2.3. APRENDIZAJE SIGNIFICATIVO
2.3.4. Características
Ficino’s manuscripts are typical scholarly notebooks: they are the result of his readings and studies and are intended for private use. Thus they were produced and arranged without any particular aesthetic purpose: the type of script used by the Florentine scholar reflects this process. Indeed, neither the script that Ficino used when transcribing the Greek texts nor the script that he used for the sets of notes and Latin excerpts are what we would define as book hands. Such scripts present a variety of aspects falling into the category of informal scripts that Renaissance scholars used in the course of their readings.
In a recent publication edited by Edoardo Crisci and Paola Degni, Ficino’s Greek hand has been included in a category of humanist scripts defined as ʽricercate e ricche di stilemi barocchiʼ.64 Nevertheless, if we analyse Ficino’s Greek hand in detail, we may readily call such a definition into question.
Unlike baroque hands, the script that Ficino used for transcribing the Greek texts in his notebooks is characterized by a high degree of legibility, as exemplified by the clear division between single letters and single words. The set of letter-shapes essentially corresponds to the modern one, but is limited: only few letters have variations; abbreviations are scant. Furthermore, ligatures are reduced to a minimum −letters rather bite each other− and do not deform or distort the
ductus of the letters. Given these key features, we may argue that Ficino’s hand belongs to those humanist scripts that are heavily reliant on Manuel Chrysoloras’s influence and teaching.
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Manuel Chrysoloras arrived at Florence in 1397 and during the three he spent teaching in the city he revived the study of Greek in the West.65 His handwriting was the concrete tool that enabled his disciples to become familiar with the Greek script. Therefore, it was intended for practical goals, aiming at both rapidity and clarity. As a result, Chrysoloras’s script became the graphic model that inspired several generations of scholars.
Ficino’s script is therefore consistent with those scripts that Daniele Bianconi defines as having ʽuna certa allure crisolorinaʼ.66 This does not mean that his script represents a case of graphic mimesis, i.e. a mechanical reproduction of Chrysoloras’s handwriting, but that Ficino’s hand is rather the result of the same functional purposes: rapidity and clarity.
I shall now analyse in detail some characteristic features of Ficino’s Greek hand, which have not yet been extensively described by scholars. As pointed out above, it is not a book hand but a quite rapid and fluent informal script. The Florentine scholar tends to write with a thick ductus, which we similarly detect in his Latin script and which I shall describe in the next section. Ficino’s script shows a slight degree of contrast in the size of the letters, between letters projecting above or below (δ, β, ζ, θ, κ, λ, ν,
ξ
, ρ, τ, φ, χ, ψ), which interrupt the regular rhythm of the script, and smaller letters (α, γ, ε, η, ι, µ, ο, π, σ, υ, ω). The script is predominantly minuscule, but there is often a coexistence of65 For a detailed account of Manuel Chrysoloras and his activity, see Manuele Crisolora e il
ritorno del greco in Occidente, Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Napoli, 26-29 giugno 1997), ed.
by Riccardo Maisano e Antonio Rollo (Naples: D’Auria, 2002). See also Giuseppe Cammelli, I
dotti bizantini e le origini dell’Umanesimo, I: Manuele Crisolora (Florence: Centro Nazionale di
Studi sul Rinascimento, 1941); Nigel Wilson, Da Bisanzio all’Italia, Gli Studi Greci
nell’Umanesimo Italiano (Alessandria: Dell’Orso, 2000), pp. 9-15; For a descripion of the scripts
influenced by Chrysoloras, see Bianconi ʽLa minuscola greca dal 1204 al 1453 (e oltre)ʼ in La
scrittura greca dall’Antichità all’epoca della stampa, p. 31.
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minuscule and majuscule letters (γ,η,θ, κ, τ,φ). The use of abbreviation is limited to the conjunction καί, the ending –εν (only in the form µέν) and the consonants στ. The limited use of ligatures concerns ου, ει, ερ, and ευ. Iota and ypsilon are sometimes provided with a trema. We shall now describe form and ductus of the most peculiars letters of Ficino’s script:
• beta: minuscule, is formed by a vertical stroke extending beyond the baseline and by a three-like stroke;
• gamma: there are two types, the former type is bigger, majuscule but small sized. The vertical stroke often touches the following letter; the latter type is minuscule;
•delta, minuscule, it is drawn so that the ascender is parallel to the baseline; •zeta shows the typical three-like form;
•eta, majuscule, small sized and tends to be squared;
•theta, majuscule, narrow and upright; the central dot is quite often touching the following letter;
•ny, minuscule; extremely narrow and upright; it looks like a minuscule gamma; •pi is drawn in three movements and tends to be squared. Sometimes it is drawn in two movements and has two loops;
•tau is drawn in two different ways: it may be either minuscule or majuscule; the minuscule one is bigger, with the headstroke very much extending to the left; sometimes it is drawn by forming a loop and curving the lower part of the shaft. The curved shaft is often touching the following vowel. The majuscule one is smaller in format: the headstroke is perpendicular to the shaft and it is often touching the preceding or following letter;
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•phi is majuscule and is drawn by extending the central stroke above or below the base line: the letter is touching the following letter;
• chi is formed by crossing two slightly curved stokes, forming ʽxʼ and standing out in the writing space due to his larger size;
•psi : is shaped like a cross, by drawing two perpendicular stokes.
I summarize what I have described so far in the following table: Table 4 Letters Abbreviations and Ligatures SPECIMENS
β
γ
δ
ζ
η
θ
ν
π
τ
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φ
χ
ψ
καί
στ
µέν
ου
ει
ερ
ευ
By analysing Ficino’s script in quires 1 and 18 of MS Ambr. F 19 sup., one can detect some ligatures and abbreviations that are not used in the sectio prior (table 5):
•use of the ligatureφρ;
•use of abbreviation for the endings –ον, –ων; •use of abbreviation for the ending –εν in any case;
53 •letters piled up in final position.
Table 5
SECTIO RECENTIOR SPECIMENS
•ligatureφρ •abbreviation for –ον •abbreviation for –ων •abbreviation for –εν •letters piled up •letter piled up •letters piled up
The use of these forms seems to be the result of a precise strategy, reflecting a tight connection between the textual material and the medium for writing. Once the sectiorecentior is added and a second binding is performed, the notebook completes its ʽgrowthʼ and acquires its final arrangement. Thus when copying the text, Ficino seeks to make sure that the excerpts fit perfectly into the definitive and limited writing space available. In order to achieve this goal, the
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Florentine scholar resorts to specific means: the script becomes more compressed and abbreviations are used more extensively.
As we shall see in Chapter III, this palaeographical aspect is consistent with a different way of making up the excerpts and managing the set of texts transcribed in the sectio recentior.
At fol. 58r, which is the first folio of quire 5, starting from l. 10, one can detect a considerable and isolated change, which interrupts the continuity of the general appearance of the script: the ductus gets slower and the drawing of the letters becomes more rigid. From the end of l. 14, the letters tend to get squared and smaller and to be drawn in a paler ink. As mentioned above, what makes the phenomenon unusual is the fact that it is isolated: starting from fol. 58v, the script recovers its main features and general aspect.
At a glance, this sudden change, together with a set of errors that are corrected by using a thicker and more fluid script, might suggest that in this isolated part of the manuscript the transcription was performed by somebody else. When detecting the phenomenon, Henry ascribes it to a change in the writing instrument.67
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Figure 20. Fol. 58r ll. 10-21: change of hand?
An analysis of the letter-forms and their ductus makes it possible to detect a few differences (table 6):
•we detect a minuscule alpha, formed by a single stroke and drawn in a single movement, which is consistent with the type that is present in the rest of the manuscript. Besides this form, there is a majuscule alpha formed by a lobe and a descender;
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•beta is similar to those that are visible in the rest of the manuscript, but the letter is drawn without extending the mainstroke below the base-line and looks like a majuscule letter;
•delta may be majuscule, triangular, provided with a curl at the top of the descender; otherwise, it is minuscule but it is drawn differently. Unlike in the rest of the manuscript, the ascender is not parallel to the baseline;
•a minuscule epsilon alternates with a majuscule epsilon, formed by a semicircular lobe and a central upright stroke;
•besides a majuscule theta, one can detect a minuscule theta, which represents an unicum in the whole manuscript;
•my has a different ductus: the letter does not have any strokes dropping the base line and in some cases it is very similar to a majuscule my;
•double
τ
is usually formed by a majuscule tau and a minuscule tau, which is bigger. By contrast, in this section of the manuscript, it is formed by two majuscule letters, having different size.Table 6
LETTERS