The Salerno Breviary, illuminated manuscript on vellum

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 GBP

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Description

424 leaves (24 blank), 166mm. by 117mm., text complete (2 added leaves subsequently removed and visible through offset on fols.185v and 178r), collation: i-xviii^{10, xix-xxviii^{8, xxix-xliii^{10, xliv-xlvi^{8, modern pencil folio numbers only on rectos of selected leaves (slightly defective, but followed here), horizontal catchwords, written space 97mm. by 68mm., double column, 34 lines in black ink in a single accomplished liturgical bookhand, 'kalend'-initials in alternate red and blue, some saints in red, numerous 2-line initials in alternate red and blue, those on fols.10-13 with purple penwork flourishing, rubrics in red, a later marginal painting on fol.290r,}}}}one 10-line historiated initial in a coloured foliate design on a burnished gold ground with pink, green and blue acanthus leaves and bezants extending up and down entire inner margin (fol.27r), twenty-seven 12- or 13-line historiated initials in similar design with acanthus leaves and bezants extending completely into one or more margins and borders (fols.41v, 103v, 120r, 125r, 130r, 132v, 259r, 275r, 283r, 285v, 300r, 305r, 310v, 315r, 328v, 333r, 336v, 340r, 349r, 356v, 359v, 371v, 382v, 386v, 390r, 393v, 396v), eight 12-line initials containing foliage in the same design (fols.186r, 201r, 203v, 208v, 214r, 219r, 227r, 233v), and a frontispiece with a 12-line historiated initial as above, and full border frame of pink, green and blue acanthus leaves and bezants containing a roundel of laurel leaves in the bas de page with the arms of the Salerno family of Verona (see below) surmounted by a bishop’s mitre, some very slight rubbing to frontispiece (details of face perhaps repainted), else in outstanding condition, detached from nineteenth-century binding with pasteboards, some gatherings loose

Provenance

provenance

Written and illuminated for a member of the Salerno family of Verona who was a Franciscan bishop, in the third quarter of the fifteenth century; his arms on fol.10r. His hand is most probably that which added the personal note, dated 1476, on a flyleaf at the back, and the same hand has copiously annotated the calendar, including entries such as St. Nicolas of Tolentino (10 September; important cult centre at Padua), and St. Anastasius (20 May; bishop of Brescia), which point to the northern regions of Italy; and one in particular: Geminiani conf(essoris). cuius corpus mutine [Mutina = Modena] multis hodie claret miraculis (31 January; St.Geminianus), which points to the region of Modena.

Catalogue Note

text

The text comprises a calendar (fol.1v), prepared for a Franciscan (St. Francis, 4 October, in red; and St. Louis of Toulouse, 29 August), and has additions in a hand which is perhaps that of the original owner; the Temporal for the entire year: the first Sunday in Advent to the fourth Sunday of November (fol.10r); a Ferial Psalter and litany (fol.186r); the Sanctoral for the entire year: from the feast of St. Saturninus of Toulouse (29 November) to St. Catherine of Alexandria (25 November) (fol.259); the Common of Saints (fol.382v); Offices of the Blessed Virgin Mary (fol.409r); an indulgence perhaps in the hand of the original owner (fol.417v), and a personal note in the same hand concerning his niece Agatha giving birth to a son, dated 18 December 1476 (fol.418r).

illumination

The illumination is clearly of northern Italian origin, and is of excellent quality throughout. The majority of the historiated initials are by a single artist, whose small figures with rather large heads closely resemble those found in the initials of an illuminated missal owned by the Church of San Massimo, Verona, which was written and illuminated by Antonio di Stefano in 1474 (G. Castiglioni & S. Marinelli, Miniatura Veronese del Rinascimento, 1986, no.24, p.203). Another artist painted the 10-line initial on fol.27r, and appears to be influenced by the work of Belbello de Pavia: portraying Joseph with a wide face, low brow and a downturned mouth (compare S. Ludovici, Miniature di Belbello da Pavia, 1954, nos.16 and 22).

The subjects of the miniatures are:

(1) Folio 10r, half-length portrait of St.Paul holding his sword, within initial 'F', facial features perhaps repainted; with full border frame formed of acanthus leaves and enclosing in bas de page the arms of the Salerno family of Verona surmounted by a bishop’s mitre.

(2) Folio 27r, Mary and Joseph within initial 'C' before a ramshackle stable and a donkey.

(3) Folio 41v, Annunciation to the Shepherds within the upper compartment of initial 'S' (single figure in a green cloak recoils in fear from an angel with blue wings); the Adoration of the Magi in the lower compartment; the Virgin with the Christ child seated before three kings, two standing another kneeling and kissing the child's outstretched hand.

(4) Folio 103v, Three Maries at the Sepulchre forming initial 'I', talking to two angels seated on Christ's tomb, three armed soldiers below.

(5) Folio 120r, Christ preaching to crowd, full-length portrait within initial 'P'.

(6) Folio 125r, Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove to a crowd below in the act of prayer, within initial 'D'.

(7) Folio 130r, God the Father enthroned and holding Christ on the Cross, within an initial 'O'.

(8) Folio 132v, St.Francis kneeling before an altar and venerating the Holy Sacrament, within an initial 'S'.

(9) Folio 186r, initial 'B' in a foliate design, enclosing coloured acanthus leaves.

(10) Folio 201r, initial 'D' in a foliate design, enclosing a coloured plant.

(11) Folio 203v, initial 'D' in a foliate design, enclosing coloured acanthus leaves.

(12) Folio 208v, initial 'D' in a foliate design, enclosing coloured acanthus leaves.

(13) Folio 214r, initial 'D' in a foliate design, enclosing a coloured plant.

(14) Folio 219r, initial 'S' in a foliate design, enclosing coloured acanthus leaves.

(15) Folio 227r, initial 'E' in a foliate design, enclosing a coloured plant.

(16) Folio 233v, initial 'C' in a foliate design, enclosing coloured acanthus leaves.

(17) Folio 259r, St. Andrew holding his cross, half-length miniature within initial 'P'.

(18) Folio 275r, Virgin passing the Christ child to St. Simeon, within an initial 'O'.

(19) Folio 283r, The Annunciation, the Virgin stands outside a two-storey building as an angel kneels before and God send the Holy Spirit to her from above, within an initial 'E'.

(20) Folio 285v, St.Sebastian, full-length portrait within an initial 'S'.

(21) Folio 300r, St.Anthony of Padua holding a book and staff and in the robes of a Franciscan friar, half-length portrait in an initial 'O'.

(22) Folio 305r, St.John the Baptist wearing a hair shirt and holding an angus dei in his left hand, full-length portrait within an initial 'D'.

(23) Folio 310v, SS.Peter and Paul, half-length portraits within an initial 'M'.

(24) Folio 315r, The Visitation, the Virgin stands holding a book, before St.Elizabeth, full-length portraits in initial 'D'.

(25) Folio 328v, the miracle of Mary ad nives (of the snow), the Virgin holding the Christ child oversees the construction of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by three craftsmen, after the miraculous falling of snow there in the shape of the foundations; within an initial 'C'.

(26) Folio 333r, St.Laurence holding a book and the griddle on which he was burnt to death, full-length portrait within an initial 'F'.

(27) Folio 336v, St.Clare, dressed as a member of the 'Poor Clares', the female Franciscan order, holding a book, full-length portrait within an initial 'F'.

(28) Folio 340r, the Virgin borne aloft by four angels, full-length portrait within an initial 'F'.

(29) Folio 349r, the birth of the Virgin, St.Anne rests in bed behind a curtain after giving birth in the upper compartment of an initial 'F', in the lower two midwives with haloes wash the child.

(30) Folio 356v, St. Michael, with his scales, and dressed in classical armour with a cross on the front, tramples a demon underfoot, full-length portrait in an initial 'D'.

(31) Folio 359v, the Stigmatization of St.Francis, Christ, with angel's wings soars over a rocky landscape with a single building, as lines descend from his wounds to St.Francis' hands, feet and side, another Franciscan looks on holding a glowing orb containing a cross; within an initial 'F'.

(32) Folio 371v, a multitude of saints, one crowned, and one wearing a bishop's mitre, in both the upper and lower compartments of an initial 'E'.

(33) Folio 382v, St. Paul, holding a book and a sword, full-length portrait within an initial 'F'.

(34) Folio 386v, a martyr, shown as a Roman soldier holding palm frond, full-length portrait within initial 'B'.

(35) Folio 390r, two martyrs, shown as two richly robed men, full-length portraits within initial 'I'.

(36) Folio 393v, a saint-bishop flanked by two confessors (here perhaps St.Francis and St.Dominic), full-length portraits within initial 'E'.

(37) Folio 396v, a virgin with hands clasped together in prayer standing on a winged dragon, in the upper compartment of an initial 'F'; two further virgin in lower compartment.