Journey through the Dante Urbinate: the binding

Binding that changed over the centuries 

When Federico died in 1482, the Codex, still incomplete, was not yet bound together and it remained that way until Francesco Maria II della Rovere had the first binding done, in yellow brocade. It was Pope Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani) who had the current binding done in the Vatican, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, in red velvet, with Baroque decorations in gilded metal. These include the heraldic Papal crest, the crossed keys, the tiara at the center, an eight-pointed star, and the three peaks, symbol of the Albani family, in the corners. 

Source: La Divina Commedia di Federico da Montefeltro. Il Dante Urbinate. Commentario.

Illumination from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Ms. Urb. lat. 365, f. 78r, 1478-1482, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

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