Telesio and Morato on the Meaning of Colours (Renaissance Colour Symbolism II)

'Telesio and Morato on the Meaning of Colours' brings together the original texts with original English translations of two closely related primary sources on Renaissance colour symbolism. The first is the 'Libellus de coloribus' (Booklet on colours), the most extensive lexicon of Latin colour terminology of its time, published in Venice in 1528 by Antonio Telesio (1482-1534), who latinised his name as Antonius Thylesius. The second is 'Del significato de' colori' (On the signification of colours), the most extensive digest of current and classical colour meanings of its time, published in Venice in 1535 by Fulvio Pellegrino Morato (c. 1483-1548). They were the third and fourth books on colour to be printed in Europe. Roy Osborne is an artist, educator and historian, and author of books on colour. He was awarded the Turner Medal of the Colour Group (Great Britain) in 2003, and the Colour in Art, Design and Environment Medal of the International Colour Association in 2019.

ROY OSBORNE is an artist, educator, and writer on color. After publishing Lights and Pigments: Colour Principles for Artists, in 1980, he became one of Britain's leading color theorists, lecturing and teaching at over 200 art institutions worldwide. His other publications include Renaissance Colour Symbolism: Primary Sources and Books on Colour 1495-2025: History and Bibliography. In 2003 he was awarded the first Turner Medal of the Colour Group (Great Britain), and in 2019 was awarded the first Colour in Art, Design and Environment Medal of the International Colour Association (AIC CADE).