This exhibition arises from the meeting of Indian artist Priya Pereira’s creations—her "artist’s books"—and the ancient texts housed in the Riccardiana Library. Pereira’s works are displayed alongside manuscripts, miniatures, and early printed books from the collection established by the Riccardi family starting in the 16th century. These striking juxtapositions create an evocative, timeless dialogue linking the spirit of works created in different eras and places, yet united by their "unrepeatability": just as the medieval scribe entrusted knowledge to precious parchment, Priya Pereira’s creations offer us the unique quality of a "book-object" crafted without yielding to any temptation of standardization.
The exhibition highlights materiality: the gold and colors of manuscript miniatures and decorations, the fine grain of ancient parchment, and refined bindings engage in a dialogue with the diverse materials used in the Indian artists’ books. Together, they express a special language designed to provide visitors with novel visual experiences. In Pereira’s books, paper—sometimes handmade—may be replaced or enriched by acrylic, metal, mirrors, fabrics, stones, or plant fibers; traditional bookbinding may be dispensed with entirely or replaced by cords, threads, or ribbons.
The decorated initials and illustrations that once guided readers into and beyond the text of manuscripts here confront—within the library’s display cases—marks and drawings that evoke connections and intersections between East and West. These elements recall the ancient Silk Road routes and the exchange of knowledge between diverse worlds—an exchange that played a vital role in fueling the cultural ferment of our Renaissance. In Pereira’s decidedly unconventional artistic vision, books also become a medium that brings us closer to spirituality—*The Holy Rosary* is displayed alongside a splendid miniature from the Florentine manuscript *Riccardiano 271* (dating to the second quarter of the 14th century), depicting Blessed Margaret holding a rosary in her clasped hands—and to the powerful sentiment of Eternal Love that triumphs over Time—*Until Death Do Us Part* is here juxtaposed with the figure of Cupid from *Riccardiano 2530* and the 15th-century *Triumph of Time* by Petrarch (*Riccardiano 1129*), as illustrated in a full-page miniature by Apollonio di Giovanni and his workshop.
In another display case, we find *Wish Grill*—with its mysterious backstory—placed alongside a sketchbook drawing attributed to Bartolomeo Ammannati (Ed. Rare 120) that curiously echoes the design of that very grill. Furthermore, the highly distinctive alphabet of *The Other Side of ABC* pairs beautifully with the splendid 17th-century lettering found in Francesco Testi’s *Diversi Alfabeti di Varii Animali e Fiori Ornati* (Riccardiano 694) and Valerio Spada’s *Dimostrazioni di caratteri diversi* (Riccardiano 3198).
In Priya Pereira’s “artists’ books,” the logic of the traditional book is upended. Colors, shapes, individual letters, and short phrases create a powerful, inevitable break from the reading experience to which we are all accustomed; this necessary departure from the most common methods of conveying information and knowledge gives rise to a curious paradox: it heightens the intensity and immediacy of the message while granting the reader total freedom of interpretation—transforming them, almost without their realizing it, into a privileged partner in a communicative exchange that transcends words, writing, and codified forms.
Dr Roberta Masini - Director, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Priya Pereira, Laura Paraggio - Art Historian, Dr David Speranzi - Universita degli Studi di Firenze
Until Death Do Us Part, 1999
*Ricc. 81, fol. 1r, composite manuscript, the first part, vellum, is Aristotle, On Virtues and Vices…, late 15th century
