Studies on Book Illumination in Venice during
the Nineteenth Century: Cesare Foucard's Lecture
at the Accademia di Belle Arti (1857)
On the 9th of August 1857, upon a proposal from Pietro
Selvatico (1803-1880), the archivist Cesare Foucard (1825-
1892) gave a lecture on Venetian illuminated manuscripts
at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, which summarized
the studies he had been carrying out emulating the first
investigative essays on book decoration. Foucard focused
his speech on secular illuminations, for example the
ones included in documents produced by the Cancelleria
Ducale. The published lecture provides us with precious
informations on the Serenissima's artistic relics collection
fortune and includes three engravings illustrating a few
miniatures, that were attached at request of Foucard and
Selvatico in order to supply history painters with a useful
iconographic repertoire.