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Lot Essay
BORSO D'ESTE, 1ST DUKE OF FERRARA, MODENA AND REGGIO
(1413 - 1471; reigned 1450 - 1471)
Borso was the son of Niccolò III d'Este (1384 - 1441), who had made Ferrara a center of arts and letters and had greatly increased the power of the d'Este family by playing his more powerful neighbors against each other. But it was under Niccolò's successors that the court of the Este became one of the most brilliant in Europe.
Two of Niccolò's illegitimate sons succeded him. The first, Lionello (1407 - 1450), who reigned from 1441 - 1450, had even further enhanced Ferrara as a cultural center where such artists as Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini, Rogier van der Weyden and Andrea Mantegna were all working. The second, Borso, who from 1430 to 1450 had been consumed with military campaigns, returned to Ferrara in 1445 to assist Lionello in the administration of the Este territories. In 1450, he succeeded his brother. In 1452 he was invested as Duke of Modena and Reggio by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III and in 1471 given the title of Duke of Ferrara by Pope Paul II. Despite some military failures, Borso was a shrewd ruler -- as well as patron of the arts -- he was well aware of the power of artistic propaganda and exploited it successfully.
Borso's library was celebrated. The humanists Baptista Guarini (1458 - 1505), son of Guarino da Verona, and Ludovico Carbone (1435 - 1482) both received his support. Guarini was equally important to Borso as a diplomat. Carbone recorded court life in his orations and verse; his translation of Sallust's catilinarian reveals an interest in Republican Roman history and indicates the important role of the vernacular at court. Borso, who apparently knew no Latin, unlike Lionello, did not attempt to write sonnets or give orations in Latin but perhaps realized books were valuable as enhancers of his image. The Bible of Borso, now in the Este Library at Modena, is perhaps his most important contribution as a bibliophile. It required eight years to complete and ensured work for countless illuminators and miniaturists. Strangely, by 1468, the number of books in Borso's library had declined to 148, compared with the 276 recoded in Lionello's library.
Borso, who had never married, died in Ferrara on August 2, 1471 and the Dukedom was inherited by his half-brother, Niccolò III d'Este's legitimate son Ercole I d'Este (1431 - 1505).
THE SWAYTHLING HEIRLOOMS
Samuel Montagu, first Baron Swaythling (1832 - 1911), was a distinguished foreign exchange banker and prominent Jewish philanthropist. The book collection, along with a distinguished collection of silver, furniture and pictures, all formed part of the Swaythling Heirlooms. These were sold in a series of sales at Christie's from May 6 - 8, 1924. Townhill Park and its interiors were chronicled extensively by R. R. Phillips in Country Life, 14 April, 1923, vol. 53, pp. 502 - 509 and April 21, vol. 53, pp. 536 - 537.
(1413 - 1471; reigned 1450 - 1471)
Borso was the son of Niccolò III d'Este (1384 - 1441), who had made Ferrara a center of arts and letters and had greatly increased the power of the d'Este family by playing his more powerful neighbors against each other. But it was under Niccolò's successors that the court of the Este became one of the most brilliant in Europe.
Two of Niccolò's illegitimate sons succeded him. The first, Lionello (1407 - 1450), who reigned from 1441 - 1450, had even further enhanced Ferrara as a cultural center where such artists as Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini, Rogier van der Weyden and Andrea Mantegna were all working. The second, Borso, who from 1430 to 1450 had been consumed with military campaigns, returned to Ferrara in 1445 to assist Lionello in the administration of the Este territories. In 1450, he succeeded his brother. In 1452 he was invested as Duke of Modena and Reggio by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III and in 1471 given the title of Duke of Ferrara by Pope Paul II. Despite some military failures, Borso was a shrewd ruler -- as well as patron of the arts -- he was well aware of the power of artistic propaganda and exploited it successfully.
Borso's library was celebrated. The humanists Baptista Guarini (1458 - 1505), son of Guarino da Verona, and Ludovico Carbone (1435 - 1482) both received his support. Guarini was equally important to Borso as a diplomat. Carbone recorded court life in his orations and verse; his translation of Sallust's catilinarian reveals an interest in Republican Roman history and indicates the important role of the vernacular at court. Borso, who apparently knew no Latin, unlike Lionello, did not attempt to write sonnets or give orations in Latin but perhaps realized books were valuable as enhancers of his image. The Bible of Borso, now in the Este Library at Modena, is perhaps his most important contribution as a bibliophile. It required eight years to complete and ensured work for countless illuminators and miniaturists. Strangely, by 1468, the number of books in Borso's library had declined to 148, compared with the 276 recoded in Lionello's library.
Borso, who had never married, died in Ferrara on August 2, 1471 and the Dukedom was inherited by his half-brother, Niccolò III d'Este's legitimate son Ercole I d'Este (1431 - 1505).
THE SWAYTHLING HEIRLOOMS
Samuel Montagu, first Baron Swaythling (1832 - 1911), was a distinguished foreign exchange banker and prominent Jewish philanthropist. The book collection, along with a distinguished collection of silver, furniture and pictures, all formed part of the Swaythling Heirlooms. These were sold in a series of sales at Christie's from May 6 - 8, 1924. Townhill Park and its interiors were chronicled extensively by R. R. Phillips in Country Life, 14 April, 1923, vol. 53, pp. 502 - 509 and April 21, vol. 53, pp. 536 - 537.