Aenigma [1997]
aenigma L., riddle, mystery
The drapery detail is from Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco of angels worshipping, in the apse of the Cappella dei Magi (1459), in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. The letters are from a modern Italian alphabet-learning game.
Ambiguitas [1997]
ambiguitas L., ambiguity, double meaning
The hands are adapted from Giotto's fresco Joachim's Sacrificial Offering (c. 1305) in the Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padua. The pattern of wavy lines is a variation on the heraldic partition line called rayonée or radiant.
An Annunciation [1999]
The scroll is to be found in Pisanello's Vision of St. Eustace (c. 1440), in The National Gallery, London; the treeline is from Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation (ca. 1473–75) in the Galleria degli Uffizi.
The Chiming Image [2000]
A Claustral Prospect [2000]
Dante's Feet [1996]
The central detail is from Domenico di Michelino's Dante and the Three Kingdoms of Hell (1465), in Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo), Florence.
A Dismantled Predella [2000]
predella an Italian word for the small strip of paintings which form the lower edge of a large altarpiece
The setting is that of Beato Angelico's The Naming of John the Baptist, in the Pilgrim's Hospice of the Museo di San Marco in Florence.
Equiponderance [2000]
equiponderance equality of weight, equilibrium; equipoise
The hands are adapted from Giotto's fresco Joachim's Sacrificial Offering (c. 1305) in the Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padua. The villa can be found in the background landscape of The Procession of the Magus Melchior, Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco in the Cappella dei Magi (1459–1461), in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. The pattern of wavy lines is a variation on the heraldic partition line called rayonée or radiant.
Fuori le Mura [1999]
fuori le mura Italian, outside or without the walls
The crenellated wall and architectural details are from the upper portion of The Stoning of St. Stephen (c. 1435), attributed to Paolo Uccello, in the Prato Cathedral.
Hortus Conclusus [1998]
hortus conclusus L., enclosed garden
The labyrinth is based on a garden maze published by J.V. De Vries at Antwerp in 1583. The small silverpoint drawing on the "label" at upper left, of a star-of-Bethlehem, is a partial copy of one of Leonardo da Vinci's botanical studies, now at the Royal Library, Windsor Castle.
Imbrication and Umbrage [2000]
imbrication 1. an overlapping, as of tiles or scales 2. an ornamental pattern like this
umbrage 1. [Obs. or Poet.] shade; shadow 2. foliage, considered as shade-giving
The central image is a small detail from Giovanni Bellini's Saint Francis in Ecstasy (c. 1475) in The Frick Collection. The zig-zag pattern on the left is a heraldic partition line known as dancetté; that on the right, indented.
A Little View [1999]
The small landscape detail is adapted from Piero della Francesca's Portrait of Battista Sforza (c. 1465–75) in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence; it may represent Volterra. The ribbon pattern can be seen in groin vaults in the Bargello and elsewhere.
A Loggia [2000]
The loggia detail is adapted from the fresco Homage of a Simple Man (c. 1295), by the painter of the Saint Francis Cycle in the Upper Church of the Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi. The background patterns of wavy lines are variations on the heraldic partition lines called nebuly (left), and rayonée (right).
Lustre and Innocence [2000]
The figures come from the Masolino fresco Healing of a Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha (c. 1425) in the Cappella Brancacci, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.
Mascheramento [1998]
Mise en Scène [2000]
Now Thus [1996]
The tree at left is from Benozzo Gozzoli's Procession of the Magi (1459), a fresco in the Cappella dei Magi, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence. The image on the wax seal is that of the Lupa Romana, the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus and which is the symbol of Rome. The alphabet is American Shaker. The painting's title, Now Thus, is the heraldic motto of one Sir Humphrey F. de Trafford (unknown to me), and also refers to an earlier painting of mine, Now What (1990; q.v.), whose imagery provided a starting point.
An Obscure Presentiment [1999]
The central image comes from the Saint Bernardino Predella (specifically, Saint Bernardino Resuscitating a Drowned Child, private collection) of the Sienese painter Sano di Pietro (datable to the 1470s).
An Occasional Luminescence [1999]
The drapery detail is from Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco of angels worshipping, in the apse of the Cappella dei Magi (1459), in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence.
Palla [1997]
palla Italian, ball; sphere
The detail of the trees and wall with merlons is from Domenico Veneziano's predella painting Martyrdom of St. Lucy (c. 1446) in the Gemäldegalerie Dahlem, Berlin.
The Piazzetta [1998]
The town square is adapted from Saint Dominic Resuscitating Napoleone Orsini by Bartolomeo degli Erri (active 1460–1479) in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Purity of Sentiment [1999]
The figure and the hare both come from Francesco del Cossa's 15th-century fresco, The Court of Borso d'Este under the Sign of Venus in the Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara. The white pattern on the right is a variation on the heraldic partition line known as counter-embattled or crenelle.
Quarto [1997]
quarto 1. the page size of a book made up of sheets each of which is folded twice to form four leaves, or eight pages, about nine by twelve inches in size 2. a book made of pages folded in this way
quarto L., for the fourth time
quarto Italian, fourth; quarter
The drapery detail is from Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco of angels worshipping, in the apse of the Cappella dei Magi, in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.
Saint Martin Is Knighted [1998]
The detail is from Simone Martini's fresco cycle of stories from the life of Saint Martin in the Cappella di San Martino in the Lower Church of the Basilica in Assisi.
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino [1996]
The painting on the postcard in the envelope is Piero della Francesca's Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (in the Museo Poldi-Pezzoli, Milan), a panel from the now-dispersed Polyptych of St. Augustine.
San Marco [1997]
This painting was inspired in part by the mosaic floor of the Basilica di S. Marco in Venice.
The Sea Again [1999]
The hand is adapted from Giotto's fresco Joachim's Sacrificial Offering (c. 1305) in the Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padua. The background pattern of wavy lines is a variation on the heraldic partition line called rayonée or radiant.
Specimen [1997]
specimen L., mark, sign, proof, example; model, ideal
The hand holding the palm frond is a detail from the Annunciation (1344) of Ambrogio Lorenzetti, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena. The black-and-white pattern is a variation on the heraldic partition line known as counter-embattled.
Thither [1997]
thither to or toward that place; there; on or toward that side; farther
The small villa comes from Lorenzo di Credi's Annunciation, in the Accademia di S. Luca in Rome.
Transitus [1996]
transitus L., crossing, passage; passing; traffic; crossing over, desertion; period of change, transition
The labyrinth in the center of the painting roughly reproduces the plan of a labyrinth in the stone floor of the Cathedral at Chartres. The small tower in the lower right corner comes from Giovanni Bellini's Saint Francis in Ecstasy
(c.1475), in The Frick Collection, and the cherry stem is an adaptation from one in Cosimo Tura's An Allegorical Figure (The Muse Calliope) (c. 1460), in The National Gallery, London.
The Vocation [1999]
All details are from predella panels (in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City) from Beato Angelico’s Perugia altarpiece, depicting scenes from the life of St. Nicholas of Bari.
Vox Clandestina [1999]
vox clandestina L., whisper
The drapery detail is from an Annunciation (c.1450) by Benozzo Gozzoli, now in the Pinacoteca Comunale in Narni.
The Worship of Obscurity [2000]
The drapery detail is from the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Saints (1466) by Benozzo Gozzoli, now in the
Pinacoteca Civica in Terni.
Wyoming [2000]
The drapery detail is from the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Saints (1466) by Benozzo Gozzoli, now in
the Pinacoteca Civica in Terni. The martyrs' palms on the left are from paintings by (from top) Giovanni Bellini,
Domenico Veneziano, Beato Angelico, and Simone Martini.
A Young Lady of Fashion [2000]
The painting on the postcard in the envelope is itself A Young Lady of Fashion, by Paolo Uccello, in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
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