Savonarola in his cell
Designer: Murray, Charles Fairfax
Engraved woodblock for the title page illustration of, Girolamo Savonarola, Epistola de contemptu mundi ..., edited by Charles Fairfax Murray from the original autograph letter (Kelmscott Press, 1894). Woodblock composed of three blocks joined together and held in place by two wooden pins positioned along each of the longer edges. The engraved image shows the Dominican Friar, Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) writing at a desk. An hour glass and devotional statuettes of the Virgin and Child and crucified Christ stand on the desk in front of him. Various manuscripts and missals lie open or are stacked on or around the desk.
Given by Charles Fairfax Murray, 1917
Method of acquisition: Given (1917) by Murray, Charles Fairfax
19th Century
Production date:
circa
AD 1894
Edited by Charles Fairfax Murray from the original autograph letter of December 5, 1485 written by Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) and sent to his mother, Elena Buonaccorsi, in consolation for her brother's death, Epistola de contemptu mundi di Frate Hieronymo da Ferrara dellordine de Frati Predicatori la Quale Manda ad Elena Buonaccorsi Sua Madre, per consolarla della morte del Fratello, suo zio, was privately printed for Murray by the Kelmscott Press in December 1894, with 50 paper copies and 6 copies on vellum produced. Murray owned the original autograph letter by Savonarola for a time, bought from Mario Foresi, until he sold it in 1903. The block was cut by William H. Hooper. See also electrotyped replica, P.15122-R. For details on the history and production of Murray's Epistola de contemptu mundi ..., see Victoria Kirkham, 'Two letters relocated: Savonarola and Castiglione at Philadelphia's Rosenbach', Lettere Italiane, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Ottobre-Dicembre 1986), pp. 514-524. Murray's design reproduces many of the elements of the woodcut illustration of Savonarola writing in his cell which was published in Savonarola's tract, De Simplicitate Christianae Vitae (The Simplicity of the Christian Life) (published Florence, 1496). See, PB 70.8-2020.
Accession number: P.15123-R
Primary reference Number: 317452
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Savonarola in his cell" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317452 Accessed: 2025-12-10 19:27:25
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/317452
|title=Savonarola in his cell
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-10 19:27:25|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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