Resumen de Giulio Clovio e la traduzioine a stampa. Miniature e incisioni dal Fondo Ortalli di Parma
The article investigates and expands on the lesser known aspect of the publication and print reproduction of the miniatured works of Giulio Clovio, focusing primarily on some of the unpublished engravings which have come to light in the impressive Ortalli Collection in the Palatine Library in Parma.
We deduce from the research that this was not merely a reproduction but an active collaboration between Clovio and the engravers, a control which included the realisation of ad hoc drawings for calcographic translation, as well as the selection of favoured artists, first and foremost Cornelis Cort, and not surprisingly, the masters of the Flemish school. From this point on, in northern Europe in particular, many drawings and certain Clovian iconographs (inspired by his first artistic example, Michelangelo) remained, and were later revived with sometimes quite significant variations in different religious writings. The miniature made use of print, crossing that apparent borderline of uniqueness and élitism.
This study represents a step up from the exhibition catalogue Prints after Giulio Clovio edited by Milan Pelc (1998), with corrections of states and novelties. The article does not, however, claim to have covered every aspect of the research because of the sheer wealth of graphical material involved. It draws us towards the promise of revelations which might well lead to new attributions, supplementing the Clovian corpus, as well as confirming the widespread popularity and longevity of the Croatian master’s work.
One wonders how many miniaturists, if any, can have had Clovio’s good fortune in print translation, occupying a role in the creation of iconographs which spans the centuries from Messali’s xylographic tables to devotional holy pictures.
The article not only thoroughly investigates the relationship between print and miniature in the works of Clovio and reviews new, unpublished works, but it also also poses questions, opening up new investigative paths where communication between disciplines is indispensible and inevitable (the history of miniatures and of engravings being a case in point).
