Portable Psalter with Antiphons; Italy, Venice, c. 1470–1480

Title

Portable Psalter with Antiphons; Italy, Venice, c. 1470–1480

Shelfmark

MS. Canon. Liturg. 72

Associated place

Italian

Place of origin

Italian, Venice

Date

c. 1470–1480

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

parchment; fols. iii and 170 dyed purple

Physical extent

176 leaves

Hands

The work of several scribes, a change of scribe at fols. 51r, 70v, 111r; formal Gothic book hands; antiphons in a smaller script; black and brown ink

Decoration

8-line Beatus initial, 7-line initial at psalm 97, 6-line initials at psalms 80 and 109, and 4-line initials at other liturgical divisions; borders on three sides decorated with foliage, flowers and gold discs. fol. 1r, Psalm 1 (initial B(eatus)), Gold initial with King David in prayer; laurel wreath with the arms of Bononi family, Venice, flanked by two eagles standing on bodies of two deer in a landscape in the lower margin; medallion with doe couchant in the right margin. fol. 21v, Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)), Half-figure of nimbed King David, pointing to his eyes. fol. 35r, Psalm 38 (initial D(ixi)), Half-figure of nimbed King David, pointing to his mouth. fol. 48r, Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)), Half-figure of the Fool, holding a club. fol. 77v, Psalm 80 (initial E(xultate)), Half-figure of a tonsured cleric and lay figure ringing two bells. fol. 87v, Psalm 91 (initial B(onum)), Profile half-figure of a tonsured saint. fol. 89v, Psalm 94 (initial U(enite)), Profile half-figure of a bearded saint in prayer. fol. 92ar, Psalm 97 (initial C(antate)), Half-figures of two tonsured clerics singing from a music book on a lectern. fol. 106r, Psalm 109 (initial D(ixit)), Half-figure of a bearded saint with a landscape of trees in the background, right hand pointing to the text; half-figure of God in clouds above. fol. 147v, Hymnal (initial C(onditor)), 5-line initial with a bust of a bearded saint.

Borders: see above.

2- to 4-line alternating red initials with purple penwork and blue initials with red penwork at the beginnings of psalms, canticles and hymns.

1-line plain alternating red and blue initials at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Rubrics in red ink, most not filled in.

Binding

17th century ?, Italian: pasteboards?; red velvet (spine very worn), plain, possibly overlying an earlier decorated cover; impress-marks on the fabric of each cover from two semi-circular filigree clasp-fittings and four circular bosses, all removed; edges gilt, gauffered. 174–175 121 c. 42–44 (book closed).

15th century, Italian(as MS.?): paste-downs and flyleaves of purple parchment, presumably inherited from the original binding.

18th century, Italian: further paste-downs (pasted over the purple) and flyleaves of fine ‘Dutch gilt paper’, block-printed in gold on a green ground with floral and interlace patterns including birds, vases, etc., added in Italy probably after the removal of the metalwork.

Acquisition

Bodleian Library: bought in 1817 from Canonici’s nephew Giovanni Perissinotti. Earlier shelfmark: ‘Miscell. Liturg. Bibl. Bodl. 72’ (fol. ii verso and iii recto).

Provenance

Made for Bononi family, Venice: coat of arms on fol. 1r. The arms are stated erroneously to be those of Mistelbach on fol. i verso. The manuscript is listed as of Mistelbach provenance in Krämer (1989). According to van Dijk (1958), ‘The division of the psalter is similar to that of the Cluniacs but it is secular and the series of antiphons is different from any monastic psalter’ (fol. 6).

Matteo Luigi Canonici of Venice (1727–c. 1806), but not from the libraries of Soranzo or Trevisan.

Title

A Cluniac Psalter

Shelfmark

MS. Canon. Liturg. 72

Summary

A Cluniac Psalter, with Canticles and Creed: followed by a hymnal (fol. 147v).

On fol. 1 are the arms, gules a flight of steps in bend argent, stated in a pencil note (erroneously?) to be the arms of Mistelbach.

Date

Written in the first half of the 15th century in Italy

Language

Latin

Physical facet

On parchment, with illuminated borders, small miniatures, etc.

Physical extent

172 Leaves