool, the attentive modelling and careful and complex build-up of brushstrokes, shows affinities with his work in the last decades of the 15th century including incunables for Barozzi (items 155-8 in \u003cem\u003eLa Miniatura a Padova dal medioevo al settecento,\u003c\/em\u003e eds G.B. Baldisssin, G. Mariani Canova, F. Toniolo, exh. cat. 1999 pp.382-6) and, for example, the initial with Christ Blessing St Peter in the British Library (Add. 71119E).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA figure of a fool was the traditional introductory illustration for Psalm 52, which opens \u003cem\u003eDixit insipiens in corde suo\u003c\/em\u003e (‘The fool said in his heart’). Here he is shown with a cap of feathers and a stick, the attributes of Giotto’s personification of the Vice of Foolishness in the Scrovegni chapel in Padua; these are also the attributes carried by the ragged Fool in northern Italian sets of Tarot cards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e: Capt. John Henry Ball (d.1938): his circular red stamp on reverse. Acquired probably in the 1920s and placed on deposit with his substantial collection of antiquities, arms and armour, and medieval items, at the Hertfordshire Museum, St Albans Bequeathed to his son, John Brayfield Ball (d.1940); bought by Capt. Ball’s executor, Sydney Edward Lucas (d.1970), by whom withdrawn from the Museum and sold at: Christie’s, London, May 16, 1961, probably part of lot 146 (the figure identified as Lazarus) bought by Rogers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKarl and Elizabeth Katz, their sale at Christie’s 12th Dec 2017, lot 27.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the Ball Collection see P. Kidd, ‘Medieval Manuscripts from the collection of Captain Jack Ball’, \u003cem\u003eBeyond Words: New Research on Manuscripts in Boston Collections\u003c\/em\u003e 2016.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Maggs Bros.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48643430744221,"sku":"263679","price":7500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/store.maggs.com\/products\/fool-initial-d-from-illuminated-choirbook-vellum-t3kphvae","provider":"Maggs Bros.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}