UNKNOWN MASTER, Italian
(active 1500-10 in Milan)

Historia patria

1503
Engraving
Castello Sforzesco, Milan

Bernardino Corio was a Milanese historian, who held various offices under the Sforza and then Ludovico il Moro. He published his major work, the "Historia patria", at his own expense in 1503. It is a monumental but wholly uncritical history of Milan from its origins to Ludovico il Moro's escape to Germany in 1499.

The picture shows a scribe at work, an illustration by an unknown Italian engraver from the first edition of "Historia patria".