University Art Gallery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
2010.1.58

Accursio from Scelta d'alcuni miracoli e grazie della Santissima Nunziata di Firenze

January 11 2011 (Date accessioned)
Ink
Engraving
Prints
3.4252 in W x 5.4331 in H (Paper)
Notes: 16.5 x 11.3 cm
Italian
Five people standing in courtyard looking up at figure falling from third floor; Mary, holy ghost and angel are within clouds at upper-most center
Illustration from the book by Giovanni A. Lottini. The 42 illustrations include a title-page (engraved) and 40 plates (etched) by Jacques Callot after Matteo Rosselli (1578-1650), Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), Fra Arsenio, aka Donato Mascagni (1579-1636), Antonio Pomarancio aka Antonio Circignani (1567-1629), Giovanni Bilivert (1585-1644), and Fabrizio Boschi (1572-1642). Rosselli provided 18 drawings, Fra Arsenio made six, Tempesta four, Il Pomarancio two, Fabrizio Boschi and Giovanni Bilivert one each. Eight drawings are by unknown artists. The illustrations are from the beginning of Callot's stay in Florence. The book is dedicated to Christine of Lorraine, Duchess of Tuscany, daughter of Charles III and widow of Ferdinando de' Medici.The book retells 80 stories of the miracles, but there are only 40 illustrations; they represent every other story (this explains the uneven numbers at the bottom of each print, a reference to the story itself, not the order of the prints). The series illustrate the work of P.F. Gio. Angiolo Lottini, friar, sculptor and poet. The purpose of the book was to popularize the miracles attributed to the representation of the Annunciation on a 13th century fresco in Florence. It was believed that the head of the Virgin had been painted by an angel. This fresco is still located in the Church of the Annunziata in Florence, an important icon in the Servite Order. The founding myth of the Order dates from 1233, when supposedly seven Florentine noblemen were designated as the " Servants of Mary " and banded together as mendicants. Their numbers grew and a sanctuary was built just outside of the city walls. The Order decided to commission a fresco of the Queen of Heaven at the moment of the Annunciation. An unnamed artist was hired to paint this fresco but stopped at the two most difficult parts: the Virgin's and the Messenger's faces. Because of their divine nature, this caused much preoccupation to the artist. As he awoke from his sleep on the scaffolding, the Holy visage and the Angel's face had miraculously been painted by an other-worldly hand. There is a long tradition of illustrated "miracle books" in Italy since the Middle Ages. For Callot's set of illustrations, the text and the images were composed much before the first publication. Three editions were then printed in Florence: - in 1619, by Pietro Cecconcelli. This is the sole edition to have the Annunciation and to have the first states of Callot's illustrations. The prints with numbers 39, 55 and 37 are mistakes in the numbering of the stories. - in 1636 by Landini. The mistake on the numbers is corrected. They added new numbers, 1 to 40, numbering the prints rather than the stories (cf PDF of book available on Google Books). - There is a later edition without date nor name of editor. The technique Callot used for these illustrations was more personal than that of other book illustrators and changed the way books were illustrated in Lorraine. He simplified the decoration of the frontispieces and related the design of the frontispiece to the meaning of the literary work. The prints in the UAG collection have been taken from the 1636 edition. The text can be seen at the back of certain prints. In fact, very few prints engraved by Callot survive in the form of books. In most cases, the illustrations have been cut out to be sold separately. This activity was common practice among print dealers at some point in time.
In Collection
Acquired by the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Pittsburgh from Theodore Huminski (1947).

Provenance research for this object (and group of objects from the lot) is currently being conducted. For any questions or information, please contact the University Art Gallery: uag@pitt.edu (please write "Callot Provenance" in the subject line)
Lieure, T.1, 2 (vol. 3), cat. 98

Matthews-Grieco, Sara-F., “Media, Memory and the Miracoli della SS Annunziata” in Word and Image, vol. 25, 3, 2009, p. 272-292
Please note that cataloging is ongoing and that some information may not be complete.