SAVONAROLA'S MASTERPIECE

SAVONAROLA, GIROLAMO.

Triumphus crucis, de fidei veritate. {i.e. "Triumph of the Cross"].

Venice, Luca Olchiense, 1517 8vo. In contemporary full vellum. Title-page with woodcut vignette, rapaired at bottom, not affecting text or vignette. Three small holes to title-page and round stamp to lower part of title-page and last leaf, not affecting text or vignette. Small repair to lower part of M1, not affecting text. 112 ff.

Rare second latin edition of Savonarola's perhaps most famous and influential work, his spiritual masterpiece, essentially a celebration of the victory of the Cross over sin and death and an exploration of what it means to be a Christian.
On 12 May 1497, Pope Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola and threatened the Florentines with an interdict if they persisted in harbouring him. On 18 March 1498, after much debate and steady pressure from the government, he withdrew from public preaching. Under the stress of excommunication, Savonarola composed the present work.

"In his religious treatise, The Triumph of the Cross, Savonarola draws on classical triumphal imagery and the tradition of Florentine pageantry, as he allegorically depicts the triumph of Christianity in the form of a triumphal procession. Since it is difficult for the human mind to imagine the supernatural and invisible works of Christ, the friar argues, they need to be presented and visualized in metaphorical form. The image of the triumphal chariot serves this purpose well." (Uppsala Universitet, Renässansen - mellan medeltid och modernitet).

Luca Olchiense was active as printer for a very short period of time (1517-18), and the present work is one of the few he managed to complete.

Adams S520

Order-nr.: 53848