MARTINO DA MODENA - b. ~1451 Modena, d. ~1490 Modena

Italian illuminator. Martino di Giorgio d’Alemagna, called Martino da Modena is presumed to have been the son of Giorgio d’Alemagna, a German illuminator who is known to have worked at the ducal court of Leonello and then Borso d’Este in Ferrara from 1441 to 1479 and to have played a minor role, under the supervision of Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi, in the illumination of the Bible of Borso d’Este between 1455 and 1461. Martino, a prolific artist whose activity can be dated from 1470 to 1489, became one of the foremost illuminators of his generation.

In the early 1470s Martino da Modena may have traveled to Venice, where he was exposed to the art of Andrea Mantegna. In 1471-74 he collaborated with his father on two Psalters commissioned by the cathedral of Modena, and at about the same time they also illuminated a Missal for Ercole I d’Este. Between 1477 and 1480 Martino illuminated eleven volumes of choir books for the church of San Petronio in Bologna, succeeding Taddeo Crivelli as chief illuminator.

In 1480 Martino illuminated a manuscript containing the Office of the Dead for the Ospedale della Buona Morte in Modena. Between 1483 and 1485 he illuminated an Epistolary, an Evangeliary, and a Missal for the cathedral of Modena.

Martino da Modena is last recorded in October 1489, when he was listed as a witness in a trial in Ferrara. He may have died shortly after.

Missal

This Missal was made for Ercole I d’Este, elected Duke of Ferrara in 1471. The opulent manuscript has decoration on almost all its 426 leaves, executed by two artists in close collaboration. One has been identified as Martino da Modena, while the other was probably his father, Giorgio d’Alemagna.

The decoration on folio 9, shown here, is the work of Martino. The page is decorated with a wide border of stylised flowers set on a ground of gold filigree divided into compartments. In the circular medallions are shown the archangel Gabriel, God the Father, the Virgin, a putto seated in the Este diamond ring and a warrior in profile. In the lower border is a scene with numerous putti, those at the centre support the Este coat of arms. The historiated initial ‘A’ of the text shows David in penitence.