The Sketchbook of Giovannino de' Grassi was produced in Italy in the second half of the fourteenth century. It served as a model book, providing de' Grassi's workshop with around a hundred compositions to be copied and adapted. The book includes an ingeniously devised Gothic alphabet, with each letter composed of various figures and creatures. Local and imported animals are represented throughout, some naturalistic, and others stylized. As such, the book is a testament to the collaborative nature of pre-modern art.

The Sketchbook of Giovannino de' Grassi represents the most treasured manuscript in the Angelo Mai Public Library of Bergamo and is widely acknowledged as the quintessential exemplar of late Gothic Italian artistry.

The Artist: Giovannino de' Grassi

Giovannino de' Grassi, the master responsible for this manuscript's exquisite illustrations, exemplified the Renaissance ideal of the universal artist. His prodigious talents extended beyond painting to include drawing and sculpture, culminating in his appointment as architect of the Milan cathedral.

At the zenith of his professional career, de' Grassi maintained intellectual exchanges with prominent architects of central European Gothic cathedrals, notably Heinrich Parler and Ulrich von Einsingen. These connections not only reinforced the Lombardian master's professional standing but presumably catalyzed his production of drawings that documented his artistic conceptions.

Model Books: Visual Paradigms in Medieval Artistic Practice

Such model books constituted an essential resource within medieval artistic workshops. These compilations featured sophisticated ornamental motifs, exemplary calligraphic initials, and naturalistic animal illustrations. Medieval artists typically lacked opportunities for direct observation of exotic fauna such as leopards, gazelles, or lions in their natural habitats.

To achieve verisimilitude in their zoological representations, artists required reference models that viewers could readily identify. Model books thus furnished paradigmatic illustrations depicting both human subjects and animals in characteristic postures or engaged in representative activities.

Given their profound artistic significance and transformative influence on stylistic developments, these model books rapidly acquired value as collectors' items among connoisseurs.

Exemplary Archetypes for Subsequent Artistic Generations

The model book presents a diverse bestiary of creatures. Sheep and lions coexist harmoniously, while ostriches, porcupines, and monkeys populate the manuscript's folios. Of particular scholarly interest are the meticulously rendered human groupings.

The illustrations include women playing lyres or congregating for reading, alongside maritime scenes featuring sailing vessels. Each individual folio constitutes an autonomous artistic achievement, executed with such consummate skill that numerous subsequent painters adopted de' Grassi's illustrations as templates for their own artistic productions.

The Internationally Renowned Figural Alphabet

Among the most exceptional components of the model book are five folios containing Giovannino de' Grassi's celebrated figural alphabet. These Gothic letterforms, masterfully rendered by de' Grassi himself, integrate both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic elements. Musicians and angelic figures populate the manuscript alongside remarkably naturalistic depictions of lions and bulls, demonstrating the artist's virtuosic command of form and composition. 

We have 2 facsimiles of the manuscript "Sketchbook of Giovannino de' Grassi":

Request Info / Price
Manuscript book description compiled by Rosalind Phillips-Solomon.
Please Read
International social justice movements and the debates that ensued prompted us to start considering the contents of our website from a critical point of view. This has led us to acknowledge that most of the texts in our database are Western-centered. We have asked the authors of our content to be aware of the underlying racial and cultural bias in many scholarly sources, and to try to keep in mind multiple points of view while describing the manuscripts. We also recognize that this is yet a small, first step towards fighting inequality.

If you notice any trace of racist or unjust narratives in our communications, please help us be part of the change by letting us know.

#1 Musterbuch des Giovannino de Grassi

Lucerne or Munich: Faksimile Verlag, 1998

Das Musterbuch des Giovannino de Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Das Musterbuch des Giovannino de Grassi facsimile edition by Facsimile Verlag.
Das Musterbuch des Giovannino de Grassi facsimile edition by Facsimile Verlag.
  • Commentary (German, Italian) by Bravi, Giulio Orazio; Recanati, Maria Grazia; Vaccari, Maria Grazia; Montalbano, Letizia; Scarzanella, Chiara Rossi
  • Limited Edition: 333 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Sketchbook of Giovannino de' Grassi: the facsimile attempts to replicate the look-and-feel and physical features of the original document; pages are trimmed according to the original format; the binding might not be consistent with the current document binding.

The full set, consisting of a facsimile volume in the velours etui and a commentary volume, is presented in a book case. The facsimile is published in co-edition.

Binding

The binding is a faithful imitation of the original binding in stiff cardboard. The model book is protected by an etui of the finest rust colored velours.

Our Price

More Buying Choices

Request Info

#2 Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino De Grassi

Modena: Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte, 1998

+ 4

Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte

+ 4

Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte

+ 4

Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte

+ 4

Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte

+ 4

Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi, Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Ms. VII. 14, Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
Il Taccuino di disegni di Giovannino de' Grassi facsimile edition by Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
  • Commentary (Italian, English abstract, Spanish abstract) by Bravi, Giulio Orazio; Recanati, Maria Grazia; Vaccari, Maria Grazia; Montalbano, Letizia; Scarzanella, Chiara Rossi
  • Limited Edition: 252 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Sketchbook of Giovannino de' Grassi: the facsimile attempts to replicate the look-and-feel and physical features of the original document; pages are trimmed according to the original format; the binding might not be consistent with the current document binding.

This facsimile is a co-edition between Faksimile Verlag Luzern, lwanami Shoten and Il Bulino.

Binding

Bound in stiff cardboard. The binding reproduces that of the original.

Used and new from

€ 1,250

approx US$ 1,398


Our Price

More Buying Choices

Request Info