Putti holding a garland with the Diedo family arms, floral border, and foliate initials 'N' and 'I'.

Leonardo Bellini revitalized the illumination of Venetian books in the mid-fifteenth century, by introducing decorative elements from contemporary manuscripts from Ferrara, such as rich borders of blue and pink flowers, gold-leaf circles, filigree, putti and animals in medallions. Here, the delicately colored border marks the start of the main text, and the two enlarged initials highlight the different sections within it. Leonardo painted for the workshop of his family, the influential Bellini artists, who introduced the Renaissance style to Venetian painting in the second half of the 1400s. This commissione was made for Domenico Diedo. It records his solemn oath (giuramento) and the statutes (capitolare) of his post as Procurator of St. Mark's Basilica. The office was lifelong, and therefore the most important after the Dogeship.

Source: Anne-Marie Eze, Illuminating the Serenissima: Books of the Republic of Venice, special exhibition on view in the museum's Long Gallery, May 3 through June 19, 2011.

See the related artworks for other art from the Bellini workshop and Ferrara in the collection.

Illuminating the Serenissima: Books of the Republic of Venice

Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1903 from Charles Eliot Norton (1827-1908), American author, social critic, and professor of art history at Harvard.

Select bibliography

Morris Carter. A choice of Manuscripts and Bookbindings from the Library of Isabella Stewart Gardner Fenway Court. Boston, 1922, p. 33.

Seymour de Ricci with the assistance of W. J. Wilson. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. 3 vols. New York, 1935-40, I, p. 933.

Helena Szépe. "Isabella Stewart Gardner's Venetian manuscripts" in Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Boston, 2004, p. 233, fig. 173.