RUSSI, Franco de'

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote his masterpiece, the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) in the last years of his exile from Florence. It is an allegorical poem describing the state and passage of souls in the afterlife. This unrivalled work has inspired numerous artists to illustrate it. However, only a handful have ever come close to doing it justice. The codex written and illuminated for Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (reigned 1474-1482) constitutes one of these rare examples.

The miniature from folio 127r illustrates cantos 10 to 12 of Purgatory, in the manner of a frieze. Dante and his guide, Virgil, behold the third in a series of reliefs chiseled in a rock face, which are shown as examples of humility to those in Purgatory who are tainted with the sin of pride.

Several artists worked on the decoration of this codex. This miniature is ascribed to Franco de’ Russi.

The decoration of this codex consists of borders of white interlace with finely decorated medallions and full-page miniatures set in architectural frames. The full-page miniature on folio 175 is an elegant example of the Ferrarese school; it was begun by Guglielmo Giraldi and completed by Franco de’ Russi. The miniature shows St John seated writing on the side of a rugged mountain with a castle at the summit. On the sea in the background to the right are ships and there are buildings in the distance on the left. In the sky are the seven candelabra which appeared to the prophet of Patmos. The scene is set in an ornate frame with candlesticks in the left and right margins; these are united by festoons in the upper margin, on either side of which is written ‘FE DUX’, identifying the owner of the manuscript, Federico da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino.

The picture shows a detail of the full-page miniature on folio 175.