From 28th May to 14th September, the Lázaro Galdiano Foundation Museum presents an exceptional exhibition on the museum’s third floor, showcasing around thirty representative codices collected by José Lázaro Galdiano in the cities where he lived (Madrid, Paris and New York). This is a unique opportunity, as it marks the first time these works have been displayed together for public viewing.
Fundación Lázaro Galdiano is paying tribute to José Lázaro Galdiano's admiration for beautifully crafted and meticulously produced codices, created in medieval French, Italian and Flemish workshops. This exhibition honours the renowned collector and his passion for keeping these works together, highlighting volumes that, for Lázaro, were not only masterpieces from a bibliophile’s point of view but were also a museum in their own right. It also shines a light on the authors and artists he held in particular regard.
By the age of 22, José Lázaro Galdiano already owned an extraordinary collection of books, comprising a thousand volumes. His original library, considered one of the finest collections in Europe with 20,000 volumes, contains a treasure trove of bibliographic gems, including unique examples in terms of their rarity and beauty, from incunabula and manuscripts to illustrated books, printing masterpieces and other intriguing pieces.
Among the medieval codices, with texts of a religious, encyclopaedic or historical nature held in the Lázaro Library, visitors will be able to admire works such as Le Antiquité Judaique by Flavius Josephus, the Livre des Propriétés des Choses, a beautifully illuminated manuscript from the early fifteen century, an encyclopaedic work with miniatures at the beginning of each chapter. His collection of books of hours includes The Hastings Hours, a Flemish manuscript commissioned by William Hastings, Grand Chamberlain to Edward IV.
Other noted works in the collection include various incunabula, particularly the Sacramental by Sánchez Bercial and the Liber Chronicarum by the German humanist and historian Hartmann Schedel (1440-1514), who achieved the extraordinary feat of collating oral traditions that served as sources for this monumental work. Among the Spanish manuscripts, one of the most beautiful from the Golden Age is the Libro de Retratos by Pacheco, master and father-in-law of Velázquez, who sought to preserve the memory of fifty-six of the greatest geniuses of the time. The collection also features an album of illustrations by Berruguete for the Dukes of the Infantado, Pintura Sabia by Ricci, and Copy B of El Buscón by Francisco de Quevedo, which was likely used in the production of printed text.
Image credits:
- Koran. Kashmir Around 1770-1800. Manuscript. Inv 15653
- Flavius Josephus: L'Antiquité Judaïque et Bataille Judaïque. Rouen. Between 1460 and 1470. Manuscript. Inv 15322
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