The ''Genealogia dei principi d'Este'' ('Genealogy of the Princes of Este') is an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

bound as a

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

and containing a genealogy of the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

."Genealogia dei principi d'Este: La galleria di ritratti dei signori di Ferrara"
''Il Bulino edizioni d'arte'', retrieved 17 March 2024. The manuscript has no title. The name by which it is now known is conventional.Annarita Battaglioli, ''Pupattole e abiti delle dame estensi: ricerche di Luigi Alberto Gandini'' (Mucchi Editore, 2010), p. 160. The ''Genealogia'' contains 167 or 169 portrait medallions covering the Este family from Alberto Azzo II (d. 1097) to

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was the Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion ...

(b. 1474) plus four empty medallions for the next four children of Ercole I after Isabella down to

Ippolito d'Este Ippolito (I) d'Este (; 20 March 1479 – 3 September 1520) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom. He was a member of the ducal House of Este of Ferrara, and was usually referred to as the Cardinal of Ferrara. T ...

(b. 1479). The manuscript was thus produced in the period 1474–1479. Wives and illegitimate children are well represented.Eleonora Stoppino, ''Genealogies of Fiction: Women Warriors and the Dynastic Imagination in the Orlando Furioso'' (Fordham University Press, 2012), pp. 3–4. Each medallion is in diameter. All of the portraits are busts except

Borso d'Este image:Borso d'Este.jpg, Borso d'Este, attributed to Vicino da Ferrara, Pinacoteca of the Castello Sforzesco, Sforza Castle in Milan, Italy. Borso d'Este (1413 – 20 August 1471) was the first duke of Ferrara and duke of Modena, Modena, which he ...

, who is depicted in full (outside of a medallion) on his own page. The artist of the ''Genealogia'' is unknown. He was a court painter, probably from the school of

Bonifacio Bembo image:Francesco Sforza.jpg, ''Portrait of Francesco Sforza''. ca. 1460. Tempera on panel, 40 x 31 cm. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. Bonifacio Bembo, also called Bonfazio Bembo, or simply just Bembo, was a north Italian Renaissance artist born ...

or Baldassare Estense. The iconography of the portraits is stereotyped and their artistic merit low. On the death of Cardinal

Alessandro d'Este Alessandro d'Este (1568–1624) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. On 3 Apr 1622, he was consecrated bishop by Marco Antonio Gozzadini, Bishop of Recanati with Raffaele Inviziati, Bishop of Cefalonia e Zante, Bishop Emeritus of Cefalonia e Zante, an ...

in 1624, the manuscript passed to the

Theatines The Theatines, officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular (; abbreviated CR), is a Catholic order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa on 14 September 1524. Foundation The order wa ...

and was subsequently dispersed. Part of it ended up back in the

Biblioteca Estense The Biblioteca Estense (), was the family library of the marquises and dukes of the House of Este. The exact date of the library's birth is still under speculation, however it is known for certain that the library was in use during the fourteenth ...

after the extinction of the Theatines in 1782 (now Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, a.L.5.16 = Ital. 720), while another part was later acquired by the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale (now Rome, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, fondo Vitt. Emanuele n. 293, cc. i-8-ii). The Modenese fragment is smaller (32 portraits) than the Roman (135).

Editions

*Ernesto Milano and Mauro Bini, eds. ''Commentario al codice Genealogia dei principi d'Este''. Modena: Il Bulino edizioni d'arte, 1996.

References

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External links

Digitized Estense manuscript
1470s works 15th-century illuminated manuscripts House of Este