Manutius, the Arts and the Book

"The exhibition catalogue is the result of a new way of interpreting the figure of Manutius, considerably broadening his range of action within the Venetian art world and more. First of all, Aldus’ ‘book’ is looked at with a particular focus on its aesthetics, along with its history, and a reflection on its visual qualities. At the same time, the Aldine experience is read through the long period in Venice, between the 1490s and his death in 1515, during which there was a revolutionary change that, leaving behind the manuscripts and illuminated incunabula, led to the birth of the book. The gaze then also expands to connect two fields that are adjacent but until then had been separated by specialisations, the art of engraving and that of the book. So a plunge into the Hypnerotocmachia, the ‘most beautiful illustrated book of the Renaissance’ is inevitable, with its images (along with the textual descriptions) that were a constant presence in Venetian figurative culture for the rest of the century and beyond. Alongside, the catalogue then traces a series of links between Aldus’ enterprise and the other artistic spheres: architecture, which in Venice was being revolutionised by one of his associates, Giovanni Giocondo, but also aspects of painting, such as the individual portrait or mythological painting for the home, and especially sculpture, emphasising the not only ideal connection between the restitution of Greek and Latin texts and the restoration of ancient statuary. All this shows how in the background the link between Aldus and Venetian humanism was a strong one. The result is a complete and systematic picture that has never existed before, that reinterprets Manutius’ role during two decades that were crucial for Venetian art."--Publisher's website (viewed 09/16/2016).