tions of the case for religious toleration. With the resump-
tion of the Wars of RELIGIONin 1567 CATHERINE DE’ MEDICI
lost confidence in L’Hôpital and his policy of religious tol-
eration, so he retired to his estates and wrote. His Episto-
larum seu sermonum libri VI appeared posthumously
(1585).
Libavius, Andreas (c. 1560–1616) German chemist
Born at Halle, the son of a weaver, Libavius studied at Jena
university, then worked initially as a doctor. From 1588,
however, he was a teacher of history and literature, first at
Jena, and thereafter at Rothenburg (1591–1607) and
Coburg (1607–16). A prolific writer and controversialist,
he is best known for his Alchemia (1597; expanded edi-
tion, entitled Alchymia, 1606), a work often described as
the first recognizable textbook of modern chemistry. A
convinced Lutheran, Libavius sought to rescue the theory
and practice of the chemical art, as understood in his day,
from both the magical and mystical approach of the fol-
lowers of PARACELSUSand the overtly Calvinistic program
of RAMUSand to establish it as a distinct educational disci-
pline. Though of little interest theoretically, the Alchemia,
with over 200 illustrations, is a prime source for the orga-
nization of the 16th-century chemical laboratory.
Further reading: Owen Hannaway, The Chemists and
the Word: The Didactic Origins of Chemistry (Baltimore,
Md. and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975).
liberal arts Those arts which, according to a classifica-
tion made first in antiquity, were worthy of study by a free
(Latin liber) man. In contrast with the artes liberales were
the artes vulgares (or artes sordidae); this roughly corre-
sponded with the distinction between intellectual occupa-
tions and those for which slaves or trained performers
were engaged. The system was further refined in the early
Middle Ages by Boethius (died 524), who divided the lib-
eral arts into the trivium (grammar, RHETORIC, and logic)
and quadrivium (astronomy, geometry, music, and arith-
metic). It should be noted that music featured among the
liberal arts purely in its theoretical form, musical perfor-
mance being in the sphere of the vulgar arts. The trivium
and quadrivium, together with philosophy, underpinned
the entire medieval educational system. In practice the
subjects often covered a wider range of topics than their
names now suggest; for instance, geography was often in-
cluded under geometry and some study of literature
would be part of the grammar course.
The exclusion of the arts of painting and sculpture
from the liberal arts category resulted in the artist’s being
held in low esteem. LEONARDO DA VINCIwas one of the
earliest to protest against this perception of the artist as a
“mere” artisan; he and MICHELANGELOled the way in win-
ning proper recognition of the great artist’s creative pow-
ers and raising the status of the arts of disegno. One reason
for the enthusiasm with which the study of PERSPECTIVE
and proportion was pursued was that it provided the vi-
sual arts with a theoretical basis and so made them a re-
spectable intellectual subject, like music in the medieval
schools.
The liberal arts themselves were often personified
during the Middle Ages, following the lead of the fifth-
century CEpoet Martianus Capella. They were depicted as
seven ladies, each holding an identifying attribute, and
often accompanied by an eminent practitioner of the art
they represent, for example, Pythagoras accompanying
Geometry. The full scheme can be seen in the frescoes of
the Spanish chapel of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence, ex-
ecuted in about 1355 by Andrea da Firenze and depicting
the triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas. Later artists also used
and sometimes expanded on the scheme. AGOSTINO DI
DUCCIOcombined the liberal arts with the Muses in his
program of reliefs for the TEMPIO MALATESTIANO. PIN-
TURICCHIO’s decorations in the Appartamento Borgia in
the Vatican (1492–95) depict the seven liberal arts en-
throned and attended by groups of their adherents. They
also appear, with the addition of Philosophy, Theology,
and “Prospettiva,” on the bronze reliefs on the tomb of
Sixtus IV (1493; now Museo Storico Artistico, St. Peter’s,
Rome) by Antonio del POLLAIUOLO.Liberale, Antonio (Liberale da Verona) (c. 1445–c.
1526) Italian miniaturist and painter
Liberale was born in Verona, trained as a book illumina-
tor, and spent about a decade from the late 1460s illus-
trating liturgical books at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, near
Siena, and in Siena itself. Some of his exquisite work in
this genre, together with that of Girolamo da Cremona, by
whom he was influenced, is housed in the cathedral (Pic-
colomini) library, Siena, and the techniques of the minia-
turist are visible even in his large-scale paintings. Liberale
also worked in Florence and Venice, but by 1488 was back
in Verona. His Madonna with Saints (1489; Berlin) initi-
ated a series of religious paintings that confirmed his
standing as a major representative of the Veronese school.
His Munich Pietà is possibly his most impressive work.
Other paintings are still to be found in Verona, including
an Adoration of the Magi (1490; Duomo). His sensitivity to
the decorative qualities of architecture is apparent in his
St. Sebastian (Brera, Milan), set against the backdrop of a
Venetian canal, and in his Dido on the Pyre (National
Gallery, London).libraries In the early Renaissance period collections of
MANUSCRIPTSowned by princes, monasteries, cathedrals,
universities, or private individuals were not a new phe-
nomenon; however, until the second half of the 15th cen-
tury the quantity of books in circulation was necessarily
limited by the means of production, as was the number of
people able to afford them. Aristocratic collections tended
to focus on subjects that enhanced dynastic or family pres-22778 8 LLiibbaavviiuuss,, AAnnddrreeaass