Item Info
Folio Number: front
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes: A dogale (pl. dogali) is a document issued by a doge, the title for the highest elected official in several Italian republics. The Doge of Venice was one of the most powerful among them. Dogali were used to transfer power to certain individuals, granting them various rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Although secular documents, the iconography of illuminated dogale was usually religious in nature to suggest the approval of divine authority. In this miniature, the unknown recipient takes a book from St. Mark seated upon a lion, his symbol as the Virgin and Child look on from above. As the patron saint of Venice, St. Mark represents the city and by extension, the Doge.
The illumination of this leaf and several others in the Free Library's collection (Lewis E M 47:5,6,9, 11, and 75:9) was executed in the workshop of a Venetian illuminator active from the 1520s to the 1570s. Known as the "Master T.o Ve," he is so-called after a note on another dogale leaf illuminated by his hand now in the Cini Foundation in Venice.
Notes:
Leaf from a Dogale
Sirsi Catalog Key:
1603531
Country:
Country:Italy
City/Town/Township:Venice
Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin):
1560
Image Dimensions Width:
231 mm
ShelfMark:
Lewis E M 47:9
Creator Name:
Master T.o Ve - Artist
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