About this artwork
This illuminated frontispiece features Pope Pius II, who reigned from 1458 to 1464, above a view of his hometown of Siena and eight Sienese coats of arms. Pius II had an unusual past for a pope, having served as the imperial poet laureate in 1442 at Frederick III’s court. While poet laureate, he wrote what would become a best seller of its time, The Tale of the Two Lovers, a courtly romance. This manuscript cutting is probably a 19th-century copy that was produced for an art market infatuated with the Italian Renaissance.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Vecchietta (Lorenzo di Pietro di Giovanni)
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Title
- Pope Pius II, frontispiece to a Constitution of the Sienese Church of the Year 1464
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Place
- Italy (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1464
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Medium
- Manuscript cutting in tempera and gold leaf on parchment
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Dimensions
- 31 × 22.3 cm (12 1/4 × 8 13/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Charles L. Hutchinson
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Reference Number
- 1915.181
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/71106/manifest.json