Master of Poliphilo

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Master of Poliphilo (draft): woodcut from Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ubi humana omnia nisi somnium esse docet . Venice 1499

Master of Poliphilo is the name given to the Italian draftsman and painter who is not known by name and who designed the woodcuts for the first edition of the book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ( Poliphilo's Dream Love Dispute ) from 1499. Despite the stylistic unity of the 172 woodcuts on the 450 pages in this work, the identity of the master , who was probably working in Venice or the surrounding area , remains anonymous and attempts to compare styles and assign them to a specific artist or school are controversial. Poliphilo's illustrations are an important model and inspiration for subsequent painters from the Renaissance to the Baroque .

identification

Since the naming of the Master of Poliphilo , attempts have been made to identify him again and again. It was z. B. suggested to see the hand of the following artists in his work by comparing styles : Giovanni Bonconsigli , Botticelli , Cima da Conegliano , Franco Francia , Benozzo Gozzoli , Benedetto Montagna , Pinturicchio , Titian or Palma Vecchio .

Influence of the author on the motifs

The motifs and narrative of the woodcuts are very close to the text, so it is assumed that the author of the text also gave instructions to the artist of the woodcuts in the handwritten model that is now lost. Such harmony between the text and the images is still unusual at the time the book was printed in comparison with other illustrated printed books with secular content, in which the illustration often interrupts the text. The interplay of text and image and the collaboration between author and draftsman in the Hyperotomachi point to a new humanistic understanding in which the author wants to substantiate his more precise ideas, which have arisen from observing nature and reality, not only with text but also with illustrations .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Poppelreuter: The anonymous master of Poliphilo: a study on Italian book illustration and on antiquity in the art of the Quattrocento . Edition 20 of Art History Abroad. Strasbourg 1904
  2. ^ Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ubi humana omnia nisi somnium esse docet (original of the first edition printed in Venice by Aldus). Venice 1499
  3. ↑ sz BC Denk: The tamed Cupid: Antoine Watteau's embarkation for Kythera and the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of Francesco Colonna. In: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (Ed.): Venus: Pictures of a Goddess . Munich 2001, pp. 91-104.
  4. ↑ s. in addition z. BHK Szepe: Artistic identity in the Poliphilo . In: Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 35.1 (1997) pp 39-73
  5. ↑ so z. BG Pozzi. Les Hieroglyphes de l'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili . In: Y. Giraud (ed.): L'Emblème à la Renaissance. Paris 1980
  6. ^ Also M. Calvesi: Il sogno di Polifilo prenestino Rome 1980
  7. ↑ cf. in addition z. BC Mitchell: Archeology and Romance in Renaissance Italy . In: EF Jacob (Ed.): Italian Renaissance Studies. London 1960, pp. 455-483.
  8. ↑ see also E. Chojecka: Johann Kepler und die Kunst. On the relationship between art and natural sciences in the late Renaissance. In: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 30 vol., H. 1 (1967), pp. 55–72.
  9. ↑ s. also R. Stewering: Architecture and Nature in the “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili” (Manutius 1499) and the attribution of the work to Niccolò Lelio Cosmico Hamburg 1996

literature

  • L. Dorez: Etudes Aldines II, des origines et de la diffusion du songe de Poliphile . In: Revue des Bibliothèques . VI. (1896), p. 239 ff.
  • J. Poppelreuter: The anonymous master of Poliphilo: a study on Italian book illustration and on antiquity in the art of the Quattrocento . Edition 20 of Art History Abroad, Strasbourg 1904.
  • G. Painter (Ed.): The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of 1499: An Introduction to the Dream, the Dreamer, the Artist and the Printer . (2 vol.) (Facsimile of the 1499 edition), London 1963.
  • HK Szepe: Artistic identity in the Poliphilo . In: Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada . 35.1 (1997), pp. 39-73.
  • F. Colonna: Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Reproduzione dell'edizione aldina del 1499 . (2 vol.) (Facsimile of the edition of 1499), Milan 1998 (with introduction and commentary by M. Ariani and M. Gabriele).