View source for Squarcialupi Codex

{{Short description|Fifteenth-century musical manuscript in Florence}}
{{Infobox manuscript
| name                  = Squarcialupi Codex
| location              = [[ Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana]], Florence
| image                 = Francesco Landini, Squarcialupi Codex, page 246.jpg
| width                 = 300px
| caption               = Illustration showing [[Francesco Landini]] playing a [[portative organ]]
| alt                   = 
| Also known as         = Codex Squarcialupi
| Type                  = [[codex]]
| Date                  = approximately 1410–1415
| Place of origin       = [[Florence]]
| Language(s)           = ''volgare''
| Scribe(s)             = 
| Author(s)             = {{ubl|[[Giovanni da Cascia]]|[[Jacopo da Bologna]]|[[Gherardello da Firenze]]|[[Vincenzo da Rimini]]|[[Lorenzo da Firenze]]|[[Donato da Firenze]]|[[Niccolò da Perugia]]|[[Bartolino da Padova]]|[[Francesco Landini]]|[[Egidius de Francia|Egidius]] and [[Guilielmus de Francia]]|[[Zacara da Teramo]]|[[Andrea da Firenze]]}}
| Compiled by           = 
| Illuminated by        = [[Lorenzo Monaco]] and circle
| Patron                = 
| Dedicated to          = 
| Material              = [[parchment]]
| Size                  = 
| Format                = 
| Condition             = 
| Script                = 
| Contents              = 
| Illumination(s)       = 
| Additions             = 
| Exemplar(s)           = 
| Previously kept       = {{ubl|[[Antonio Squarcialupi]]|Raffaello Bonamici, his nephew|[[Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici]]|[[Biblioteca Palatina]]}}
| Discovered            = 
| Accession             = Mediceo Palatino 87
| Other                 = 
| below                 = 
}}

The '''Squarcialupi Codex''' (Florence, [[Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana]], MS Mediceo Palatino 87) is an illuminated manuscript compiled in [[Florence]] in the early fifteenth century.{{r|grove}} It is named for the noted fifteenth-century organist [[Antonio Squarcialupi]], who owned it.{{r|hoppin|p=448}}

It is the single largest primary source of secular polyphonic music of the [[Trecento]] – the [[Music of the Trecento|Italian ''ars nova'']] – and contains the largest surviving collection of the compositions of [[Francesco Landini]]. The illuminated portraits of the musicians are attributed to [[Lorenzo Monaco]] and his circle. It is not known by whom, for what purpose, nor under whose [[patronage]] the compilation was made.{{r|camb|p=202}} 

== The manuscript ==

It consists of 216 parchment folios, organized by composer, with each composer's section beginning with a portrait of the composer richly illuminated in gold, red, blue and purple.  The manuscript is in good condition, and musical pieces are complete. Included in the codex are 146 complete pieces by [[Francesco Landini]], 37 by [[Bartolino da Padova]], 36 by [[Niccolò da Perugia]], 29 by [[Andrea da Firenze]], 28 by [[Jacopo da Bologna]], 17 by [[Lorenzo da Firenze]], 16 by [[Gherardello da Firenze]], 15 by [[Donato da Cascia]], 12 pieces by [[Giovanni da Cascia]], 6 by [[Vincenzo da Rimini]], and smaller amounts of music by others.  It contains 16 blank folios, intended for the music of [[Paolo da Firenze]], since they are labeled as such and include his portrait; the usual presumption by scholars is that Paolo's music was not ready at the time the manuscript was compiled, since he was away from Florence until 1409. There is also a section marked out for [[Giovanni Mazzuoli]] which contains no music.

The manuscript was almost certainly compiled in Florence at the monastery of [[Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence|Santa Maria degli Angeli]], probably in about 1410–1415.  Because the same unidentified family seal appears on the first folio of the manuscript and on the portrait page of [[Paolo da Firenze]], it was long suggested that Paolo may have had some part in supervising the effort or have been part of the family that commissioned the manuscript. However, more recent evidence about the biography and in particular poor finances of Paolo has his connection to financing the manuscript unlikely.  The manuscript was owned by renowned organist Antonio Squarcialupi in the middle of the 15th century, then by his nephew, and then passed into the estate of [[Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici]], who gave it to the [[Biblioteca Palatina]] in the early 16th century.  At the end of the 18th century, it passed into the ownership of the [[Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana]].

The first folio in the codex states:  "This book is owned by [[Antonio Squarcialupi|Antonio di Bartolomeo Squarcialupi]], organist of Santa Maria del Fiore."  On the following pages, added later, are humanistic poems in praise of Squarcialupi.{{r|grove2|trecc}}

All of the compositions in the codex are secular songs in the ''volgare'', the predecessor of Italian. There are 227 [[ballate]], 115 [[Madrigal (Trecento)|madrigal]]s and 12 [[caccia (music)|cacce]], making 354 in all; 150 of the pieces are ''[[:wikt:unicum|unica]]'', found in no other source.{{r|grove}} They can be dated to the period from 1340 to 1415.{{cn|date=January 2025}} Notably absent are Italian pieces by [[Johannes Ciconia]], a northerner transplanted into Italy.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name=camb>Margot Fassler (2018). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-medieval-music/music-and-prosopography/AABBDF7F485C6842EB25A9E2EDB142B7 Music and Prosopography]. In: Mark Everist, Thomas Forrest Kelly (editors) (2018). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-medieval-music/volume-i/6D283AF1AE2E372AA787241837D8937F ''The Cambridge History of Medieval Music''], volume 1. The Cambridge History of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{doi|10.1017/9780511979866}}: 176-209.</ref>

<ref name=grove>Kurt von Fischer, Gianluca D'Agostino (2001). [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-90000382151 Sources, manuscript: Italian polyphony, c1325–c1420]. ''Grove Music Online''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{doi|10.1093/omo/9781561592630.013.90000382151}}. {{subscription required}}.</ref>

<ref name=grove2>Kurt von Fischer, Gianluca D'Agostino (2001). [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026473 Squarcialupi, Antonio [Antonio degli Organi, Antonio di Bartolomeo, Antonio del Bessa&#93;]. ''Grove Music Online''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{doi|10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26473}}. {{subscription required}}.</ref>

<ref name=hoppin>Richard H. Hoppin (1978). [https://archive.org/details/medievalmusic00hopp/page/448/mode/1up ''Medieval Music'']. The Norton Introduction to Music History. New York; London: W. W. Norton & Company. {{isbn|0393090906}}.</ref>

<ref name=trecc>Alessandra Fiori (2018). [https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/antonio-squarcialupi_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ Squarcialupi, Antonio] (in Italian). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', volume 93. Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed January 2025.</ref>

}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/MMDB/Mss/SQ.htm La Trobe University Library Medieval Music Database]

{{Music of the Trecento}}
{{Medieval music manuscript sources}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Music of the Trecento]]
[[Category:1410s books]]
[[Category:15th-century illuminated manuscripts]]
[[Category:Music illuminated manuscripts]]
[[Category:Medieval music manuscript sources]]
[[Category:Music of Italy]]