Frontispiece to a Ducale, issued by the Doge of Venice, Andreas Gritti. Venice, c. 1523-

£4,250 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

The frontispiece of a Ducale, presented to Sebastiano Contarini by Andreas Gritti (1455-1538), Doge of Venice from 1523 to 1538. Each Ducale recorded a commission authorised by the Doge and was usually finely illuminated and bound in an elaborate morocco binding; they are found from the beginning of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century, this being an early example. The oval portrait of St Sebastian in the border is a nod to the name of the Ducale’s recipient, Sebastiano. This ducal commission appoints Contarini to govern the island of Kephalonia for two years, which Venice had taken control of from the Turks in 1500 and would rule until the eighteenth century. In 1504, a treaty gave Venice control of the island; thus while the rest of Greece was ruled by the Turks, the Ionian islands were governed by the Venetians, who granted tax exemptions and land to settlers from Turkish controlled areas. Scant surviving records suggest that Contarini appears to have held several diplomatic posts in Venetian-owned territories; a record of one of his previous appointments is preserved in a recently discovered painting by Vittore Carpaccio of “Sebastiano Contarini’s entry into Capodistria [now Koper, Slovenia] as Podesta”, dated 1517. The present document outlines the role, the remuneration, and the conditions of his appointment, including forbidding owning possessions there or marrying a local inhabitant. The Contarini family was one of the 12 families who elected the first doge

• Binding: Hardcover

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