15th Century Northern Italian Illuminated Psalter and Prayerbook in a Contemporary Gilt Binding for “ALESANDRA DA RIMINE” from the Trivulzio Library

15th Century Northern Italian Illuminated Psalter and Prayerbook in a Contemporary Gilt Binding for “ALESANDRA DA RIMINE” from the Trivulzio Library

-11.5 x 8.75 cm.

-160 leaves on fine vellum, written in black and red ink.

-Large illuminated miniature of King David with a lyre to the opening leaf, within a decorative border incorporating birds, floral motifs and pointillé ornament in gold, blue, red and green.

-Bound in a North Italian leather binding over wooden boards. Gilt stamped across both covers with the name “ALESANDRA DA RIMINE”. Probably produced in Bologna or Venice c.1500–1530. Traces of former clasps. Minor restoration with repairs to leather losses on the boards and spine.

A finely illuminated North Italian Psalter and prayerbook of the late fifteenth century, probably produced in Ferrara or the surrounding region for private devotional use. The manuscript contains the Psalms together with prayers for liturgical observance throughout the ecclesiastical year. Its small portable format suggests production for personal prayer and reflection within an aristocratic setting.

The opening miniature of King David belongs to the refined decorative tradition of late Quattrocento Northern Italy, with delicate pointillé ornament and scrolling floral borders characteristic of Ferrarese illumination. The litany includes Saint Apollinaris, Bishop of Ravenna, supporting an origin in the Romagna region near Rimini and Ferrara.

Particularly notable is the contemporary gilt binding bearing the female ownership inscription “ALESANDRA DA RIMINE” across both covers. Contemporary bindings made for named female owners are uncommon. No comparable examples were identified in the extensive Bibliotheca Brookeriana catalogue.

Rimini possessed a relatively small aristocratic class capable of commissioning and owning manuscripts of this quality. From surviving local noble family records, only one plausible Alessandra da Rimini has thus far been identified from the appropriate period. Alessandra Malatesta, born c.1440–1450, was an illegitimate daughter of the condottiere Sigismondo Malatesta (1417–1468), one of the great patrons of Renaissance art in Romagna. She is documented as marrying Giovanni Tingoli of Rimini in the 1460s, thereafter appearing as “Alessandra da Rimini”. The Tingoli were a noble Riminese family associated with the Palazzo Tingoli, situated near the Tempio Malatestiano commissioned by Sigismondo.

While this identification cannot presently be confirmed, the geographical, chronological and social context aligns plausibly with the manuscript and its binding. The binding itself appears to post-date the manuscript by several decades and was likely executed c.1500–1530, perhaps for inherited family devotional use.

Provenance

Sold as lot 140 at the Trivulzio Library sale, held at the Leavitt Art Gallery, New York, 6–11 February 1888. The 1888 catalogue described the manuscript as:

“ALESSANDRA DA RIMINI’S ANTIPHONARY, WITH BEAUTIFULLY ILLUMINATED BORDER AND MINIATURE.”

"140一ANTIPHONARIUM.Consisting of one hundred and sixty leaves (320 pages) of fine, thin white vellum, with large miniature and border of birds and flowers in colors and gold, and numerous colored capitals with red and violet ink pen scroll work. Minimo (4 5/8 inches by 3 1/2 inches), old leather on wooden boards, gauffered edges and in mottled calf drop case. SÆC. XV."

“UNIQUE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT of the fifteenth century on vellum which once belonged to a member of that great Italian house which gave birth to Francesca da Rimini, whose sad fate is told in the pages of Dante.”