Petrarca Queriniano

Petrarca Queriniano

Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374) is probably one of the most famous Italian literati of the early Renaissance. His primary work, the Il Canzoniere cycle of poems, was particularly popular during the time of the Italian Renaissance and was finally printed in numerous editions. The work’s triumphal march in book-form began in the 1470’s, and it was from this first printing of Il Canzoniere that the famous codex of the Petrarca Queriniano originated in Brescia.

A Print as a Historic Event

This incunabula of such great historical value was made in Venice by Vindelino da Spira in 1470. Born Wendelin von Speyer, he was a German book printer who was active in Venice during the 1470’s. This first print of Petrarch’s work – Il Canzoniere and the Trionfi – was a historic event and the edition is a precious rarity today.

Wonderful Illumination

The Petrarca Queriniano has even more to offer: it is not only a valuable incunabulum, but was also gorgeously and individually illustrated. A Venetian poet and Miniaturist named Antonio Grifo, who is also ironically named in literature as a queriniano dilettante, was responsible for the extravagant decoration of the book. Grifo filled the work from the first page to the last with impressive creativity and fantasy in luminous colors. He expressed both his own interpretations as well as references to the tradition of Petrarch illustrations. Thus he created gorgeous figurative scenes amidst green trees and fields, splendid initials, and marginal decorations sometimes endowed with gold. This splendor is an indication that the edition was probably intended for a noblewoman. Today, the unique edition of the Petrarca Queriniano in Brescia is still an impressive testimonial to the tremendous esteem and popularity of Petrarch during the Renaissance.