A white vine-stem or white vine is a kind of border or initial decoration found in illuminated manuscripts and incunabula. Sometimes the Italian term bianchi girari is also used in English.
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The decoration consists of entangled white vines, usually contrasted with a colourful background. The stems themselves are often simply parchment left unpainted. It became popular among Florentine illuminators in the early 15th century, as a conscious imitation of forms found in Romanesque illuminated manuscripts, thought at the time to be antique forms. For this reason, it was considered suitable to use white vine-stems to decorate texts by classical authors and humanist books.[1][2] From Florence the use of white vine-stems as a decorative element later spread to Rome and Naples, not least through the prolific work of Gioacchino de’ Gigantibus, during the second half of the century.[3]
References edit
- ^ "White vine-stem". Glossary of the British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts. British Library. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ Irvine, O. H. (2003). "White vine". In Brigstocke, Hugh (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191727597.
- ^ "Gioacchino de' Gigantibus, f. 1450-1485". Vatican Library. Retrieved 4 October 2021.