Codex Oliveriano I

Codex Oliveriano I

Although the patron and workshop responsible for this splendid private devotional book remains anonymous, the quality of the manuscript indicates that they must have been someone of wealth and sophistication. Manuscript art was reaching its zenith in the late 15th century, just as book printing was spreading across Europe, and this mysterious codex represents a fine specimen of this transitional period. In fact, a detailed analysis of the manuscript indicates that it actually consists of at least two other works which were united into a single codex. The Psalms and Hymns sections are different in design, spelling, and numeration. The psalter section has a note in the colophon dating it to 1476, while three more dates are found throughout the rest of the manuscript ending with the year 1480. Thus, the component parts had to be worked still further in order to homogenize them aesthetically, which was apparently undertaken by several scribes over a few years. Various stylistic indicators in the work point to Bohemia as the region in which the work originated. Nonetheless, they succeeded in creating a splendid manuscript that is apparently modelled on the décor and miniatures of the famous masterpiece known as the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Preserved today in a splendid 18th century red leather binding with gold impressions, manuscript thus stands shoulder to shoulder with the great manuscripts from the court school in Prague.

A Kaleidoscope of Illumination

The Gothic text of the manuscript is arranged in two columns and are adorned with full-page miniatures, friezes, small framed scenes, and filigree initials – all splendidly rendered with vivid colors and gold. The pages of the manuscript are practically overflowing with artfulness. As is typical, the book begins with a calendar containing a complete lists of feasts and saint’s days, and the local nature of these holidays, particularly with respect to local saints, is one of the clues that allowed researcher to place the manuscript geographically. Each month is presented on a double-page illustrated with labors of the month and scenes from everyday life: blooming flowers in May, harvesting wheat in August, salting meat in December. Untypically, the calendars do not show the constellations associated with the month, merely displaying the corresponding zodiac sign. This section is followed by tables for calculating information based on the calendars, both for religious and medical purposes, i.e. when a bloodletting is a good idea and when to hold off. The purely religious sections of the book come next, i.e. the psalter and sacred hymns. Although originating from separate sources, they do share some stylistic elements, like friezes and initials that are almost identical. Although the details of this splendid specimen’s genesis remain a mystery, it can be said with certainty that this codex was intended for personal use, not liturgical.