Master of the Codex Coburgensis
( fl 155055). Italian draughtsman. He executed a collection of 282 drawings of antiquities, with a preponderance of reliefs, which was acquired on the Roman art market in 1870 and 1872 by the Frankfurt dealer Jacob Gerson (18211903), Consul General for Saxony, and presented by him to Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (reg 184493) as a gift. It has since been known as the Codex Coburgensis, although it is a portfolio, and is today housed in the Kupferstichkabinett der Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Coburg (inv. no. Hz 2). Little is known of its history before its acquisition by Gerson; however, watermarks on the paper of the drawings and the locations where the antiquities depicted were earlier preserved both indicate a mid-16th-century origin in Rome and its neighbourhood. It is likely that the collection of drawings was commissioned by Cardinal Marcello Cervini (150155), who reigned as Pope Marcellus II for a few days in 1555. He was a great scholar, with an interest in the study of antiquity, who is known to have commissioned editions of antique inscriptions and illustrated works on antique sculpture in connection with the foundation of a Vitruvian academy. The dates of discovery of some of the antiquities depicted in the Codex Coburgensis suggest that the work was undertaken towards the end of his life.
Part of the Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists family
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