A Cabinet of Curiosities in Miniature: The Getty Model Book of Calligraphy
Word and image work in tandem in this 16th-century showpiece, inspiring feelings of wonder and visual delight.
"Only reputation survives; everything else belongs to death."
So reads the Latin inscription on this autographed page of Georg Bocskay’s handbook of calligraphy. His reputation as a virtuoso of handwriting was sealed in the 16th century, but in our age of print, his artistry is even more impressive.
Ground Beetle and Scarab (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Can you find his signature and the date on the page?
Living in Vienna at the court of Ferdinand I, Bocskay served as a scribe, court secretary and councilor. He made the Mira calligraphiae monumenta (Model Book of Calligraphy), as it is known today, for the Hapsburg emperor during his years of service.
Dagger (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Calligraphy, from the Greek roots for “beautiful” and “to write,” means just that—beautiful handwriting. Bocskay used several “hands,” or scripts, in this showpiece. Emphasis is placed on the visual and aesthetic qualities of the writing rather than on the meaning of the text.
Let's take a closer look!
Dagger (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
This script is composed of a series of controlled pen strokes and gaps. The consistency of the gaps extends across letters and words. Some letter strokes are extremely thin, revealing the use of a finely cut quill pen. The initial C is an example of chrysography, writing in gold.
Shaped texts, like this one in the form of a goblet, are known as carmina figurata or “figured poetry.” Here, the script is a calligraphic Gothic hand, variations of which have been used since the 12th century.
Bocksay played with the readability of texts to emphasize the aesthetic qualities of the letters. Here, he created backwards writing out of an otherwise very legible script known as humanist minuscule.
Kidney Bean, Poppy Anemone, and Adder (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Can you read the text?
It begins: Aures tuae pietatis… (“the ears of your mercy,” the start of a common prayer to the Virgin Mary).
Superimposed Letters Spelling the Names of Illustrious Women of Ancient Rome: Faustina, Lucretia, Virginia, Vittoria, Giulia, Flaminia (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Here is an especially dizzying display of Bocskay’s craft that would have required careful planning to execute. The written letter becomes an entertaining cipher for the eye to solve. Stacked letters form the names of famous Roman women, which are also spelled out in the frames.
Butterfly, Marine Mollusk, and Pear (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Bocskay wrote this biblical text in a spiral. Tiny, shaped scripts are known as micrography. The diameter of the spiral is a shocking 1 1/8 inches (4 cm)! Creating such a consistent and neat spiral out of letters was probably achieved by using a magnifying lens.
Bocskay also incorporated non-Latin alphabets, like Hebrew and Greek. Here, he wrote the Hebrew alphabet in an Ashkenazi (German) script with many serifs, or small strokes added at the ends of letters.
Read from left to right and seemingly set on a scroll, the page is a close copy of a print by Giovanni Battista Palatino.
Remember, Bocskay executed everything by hand. In an era when printed books had begun to replace handwritten codices, Bocskay’s calligraphy would have been especially appreciated by connoisseurs.
Speckled Wood, Talewort, Garden Pea, and Lantern Plant (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
In addition to Bocskay’s scripts, there are all kinds of plants, creatures, and insects in the margins. These were added some 30 years later, and after Bocksay’s death, by the Flemish artist Joris Hoefnagel, who was working for Emperor Rudolf II, the grandson of Ferdinand I.
Although Hoefnagel’s additions bear no conceptual relationship to the texts, the illuminator played with the visual correspondence between the decorated letters and specimens.
Notice, for example, how the dot pattern penned by Bocskay pairs with the circles on the moth’s wings or the repetition of the peas in pods.
Hoefnagel was working in the tradition of Flemish manuscript painting, capturing the intricate details of nature, but he also contributed a sense of specificity. Many of the insects and plants are depicted life-size.
Saint Luke (about 1510–1520) by Master of the First Prayer Book of MaximilianThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Hoefnagel may have drawn inspiration from the ornamental borders found in Flemish devotional prayerbooks like this one. The borders surrounding the prayers feature flowers, fruits, snails, and moths, and the text begins with a decorated initial in gold.
Shadows make the specimens appear as though they are sitting upon the page and lit from a light source on the viewer’s left.
Hoefnagel mastered these kinds of shading effects to make it look as though the plants and creatures were not only sitting on the parchment page, but in some cases, held down by it, as with the two plants on the left side.
Reed Grass, French Rose, Toad, and Gillyflower (1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596) by Joris Hoefnagel and Georg BocskayThe J. Paul Getty Museum
This effect is known as trompe l'oeil (French for “deceives the eye”), a style of painting in which objects look three-dimensional and realistic. Such effects were highly valued in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the burgeoning genre of still life painting.
Hoefnagel took the trompe l'oeil effects even further, extending them to the backsides of folios. Making use of the thinness of the parchment page, Hoefnagel gave a real sense of three-dimensionality to his subjects.
Most of Hoefnagel’s images represent identifiable species. They bridge art and science, capturing the beauty of nature and accurately reflecting the insect, plant, and animal specimens held in the Wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities) of the Habsburg courts in Vienna and Prague.
Floral and fruit specimens like lilies, tomatoes, and tulips were imported from places like Turkey, Spain, and the Americas. Hoefnagel’s images memorialize the vibrant foliage once on view at the palace gardens and testify to the courts as meeting points between East and West.
As if not to be outdone by Bocskay, Hoefnagel added a guide for constructing the letters of the alphabet, which he surrounded with decorative frames. The formation of the letters becomes a mathematical and artistic exercise for the viewer to parse.
The E is framed by labeled continental maps. A brightly colored tropical toucan sits atop the letter and represents the kind of exotica collected in Rudolph II’s Wunderkammer. Species indigenous to the Americas show the court’s connection to colonization and global trade.
Guide for Constructing the Ligature ffi (about 1591–1596) by Joris HoefnagelThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Near the bottom of the final page, Hoefnagel depicted the tools of his trade, including brushes, a straightedge, a compass, and shells for holding pigments, surrounding a horseshoe, a reference to his surname (“hoof nail”).
IN DEFECTU VALOR
Yet, despite his immense skill, and that of Bocskay, Hoefnagel also added the above Latin phrase below the horseshoe.
Guide for Constructing the Ligature ffi (about 1591–1596) by Joris HoefnagelThe J. Paul Getty Museum
Which means: "Value lies in imperfection."
© 2025 The J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles
This Google Arts & Culture story was created by Getty Graduate Interns Reed O’Mara (text) and Lucia Palmerini (design).
For more resources:
Getty Collections page with bibliography, ‘Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta’
Getty Blog, Podcast episode on the ‘Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta’
Identifications of the flora and fauna in 'Mira calligraphiae monumenta' (PDF)
Transcriptions of the text found in 'Mira calligraphiae monumenta' (PDF)
To cite this exhibition, please use: "A Cabinet of Curiosities in Miniature: The Getty Model Book of Calligraphy," published online in 2025 via Google Arts & Culture, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
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