Walters Ms. W.479, Panegyricus Leonardo Lauredano

W.479

Panegyricus Leonardo Lauredano

As-written name: Sigismondi Burgi

Known as: Sigusmundus Burgus

This manuscript is a ceremonial copy of a panegyric (a speech or text of praise) in honor of Leonardo Lauredano (1436-1521), Doge of Venice from 1501 until his death in 1521. It was pronounced by Sigusmundus Burgus, a knight and lawyer from the city of Cremona. Folio 2r is elaborately illuminated with a Roman-style inscription of gold letters on blue ground that dates the panegyric to April 21, 1503. That this manuscript is an official, ceremonial document is confirmed by the placement of the Lion of St. Mark, a symbol of the Republic of Venice, in the upper margin above the inscription.

Dated April 21, 1503 CE

Venice, Italy

Book

Historical

Literary -- Prose

The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Parchment

Medium-weight cream-colored parchment

Foliation: i + 13 + i

Modern pencil foliation, upper right corners, rectos; fol. 1 is blank yet foliated

Formula: Collation unable to be confirmed; likely a single quire of 12 with additions

Comments: Fol. 13 hooked onto fol. 1(?)

19.5 cm wide by 27.8 cm high

11.5 cm wide by 19.5 cm high

1. Columns: 1
2. Ruled lines: 26

1. Title: Panegyricus Leonardo Lauredano
2. Author: Sigismondi Burgi
3. Rubric: SIGISMONDI BURGI EQUITIS / ET IURECONSULTI / CREMONEN(SIS) / ORATORIS PANAEGYRICUS / LEONARDO LAUREDANO OPTIMO / HUMANISSIMOQUE PRINCIPI / VENETIIS DICTUS / ANNO A SALUTIFERA DEI / I[N?][ ][ ]RNATIONE / MDIIII.XII KLD. MAII
4. Incipit: Diuturno mentis desiderio
5. Contents: Ceremonial copy of a panegyric in honor of Leonardo Lauredano, Doge of Venice
6. Hand note: Humanist miniscule script; title in Roman capitals
7. Decoration note: Title page (fol. 2r) with heraldic borders; lion of St. Mark with book on a parapet above inscription written with shell gold, flanked on either side by the arms of Lauredano; unidentified heraldry in the left and right margins on purple ground with gold and gray vines; at the bottom margin two confronted tritons holding a shield with heraldry; four-line decorated initial "D" with blue vines; text in black ink

fol. 2r:

1. 
2. Title: Border with Lion of St. Mark and heraldry of Leonardo Lauredano; decorated initial "D"
3. Form: Illuminated border; decorated initial "D," 4 lines
4. Text: Opening page of the panegyric to Leonardo Lauredano

The binding is original.

Dark-brown, goat(?) leather; gold and blind-tooled with the name "FRAN/CESCO PA/CIOTTO," the first name and surname on the outside upper and lower boards respectively; the pastedowns and endleaves of modern nineteenth-century paper; two holes on each board that once anchored ties

Created in Venice before April 21, 1503 CE in praise of Leonardo Lauredano (1436-1521), Dodge of Venice

Leo S. Olschki, bookseller, Florence

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased from Leo S. Olschki before 1931 (inv. no 35783 written in pencil on the upper board, inside)

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935, p. 842, no. 488.

Baltimore Museum of Art. The Greek Tradition in Painting and the Minor Arts: an exhibition sponsored jointly by the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Gallery from May 15 through June 25, 1939. Baltimore Museum of Art. 1939, p. 84, cat. no. 113.

Kristeller, Paul Oskar, and Judith Wardman. Alia itinera III and Italy III: Sweden to Yugoslavia, Utopia, supplement to Italy (A-F). Iter Italicum. 5. London: Warburg Institute, 1990, p. 215.

Principal cataloger: Berlin, Nicole

Cataloger: Walters Art Museum curatorial staff and researchers since 1934

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservator: Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Tabritha, Ariel

The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.