De Arithmetica

Author Filippo Calandri Italian
 Publisher Lorenzo da Morgiani and Giovanni Thedesco da Maganza Italian
 Dedicatee Lorenzo de' Medici Italian

Not on view

This is one of the first inexpensive illustrated textbooks making it available to many more students than earlier teaching materials, which had been written by hand on vellum. The small size and the many diagrams made it easier to use, while the pictures must have made math more bearable to young students. The woodcuts, which range from ornamental classicizing borders framing multiplication tables to lively depictions of people and animals that illustrate word problems, are exquisite examples of the flowering of Florentine woodcut illustration in the 1490s.
On this page, we see a series of hand gestures that signify numbers.

De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations
De Arithmetica, Filippo Calandri (Italian, 15th century), Printed book with woodcut illustrations

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.