Medieval History
Couple of weeks ago I wrote about new research on the Bibliotheca Corviniana, and mentioned a few digitized manuscripts not listed on the Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis website.
Now I would like to call attention to another wonderful resource, the digitized manuscripts at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. You can read an overall description of the manuscript collection of the library here, while the following description of the digitization comes from the website of the project:
"The project foresees the complete digitization of 3,900 manuscripts belonging to the Plutei collection and of the 18th century catalogues which describe them. On conservation grounds it will be possible that a limited number of manuscripts will not not be digitized. The project is scheduled to finish by December 2010."
The library holds over 30 codices which were originally ordered by King Matthias. Many of these manuscripts were still unfinished at the time when news of the king's death reached Florence (1490). The volumes have been incorporated into the Medici collections. It seems that most of them were only fully decorated and finished for Pope Leo X, at around 1513. Most of these volumes were illustrated by Attavante degli Attavanti. These manuscripts thus never made it to the library at Buda - but colophons, dedicatory inscriptions and other data indicate that they were originally copied for Matthias. There are also a few other Corvinian manuscripts in the library, which got there at various points. Unfortunately the most important Corvinian manuscript in Florence, the three-volume Bible of King Matthias (Plut.15. 15-17), has not been digitized. Illuminated by the brothers Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni and by Attavante, the unfinished volumes entered the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici around 1490, just like the Marsilio Ficino volume illustrated below.
You can browse these beautiful manuscripts from the Corvinian library in the website of the Laurenziana library (the database requires Java to run). I am listing the digitized manuscripts which have been identified as intended for the Bibliotheca Corviniana (the list is based on the one compiled by the Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis project):
Plut.12.09; Plut.12.10; Plut.13.06; Plut.14.05; Plut.14.06; Plut.14.22; Plut.16.04; Plut.16.18; Plut.16.32; Plut.17.30; Plut.18.03-05; Plut.19.01; Plut.19.06; Plut.20.15; Plut.21.14; Plut.21.18; Plut.23.04; Plut.24.04; Plut.26.08; Plut 35.37; Plut.51.13; Plut.65.36; Plut.67.22; Plut.68.19; Plut.73.04; Plut.73.39
(Enter the call numbers in the search form as given in this list, otherwise your search might not work.)
You can read about Corvinian manuscripts in Florence in the following two publications:
Ernesto Milano, "I codici corviniani conservati nelle Biblioteche italiane," in: Nel segno del corvo: libri e miniature della biblioteca di Mattia Corvino re d'Ungheria (1443-1490). Modena : Il Bulino, 2002, 65-93.
(the link points to PDF version of whole book)
Happy browsing!
- Corvinian Manuscripts Digitised
The very exciting digitisation process at the Vatican Library is going ahead at full speed, and the Library has made available online two manuscripts from the famous Bibliotheca Corviniana, the library of King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490). The manuscripts...
- Corvinian Manuscripts On View In Budapest
The Polybios-Corvina at the exhibition. Photo: National Széchényi Library Four precious manuscripts from the famed library of King Matthias Corvinus, the Bibliotheca Corviniana are on view for a short time at the National Széchényi Library in...
- Renaissance Art In Hungary: An Exhibition In Florence
Andrea del Verrocchio: Alexander the Great Washington, National Gallery of ArtThe exhibition Matthias Corvinus and Florence - Art and Humanism at the Court of the King of Hungary is now on view at the Museo di San Marco in Florence (10 October 2013 -...
- Medieval Manuscripts At The National Library
A page from the 14th century Bible of 'Weceslaus dictus Ganoys' National Széchényi Library The National Széchényi Library preserves Hungary's largest repository of medieval manuscripts, and it is also an important research center...
- New Research On The Bibliotheca Corviniana (updated)
The Bibliotheca Corviniana, the library put together by King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) was one of the largest libraries of medieval Europe. A humanist library, comprised largely of the works of classical authors, as well as modern historical and scientific...
Medieval History
Corvinian manuscripts at the Laurenziana
Couple of weeks ago I wrote about new research on the Bibliotheca Corviniana, and mentioned a few digitized manuscripts not listed on the Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis website.
Now I would like to call attention to another wonderful resource, the digitized manuscripts at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. You can read an overall description of the manuscript collection of the library here, while the following description of the digitization comes from the website of the project:
"The project foresees the complete digitization of 3,900 manuscripts belonging to the Plutei collection and of the 18th century catalogues which describe them. On conservation grounds it will be possible that a limited number of manuscripts will not not be digitized. The project is scheduled to finish by December 2010."
The library holds over 30 codices which were originally ordered by King Matthias. Many of these manuscripts were still unfinished at the time when news of the king's death reached Florence (1490). The volumes have been incorporated into the Medici collections. It seems that most of them were only fully decorated and finished for Pope Leo X, at around 1513. Most of these volumes were illustrated by Attavante degli Attavanti. These manuscripts thus never made it to the library at Buda - but colophons, dedicatory inscriptions and other data indicate that they were originally copied for Matthias. There are also a few other Corvinian manuscripts in the library, which got there at various points. Unfortunately the most important Corvinian manuscript in Florence, the three-volume Bible of King Matthias (Plut.15. 15-17), has not been digitized. Illuminated by the brothers Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni and by Attavante, the unfinished volumes entered the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici around 1490, just like the Marsilio Ficino volume illustrated below.
 |
| Plut.73.39, M. Ficino: De triplici vita, fol. 80r. Dedicated to Matthias, with his emblems in the margins The coat of arms of Matthias painted over with the Medici coat of arms. Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana |
You can browse these beautiful manuscripts from the Corvinian library in the website of the Laurenziana library (the database requires Java to run). I am listing the digitized manuscripts which have been identified as intended for the Bibliotheca Corviniana (the list is based on the one compiled by the Bibliotheca Corviniana Digitalis project):
Plut.12.09; Plut.12.10; Plut.13.06; Plut.14.05; Plut.14.06; Plut.14.22; Plut.16.04; Plut.16.18; Plut.16.32; Plut.17.30; Plut.18.03-05; Plut.19.01; Plut.19.06; Plut.20.15; Plut.21.14; Plut.21.18; Plut.23.04; Plut.24.04; Plut.26.08; Plut 35.37; Plut.51.13; Plut.65.36; Plut.67.22; Plut.68.19; Plut.73.04; Plut.73.39
(Enter the call numbers in the search form as given in this list, otherwise your search might not work.)
You can read about Corvinian manuscripts in Florence in the following two publications:
Angela Dillon Bussi, "Ancora sulla Biblioteca Corviniana e Firenze," in: Uralkodók és Corvinák - Potentates and Corvinas, Anniversary exhibition of the National Széchényi Library, 2002, Budapest, 2002; published first in: Primo incontro italo-ungherese di bibliotecari (Budapest, 9-10 novembre 2000), Budapest, Istituto italiano di cultura, 2001. The Hungarian version of the study is available online.
Ernesto Milano, "I codici corviniani conservati nelle Biblioteche italiane," in: Nel segno del corvo: libri e miniature della biblioteca di Mattia Corvino re d'Ungheria (1443-1490). Modena : Il Bulino, 2002, 65-93.
(the link points to PDF version of whole book)
Happy browsing!
- Corvinian Manuscripts Digitised
The very exciting digitisation process at the Vatican Library is going ahead at full speed, and the Library has made available online two manuscripts from the famous Bibliotheca Corviniana, the library of King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490). The manuscripts...
- Corvinian Manuscripts On View In Budapest
The Polybios-Corvina at the exhibition. Photo: National Széchényi Library Four precious manuscripts from the famed library of King Matthias Corvinus, the Bibliotheca Corviniana are on view for a short time at the National Széchényi Library in...
- Renaissance Art In Hungary: An Exhibition In Florence
Andrea del Verrocchio: Alexander the Great Washington, National Gallery of ArtThe exhibition Matthias Corvinus and Florence - Art and Humanism at the Court of the King of Hungary is now on view at the Museo di San Marco in Florence (10 October 2013 -...
- Medieval Manuscripts At The National Library
A page from the 14th century Bible of 'Weceslaus dictus Ganoys' National Széchényi Library The National Széchényi Library preserves Hungary's largest repository of medieval manuscripts, and it is also an important research center...
- New Research On The Bibliotheca Corviniana (updated)
The Bibliotheca Corviniana, the library put together by King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) was one of the largest libraries of medieval Europe. A humanist library, comprised largely of the works of classical authors, as well as modern historical and scientific...