Commission issued in the name of Doge Lorenzo Priuli bestowing on Melchiorre Salomon the title of mayor of Motta di Livenza, Venice, 1557, August 7 : official manuscript copy with multiple authentications.

Accession number:

PML 199040

Published:

Venice, Italy, 1557, August 7

Credit:

Purchased on the T. Kimball Brooker Foundation Book Purchase Fund in honor of the Morgan's Centennial.

Description:

141 leaves (1 column, 22-23 lines), bound : vellum, illustrations ; 231 x 167 mm; binding: 242 x 176 mm

Notes:

Manuscript written and illuminated in Venice, Italy, and dated August 7, 1557.
A ducal commission issued by Lorenzo Priuli, Doge of Venice (1556-1559), in 1557, when appointing Melchiorre Salomon (1527-1576) governor (Podestà) of Motta di Livenza, setting out the oath and duties particular to the office.
The document concludes with multiple authentications: the initials of the Grand Chancellor (FSM); a corroboratio, or signature, of the chancellery notary, known as the Segretario alle voci (Luigi Zamberti), attested by another notary (Camillo Rossi); and a note regarding the salary (12 ducats, monthly), signed by a secretary of the superintendent of income and taxes, known as the Governadore delle intrade (Agostino Spinelli).
Decoration: 2 full-page miniatures; Melchiorre di Gasparo Salomon kneeling in prayer before the Cross, with the Castello di Motta di Livenza (Treviso) in the background; Justitia, with her attributes of a scale and sword, the Lion of Saint Mark above, and Salomon's arms on a shield below.
The two illuminations are credited to the workshop of the "Maestro t.o Ve.," responsible for the majority of illuminations in commissioni dogali completed between 1523 and 1572 (Zuccolo Padrono, "Il maestro 'T°. Ve.', e la sua bottega: miniature veneziane del XVI secolo").

Binding:

Venetian red goatskin (242 x 176 mm), 1557, for Melchiorre Salomon, gilt fillet around sides flanked by blind fillets, inner gilt frame of guillochis with marguerite in interstices within gilt fillets, gilt acorn at outer corners, rosettes at outside mid-points of frame, gilt arabesque inner cornerpieces sprouting 4 floral tools, gilt central circle surrounded by leafy tools, acorn at top and bottom, and floral tool at each side, within circle on upper cover "MEL|CHIORI | SALOMO |NO" and on lower cover "M.D.LVII" within floral tools, 3 raised bands, rosette in compartments, traces of 4 pairs of silk ties, plain paper endpapers, gilt edges.

Variant Title:

Dogale

Provenance:

Melchiorre Salomon (1527-1576); Payne & Foss, London (Catalogue of Books now on sale [1822], p. 42 item 1035: "with the portrait of Melchior Salomon, and a painting of Christ on the Cross, said to be by Tintoretto"; Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) with his printed tag at foot of spine and inked number on upper pastedown, notes in pencil on flyleaf "From Payne 1824, No. 1035, Portrait by Tintoretto"; Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum in bibliotheca D. Thomae Philipps, Bart. A.D. 1837 [Middle Hill, 1837], p. 65 no. 4217); William H. Robinson, London; H. P. Kraus, New York (Catalogue 153: Bibliotheca Phillippica ... the final selection [1979], item 96); T. Kimball Brooker (b. 1939), his sale: Bibliotheca Brookeriana, Sotheby's, New York, 11 October 2023, lot 30.

Catalog Link:

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Classification:

Binding Collection

Department:

Printed Books