Binding of the Virgil Opera

One could be forgiven for believing that this book, with its rectangular binding, is an Islamic work. It is, however, the cover of a Venetian book: Virgil’s Opera. The book’s illuminated manuscripts are the work of the Venetian painter, Cristoforo Cortese. In the centre of the black leather binding lies a medallion in the form of a polylobed mandorla with a floral decoration in tooled and gilt leather. This impressively large central medallion is adorned with two other small polylobed medallions with flower motifs. On the binding’s four corners, the large spandrels in embossed and gilt leatherwork have the same floral decorations as the central medallion. A golden rope design frames this composition.

Both the decorations and composition of this binding were inspired by Islamic bindings, especially those of the Mamluks. Indeed, the design of the central medallion surrounded by four spandrels is a composition found in smaller format on Mamluk Qur’ans. This Venetian binding is therefore similar to the Mamluk Qur’an (c.1388–1399) in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (inv. Arab MS 5845), which was made in Egypt. The latter has a central circular medallion and four spandrels in the form of quadrants with openwork decorations. The border of this cover, with its tooled work, is composed of floral and geometric embossed motifs, while the Venetian example has a unified border. The lotus flower on the BnF Qur’an has also been used on Virgil’s work.

The very same composition was used in the Ottoman era. A binding of the Miftah al-sa`ada […] (scientific work, 1706–1707) that probably originated in Anatolia and is held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Arab 5948) in Paris, has a cover with a dark blue ground with a central mandorla adorned with a Chi cloud motif. The pendentives contain a floral design. The spandrels on the four corners resemble this binding with their size and polylobed shape, and they also have the cloud motif, as in the mandorla. In the border, the rope has been replaced by gold ‘S’ motifs. 

A Venetian rather than Muslim craftsman probably made the Virgil Opera, as the decorations are less detailed than those on the Mamluk example. Thanks to their small format, the Muslim works were easily transported in the trade between the Near East and Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A large number of these works are held in Venetian collections. The decorative techniques of Islamic manuscripts also influenced the other areas of Venetian craftsmanship: shields painted in lacquer, cabinet doors, and musical instruments like the Venetian spinet from 1572 held in the Musée de la Musique/Cité de la Musique in Paris (inv. D.AD. Pe. 1803). The motif of the medallion and the spandrels influenced by Mamluk bindings adorns the panels that decorate the front of the spinet. Ottoman designs also influenced this composition.