Symbolism of Book in the European Painting 15.-17. Century

Wydanie publikacji dofinansowane przez Komitet Badań NaukowychScrolls and codices were very often depicted in the old painting both in the religious and secular pieces of art. Siiice Protorenaissance the Announciation became very popular motif in the Southern as well as in the Northern Europe. Among the painters who were interested in such representations were for example: Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Sandro Botticelli or Leonardo da Vinci. In most of these pictures book played an extremely important role (usually it was the Bible or a prayer-book). The Announciation by Gentile da Fabriano belongs to the most puzzling examples. The book, lying on the table in front of Maria, is open so we can recognize the words of Saint Lucas the Evangelist (1,38): „Ecce and...” . These phrases make the whole scene complete and fully intelligibe. The moment the Archangel arrives, Maria is usually immersed in reading. The book lying on the reading desk, table or kept by her in hand is probably the story of her further life. On the other hand books were treated not only as sacred scrolls but also objects of daily use. This is the way Carlo Crivelli depicted them in his picture (The Announciation with Saint Emidius, 1486). The author of this article wanted to emphasize how important scrolls and codices were for the interpretation and composition paintings depicting the Announciation. The variety of book representations in the old painting let us conclude they were cruciad elements of many other works of art.Zadanie pt. Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę