Title
Wart-Biter, Grasshopper, Hyacinth, and Almond, 1561-1562; illumination added 1591-1596. Creator: Joris Hoefnagel.
Caption
Wart-Biter, Grasshopper, Hyacinth, and Almond; Mira calligraphiae monumenta, 1561-1562; illumination added 1591-1596. Additional info: In the 1500s, as printing became the most common method of producing books, intellectuals increasingly valued the inventiveness of scribes and the aesthetic qualities of writing. From 1561 to 1562, Georg Bocskay, court secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, created this Model Book of Calligraphy to demonstrate his technical mastery of the immense range of writing styles known to him. Emperor Rudolph II later commissioned Joris Hoefnagel to illuminate Bocskay's model book. Hoefnagel added fruit, flowers, and insects to nearly every page, composing them so as to enhance the unity and balance of the page's design. It was one of the most unusual collaborations between scribe and painter in the history of manuscript illumination. Because of Hoefnagel's interest in painting objects of nature, his detailed images complement Rudolph II's celebrated Kunstkammer, a cabinet of curiosities that contained bones, shells, fossils, and other natural specimens.
Credit line
Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art
Reference
HRM24A75_387
Model release
NA
Property release
NA
License type
Droits gérés
Available size
133.5Mo (10.0Mo) / 48.1cm x 69.5cm / 5685 x 8209 (300dpi)