Book of Hours of Cardinal Carafa

Book of Hours of Cardinal Carafa

Oliviero Carafa (1430–1511) was a cardinal, archbishop, condottiere, and jurist, as well as a leading patron of the arts in his day. He was a member of the powerful Carafa family, one of the leading dynasties of Renaissance Naples, and had extensive connections with royalty throughout Europe. His ambitions did not stop at the Holy See either, although this was not to be crowned with success – unlike in the case of his nephew Giovanni Pietro Carafa (1476–1559), whose mentor he was and who eventually ascended the Chair of Peter as Pope Paul IV in 1555. As a clerical patron of the arts, the cardinal donated numerous works of art, including one of the most important chapels of the early Renaissance: the Cappella Carafa in the basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, named after him and decorated by Filippino Lippi.

The work of a gifted Early Renaissance scribe

Probably the most beautiful and magnificent work of book art commissioned by Cardinal Carafa is this purple Book of Hours, created by the talented Paduan scribe Bartolomeo Sanvito (1433–1511) in Rome around the year 1480. By this time, Sanvito had long since risen to become the leading scribe for humanistic texts and had already worked for many prestigious patrons. His artistry can still be admired today in far more than 100 surviving manuscripts.

Innovative luxury

The Book of Hours of Cardinal Carafa is part of a whole series of books of hours that Sanvito made in the 1480s, when he was already suffering from arthritis. Inspired by ancient art, he chose elegant and precious purple dyed parchment for it, which he inscribed entirely with gold and silver inks - thereby introducing a new luxurious style to Italian Renaissance book art. The dark and rich background makes Sanvito's masterly humanistic cursive all the more radiant. His lettering looks so effortlessly elegant and meticulous that one might assume it was printed, even though each of the gold and silver letters was placed on the parchment by hand.

Masterly Renaissance book art in gold, silver and pastel tones

In addition to Sanvito's luminous calligraphy, the luxurious book of hours features breathtaking illuminations of the highest quality: It begins with a frontispiece displaying the Cardinal's coat of arms, which appears in a garlanded illusory architecture. This is followed by a wonderful full-page miniature of the Holy Family in pastel tones and with golden details, characterised by impressive figures with great physicalness and spatial depth. Another full-page miniature shows King David in an extraordinarily magnificent frame. Likewise artistic are the four exuberantly designed incipit pages, which introduce the Penitential Psalms as well as the Offices of the Virgin Mary, the Dead and the Holy Cross with figure medallions and rich framings, and which particularly emphasise them within the manuscript. The other Hours are introduced by eight masterfully executed, large historiated initials with naturalistic bust portraits of saints, which are connected with beautiful floral and ornamental borders. At the same time, smaller ornamental initials in gold and silver decorate and structure the texts. This in every respect precious manuscript is today one of the special jewels of the world-famous Vatican Apostolic Library in the Vatican City in Rome and is kept there under the signature Vat. lat. 9490.