The J. Paul Getty Museum Manuscript Ludwig ⅩⅤ 13

The Fior di Battaglia of Fiore de’i Liberi

Fior di Battaglia ("The Flower of Battle", MS Ludwig ⅩⅤ 13) is an Italian fencing manual authored by Fiore de’i Liberi and dedicated to Niccolò III, Marquis d’Este. It is parchment in a tidy humanist script; the illustrations are inked drawings with gold leafing on the crowns and garters.

This facsimile is printed on heavy paper to simulate the weight and handling of the original parchment pages, and bound according to the current quire structure, including pages that were removed and later glued back in (sometimes in the wrong place!). It is bound in maroon kidskin modeled after the bindings used in the Estense Library where it once resided, with 7mm boards and blind tooling based on the current cover design.

As an optional add-on, buyers can request that varnish be added to the decorated initials and metallic ink be added to the gold leaf and silver enamel. Gilding for the edges, based on the gilding of the Morgan Library’s manuscript, is also available.

Edition size: 500 copies (300 standard, 50 with edge gilding, 150 with metallic ink)

$200
+$30
+$200

standard facsimile (sold out)
edge gilding (sold out)
metallic ink (sold out)

Funded 3 September 2020.

Gallery

Description

Fiore de’i Liberi of Cividale del Friuli was a late 14th century knight and fencing master. He spent his life in the border regions of the Holy Roman Empire, serving in various states that were culturally Italian but politically under the dominion of the German emperor. Fiore began his career in his native Patriarchate of Aquileia, eventually moved to the powerful Duchy of Milan, and may possibly have ended up in the rising Marquisate of Ferarra. During this time, he fought in at least one war (the Aquileian War of Succession), trained at least six knights and fighting men for duels, and fought five duels himself against other fencing masters. Then, at the beginning of the 15th century, he decided to prepare a treatise containing his martial teachings. He titled it Fior di Battaglia (“the Flower of Battle”).

The major sections of the treatise include grappling, the dagger, the sword in one hand, the sword in two hands, the sword in armor, the poleaxe in armor, the spear, and fighting on horseback (including the spear, the sword, and mounted grappling). Brief bridging sections connect each of these, covering such topics as baton vs dagger, dagger vs. sword, improvised defense against spearmen, and infantry vs cavalry.

The format of instruction is rather clever. Each section begins with a group of teachers in golden crowns who demonstrate particular guard positions. These are followed by another teacher called “remedy” who shows a defensive technique, and then by his various students in golden garters who show versions and variations of this remedy. After these scholars there is sometimes a teacher called “contrary”, wearing both crown and garter, who shows how to counter the remedy, and he may have his own scholars in garters. In rare cases, a fourth type appears called “contra-contrary”, who likewise wears the crown and garter and shows how to defeat the contrary. Some sections feature multiple remedies or contraries, while some have only one.

This treatise survives today in four manuscripts, one of which is reproduced here. That manuscript was dedicated to Niccolò Ⅲ d’Este, and in 1436 it was in the Estense Library and had a red cover. It seems to have disappeared from that library by 1467, and it floated through history unnoticed for centuries until it reached the collection of Luigi Celotti, who sold it in 1825. Its subsequent history is recorded inside the covers of the manuscript itself. It was purchased by the legendary collector Thomas Phillipps, who rebound it and designated it ms. 4204. His collection was so large that it took over a century to disperse after his death, but in 1966 the manuscript was finally sold to Peter and Irene Ludwig, who designated it ms. Ludwig ⅩⅤ 13. Their collection was ultimately sold to the Getty Museum in 1983, where the manuscript received the accession number 83.MR.183 and where it remains to this day.

The J. Paul Getty Museum Manuscript Ludwig ⅩⅤ 13

The Fior di Battaglia of Fiore de’i Liberi

$200+$30+$200

standard facsimile (sold out)edge gilding (sold out)metallic ink (sold out)

Gallery

$200
+$30
+$200

standard facsimile (sold out)
edge gilding (sold out)
metallic ink (sold out)