The Brunaille Illustrations Of The Flemish Artist Johannes Stradanus

Written By Andy Cropper
 

Originally shared: Saturday 5 December 2020

In connection with my current fascination with Dante and the first part of his Divine Comedy, 'Inferno' (specifically the first ring, Limbo), in my underpainting layers I've been closely considering the brunaille (link) illustrations of the Flemish artist Stradanus (a.k.a. Johannes Stradanus, Jan van der Straet or Giovanni Stradano (1523 – 2 November 1605) - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradanus ) who lived in 16th century Florence. I'm not slavishly recreating, but I am being heavily influenced by his work in this layer. You can see one of my paintings below but you can compare it with the many following images that were painted for a version of Dante's Divine Comedy around 1587-88 that unfortunately remained uncompleted.

Now, I am guessing here but, it looks like the paintings were painted in egg tempera (ground pigment mixed with egg yolk) painted on a ground of prepared vellum (calfskin). The pigments used appear to be Lamp Black (made from soot), Burnt Umber or Raw Umber, a brown pigment made from a richly coloured soil of the Umbria region of Italy, and  Lead White (though it could also be a white pigment made from crushed chalk or gypsum).

 

My painting - ‘Limbo: Painting - 'The Guardian of Clyde Road’, 2020.
Work in progress, the 6th of 9 layers - 'Underpainting - The B&W layer'

 

All illustrations that follow are by Giovanni Stradano, created around 1587-88, for a version of Dante’s Divine Comedy that was never completed. The original illustrations exist within the Laurentian Library of Florence (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana)
All photos: Public Domain, Wikimedia.org (link) photographed by Sailko.

 

Canto I
The Dark Forest.— The Hill of Difficulty. — The Panther, the Lion, and the Wolf.

Canto II
Beatrice, encouraged by the Virgin Mary and Saint Lucia, speaks with Virgil outside the Noble Castle in Limbo.

Canto III A
The Gate of Hell.

Canto III B
The Inefficient, Indecisive or Indifferent.— The Shores of Acheron.— Charon.— The Earthquake and the Swoon.

Canto IV
The First Circle.—Limbo, or the Border Land of the Unbaptized.—The Four Poets, Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan.—The Noble Castle of Philosophy.

Canto V
The Second Circle.—Minos.—The Wanton.—The Infernal Hurricane.—Francesca da Rimini.

Canto VI
The Third Circle.—Cerberus.—The Gluttonous.—The Eternal Rain.—Ciacco.

Canto VII
The Fourth Circle.—Plutus.—The Avaricious hoarders and the Prodigal spendthrifts.

Canto VIII
Phlegyas and the river Styx—Philippe Argenti.

Canto IX
The City of Dis and the refusal of entry.

Canto XII
The Seventh Circle.—The Violent.—Phlegethon.—The Violent against their Neighbors.—The Centaurs.—Tyrants.

Canto XIII
The Wood of Thorns/ The Wood of the Suicides—The Harpies.—The Violent against themselves.

Canto XVI
Guidoguerra, Aldobrandi, and Rusticucci.—Cataract of the River of Blood.

Canto XVII
Geryon, the fraudulant monster with an honest face—The Violent against Art.—Usurers.—Descent into the Abyss of Malebolge, the Eighth Circle.

Canto XVIII
The Eighth Circle: Malebolge.—The Fraudulent.—The First Bolgia: Seducers and Panders.—The Second Bolgia: Flatterers.

Canto XX
The Fourth Bolgia: False Prophets, Sorcerers, Diviners, Astrologers and Soothsayers.

Canto XXII
The brawl of the demons.

Canto XXIII
The Sixth Bolgia: Hypocrites.

Canto XXV
The obscene curse of Vanni.—The centaur Cacus.—The five thieves of Florence.—Transformations.

Canto XXVIII
The Ninth Bolgia: the Sowers of Discord.—The head of Bertrand de Born.

Canto XXX
Other Falsifiers or Forgers.—Schicchi bites Capocchio.

Canto XXXI
The Giants, Nimrod, Ephialtes, and Antaeus.—Lowering to the Ninth Circle: the Frozen Lake of Cocytus.

Canto XXXIII A
Count Ugolino and his sons.

Canto XXXIII B
Ptolomaea: the third region of Cocytus.—The banquet of Maccabaeus.

Canto XXXIV
Fourth Division of the Ninth Circle, the Judecca: Traitors to their Lords and Benefactors.—Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius.

"Map of the whole of Hell".

"Map of Lower Hell - Inside the walls of Dis".

 
Andy Cropper

[To fill in]

https://andy@andycropper.art
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