Exhibitions

Renaissance bindings

Since the beginning, the Early Music Festival has been hosted by the Mikó Castle, which is now 400 years old, so the object of the month in July is linked to Renaissance art.

Two specific examples of Hungarian Renaissance binding from the 15th century are the incunabulas discovered in 1985: volumes 3-4 of Sententiarum libri IV. by Petrus Lombardus (c. 1095-1160), Italian theologian, bishop of Paris. Recognized as the founder of systematic theology thanks to the four books of sentences, in which he redistributed in matters, according to a thematic order, the knowledge accumulated by the Fathers of the Church. The volumes were printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberg after 1491.

The leather of the cover is ornamented in the style of the Lucanus group from Buda, at the end of the 15th century: the ornaments made with the technique of dry printing on the leather are distributed around the central circle, a very popular motif in the art of Hungarian Renaissance bookbinding. The Italian-Arab braids and those with curls are specifically Renaissance. Variants of tiny rosettes and Gothic flourishes are also frequently used on Hungarian Renaissance bindings.

The 3rd volume in the 17th century belonged to Mihály Dési, in 1675 Lázár Apor, vice-judge of the seat of Kézdi, donated it to an anonymous collector, and in 1681 it is already in the monastery of Şumuleu. The 4th volume in the 16th century belonged to the Franciscan monastery in Cluj, and from 1664 it was already in Șumuleu.

The objects are on display at the museum's ticket office, and can be admired from Tuesday to Sunday, daily between 9:00 and 17:00.

Year

2023

Month

July

Type

Old books