[Post Incunable] - Vigerio - Decachordum - 1507

THE DECAkORDER OF SALVATION: BETWEEN MYSTIC ICONOGRAPHY AND ROVERESQUE POWER AT THE DAWN OF THE 1500s
Marco Vigerio’s Decachordum Christianum emerges as one of the most fascinating and complex syntheses of theology, image, and ecclesiastical propaganda in early Renaissance. Published in 1507 from Girolamo Soncino’s workshop, this sumptuous princeps edition unites a refined doctrinal construction with an iconographic apparatus of extraordinary visual power, in which the life and mysteries of Christ are transfigured into symbolic and narrative sequences. The work, dedicated to Julius II, reflects the intertwining of devotion, politics, and the representation of the sacred, establishing itself as a true prestige object of cultural and spiritual life. The richness of the woodcuts and the typographic quality make it a total book, in which word and image cooperate to build a highly evocative theological language destined to influence the contemporary plastic arts as well.
MARKET VALUE
Copies of the 1507 princeps, especially if complete and with an integral illustrative apparatus, are highly sought after. The market generally records valuations between €12,000 and €30,000, with excellent specimens that can exceed this range. Damaged copies or those with additions, as in the present case, realistically fall between €7,000 and €15,000, yet still maintaining strong collecting interest for the iconographic quality and historical relevance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full crimson morocco binding (eighteenth-century), spine with raised bands and gilded tooling on compartments and title on a spine label, colored edges, decorated endpapers. Frontispiece within an elegant phytomorphic woodcut border on a black ground with a large cardinal’s shield at the center. The illustrative apparatus consists of 8 of ten full-page woodcuts within ornamental borders and numerous vignettes in the text depicting episodes from the life of Christ. Marginal wear, more evident on the latest leaves; front free endpaper mildly browned; reinforcements at the junctions A1, C8 and section E; some foxing and stains; binding repair with a slightly torn leaf without loss of text; some leaves yellowed. In old books, with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 14nn; 492; 32; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Decachordum Christianum Iulio II Pont. Max. dicatum
Fano, Hieronymus Soncinus, 1507.
Marco Vigerio.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Decachordum unfolds in ten books, each introduced by a large woodcut, following a symbolic structure that evokes the perfect and harmonious number of the “decakord,” a metaphor for divine order. The work addresses central themes of Christian theology—from the life and passion of Christ to the nature of angels—through brief treatises that combine scholastic erudition with visionary tension. The iconographic apparatus is not merely a complement, but an integral part of the theological discourse: the images translate complex concepts into a visual form, creating a continuous dialogue between text and image. In this sense, the volume places itself in a line of thought that anticipated important developments in Renaissance art; some scholars have hypothesized an indirect relationship with Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel iconographic program, particularly as regards the genealogy of Christ. The work also represents a powerful instrument of self-representation for the Della Rovere family, situating itself within the political and cultural context of Julius II’s papacy.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Marco Vigerio della Rovere (1446–1516), cardinal and archbishop, was a prominent figure in the Roman curia during the height of the Renaissance. Related to Pope Julius II, he played a significant role in the political and ecclesiastical life of his time. A humanist and theologian, he distinguished himself by a literary production that blends doctrine and rhetoric, aligned with the cultural climate of renewal and magnificence promoted by the Rovere Rome.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Fano by Girolamo Soncino, a member of the famous Jewish-born typographic dynasty who converted, the 1507 edition represents the first and most important appearance of the work. The printing, produced with considerable economic expenditure (traditionally noted at 181 ducati), testifies to the high technical and artistic level reached by Soncino’s workshop. The edition was not widely circulated, aimed at a select audience of ecclesiastics and humanists, a factor that today contributes to the work’s rarity on the market.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16 (ICCU): CNCE 63347 (volumes cataloged in Italian libraries)
Essling, Les livres à figures vénitiens, I, p. 145
Mortimer, Harvard Italian 16th Century Books, n. 537
Sander, Le livre à figures italien, n. 7589
WorldCat: record for the Fano 1507 edition with institutional holdings
Treccani, entry “Marco Vigerio della Rovere” (for historical and interpretive context)
ISTC (for comparison with contemporaneous Soncino production, data to be verified for the specific edition)