Alexander Matthaeus - Synodi Ferrariensis - 1781

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IL SINODO DI FERRARA SOTTO PIO VI – GRANDE EDIZIONE FIGURATA CON FRONTESPIZIO IN ROSSO E NERO – 1781
Important document of the Ferrara Church in the age of Pius VI: the synod celebrated by Cardinal Alessandro Mattei in June 1781, with a grand episcopal coat of arms, allegorical engravings, patron saints of Ferrara, and an articulated codification of faith, sacraments, marriage, clerical discipline, and religious life.
ABSTRACT
Important and scenographic original edition of the Diocesan Synod of Ferrara of 1781, convened and promulgated by Alessandro Mattei, cardinal and archbishop of Ferrara, during the pontificate of Pius VI. The monumental title page, elegantly printed in red and black, identifies the event with precision: Synodus Dioecesana quam sub faustissimis auspiciis Sanctissimi in Christo Patris Pii Papae Sexti... D. Alexander Cardinalis Matthaejus Archiepiscopus Ferrariensis in Ecclesia Metropolitana celebravit diebus V, VI, VII mensis Junii anno MDCCLXXXI. The print was produced in Ferrara by Bernardino Pomatelli, archiepiscopal printer. It is not merely a liturgical book, but the true religious and disciplinary constitution of the Ferrara diocese at the end of the Ancien Régime. The synod sets forth norms concerning the profession of the Catholic faith, heresies and prohibited books, preaching, Sacred Scripture, sacraments, baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders and marriage, to be followed by festivities, ecclesiastical functions, and clergy conduct. Particularly interesting is the section devoted to marriage, which addresses impediments, publication of banns, duties of parish priests, and the moral discipline of the faithful. The work is enriched by a significant figurative apparatus: a large cardinal’s coat of arms of Alessandro Mattei, allegorical vignettes, historiated initials, a large plate with the Virgin and Saints George and Maurus, patrons of Ferrara, and several engravings placed at the opening of sections, including the Mystic Lamb and allegorical compositions relating to faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical discipline.

WHY TO BUY
HISTORY OF FERRARA – A work closely tied to the ecclesiastical and institutional history of the city.
RICH ICONOGRAPHIC APPARATUS – Numerous engravings, red-and-black title page, and the great coat of arms of Cardinal Mattei.
HISTORICAL INTEREST – Valuable testimony of ecclesiastical Italy during the pontificate of Pius VI.
DECORATIVE EXEMPLAR – Seventeenth-century volume with strong visual impact and collecting interest.

MARKET VALUE
A well-presented antique item thanks to its Ferrara provenance, seven-teenth-century printing, the bi-chrome title page, and especially the iconographic apparatus. Indicative antique value: €400–600.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full parchment stiff binding of the period, raised spine; simple boards. Red and black frontispiece with an intaglio vignette. Text predominantly in Latin. Rich decorative and iconographic apparatus including the large episcopal coat of arms of Cardinal Alessandro Mattei, ornate historiated initials, tailpieces and allegorical vignettes; present a full-page engraving depicting the Virgin with SS. Georgius and Maurelius, Patrons, with Ferrara in the background. Further large vignettes introduce the various parts of the work. Parchment with natural signs of time, light stains and color variations. Interior with some physiological foxing, small stains. Red edges. In old books with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. 6nn; 30; 2nn; 192; (2).

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Synodus Dioecesana.
Ferrariae, apud Bernardinum Pomatelli, Impressorem Archiepiscopalem, 1781.
Alessandro Mattei.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Diocesan synods constituted one of the main tools through which bishops concretely implemented the provisions of the universal Church in their own diocese. The Ferrara edition of 1781 is particularly significant because it captures the religious and social organization of the diocese just eight years before the French Revolution and on the eve of the crisis of the traditional European ecclesiastical structure. The structure of the work shows the extraordinary breadth of episcopal competencies: alongside strictly theological questions appear norms concerning religious education, administration of the sacraments, conduct of priests, marriage, public morality, festivities, forbidden books, and parish organization. The volume thus represents a primary source for the religious, legal, and social history of Ferrara in the eighteenth century.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Alessandro Mattei (Rome, 1744–1820) belonged to the important Roman aristocratic Mattei family. He was appointed archbishop of Ferrara in 1777 and cardinal by Pius VI in 1779. A leading figure of the Church between the 18th and 19th centuries, he lived through one of the most traumatic periods in papal history: the French Revolution, Napoleonic occupations, and the crisis of the Papal States. The Ferrara synod of 1781 thus belongs to the early phase of his episcopate and constitutes one of the most concrete testimonies of his pastoral and disciplinary reorganization of the diocese.

PRINTING AND ILLUSTRATION
The editorial presentation is markedly richer than what is normally associated with synodal constitutions. The frontispiece alternates red and black type and features an intaglio vignette; the sections are punctuated by large figurative compositions. Of particular iconographic interest is the table dedicated to Ferrara’s patrons, Saint George and Saint Maurelius, depicted under the protection of the Virgin and Child. The city’s presence in the background transforms the image into a true representation of Ferrara’s religious identity. Also notable is the large coat of arms of Alessandro Mattei, placed at the beginning of Indictio Synodi, accompanied by cardinal and episcopal insignia. The overall presentation makes this exemplar interesting not only as an ecclesiastical document but also as a product of Ferrarese typography and illustration in the late eighteenth century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Edition: Synodus Dioecesana Ferrariensis, Ferrariae, apud Bernardinum Pomatelli, Impressorem Archiepiscopalem, 1781.