Skriptorium

In Renaissance Italy, the family dynasties governing the various citystates cultivated a tradition of literary and artistic patronage. In Florence, there was the Medici family, among whom Cosimo the Elder (†1464), his son Piero (†1469) and his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent (†1492) were the most distinguished patrons of the arts.

The return to power of the family after the Republican period (1498-512) led to the rebirth of the artistic and intellectual movement begun the previous century. In an attempt to bring about a new "Golden Age", the family organized cultural festivals where the Medici emblems of the 15th century featured prominently: a diamond with the inscription "Semper" symbolizing the strength and immortality of the Medicis, alongside three or four interlocking rings and three feathers (for faith, hope and charity); a laurel branch ("broncone") which came to be the most powerful symbol of the restoration of the Medici dynasty; and a circle enclosing the inscription "glovis" (gloria, laus, honor, victoria, iustitia and sapientia).

This Book of Hours is written in Latin in the Roman style. It measures 6 by 4 cm. and is composed of 26 folded sheets with endpapers, and board binding covered in black leather. The texts are written in rounded dassical script in red and black ink. Eleven pages are decorated with miniatures or with miniatures and ornamental borders, while sixteen pages just have ornamental borders. The initial letters are also decorated.

Judging from the style of the miniatures and the decorative motifs adorning the borders, we attribute the Book of Hours of Lorenzo the Younger and Madeleine de la Tour to Boccardino the Elder, Boccardino the Younger, and Stefano di Tommaso. The book is today conserved in the library of the Lázaro Galdiano Foundation in Madrid.

This particular codex was a wedding gift from Pope Leo X (the uncle of Lorenzo II) to the young couple, in keeping with a long-standing tradition of presenting this kind of book to newlyweds.

The study of this work was commissioned from Dr. Juana Hidalgo Ogayar.