The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

The Caporali Missal

The Caporali Missal

1469
(Italian, c. 1420–1503)

assisted by Giapeco Caporali

(Italian, d. 1478)
Italy, Perugia
Ink, tempera and gold on vellum; 400 folios
Overall: 35 x 25 cm (13 3/4 x 9 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2006.154
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Bartolomeo Caporali and his brother Giapeco shared a house and a workshop in Perugia.

Description

Called a missal, this manuscript served as a liturgical service book used by the priest at the altar during Mass. According to a colophon, an inscription on folio 400, the missal was made for the Franciscan church of San Francesco in Montone, near Perugia in the region of Umbria, in 1469. It was illuminated by Bartolomeo and Giapeco Caporali, two artist brothers who collaborated on the page decorations. The missal is opened here to the volume’s masterpiece, a two-page deluxe opening to the Canon of the Mass with a Calvary scene. The Canon introduces the most solemn part of the Mass during which the priest elevates and consecrates the Eucharistic bread and wine. Saint Francis kneels at the foot of the cross, attesting to the missal’s Franciscan use and affiliation.
  • -2006
    [Dr. Jörn Günther, Antiquariat, London], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2006-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Eikelmann, Renate, Holger A. Klein, Stephen N. Fliegel, and Virginia Brilliant. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Meisterwerke von 300 bis 1550. München: Hirmer, 2007. 244, repr. p. 245, no. 92
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. 278, Cat. 106
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Resplendent Faith: Liturgical Treasuries of the Middle Ages. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 2009. 259
    Fliegel, Stephen N., Dilys Blum, Bartolomeo Caporali, and Giacomo Caporali. The Caporali Missal: A Masterpiece of Renaissance Illumination. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. 86-7, Cat. No. 1, Appendix A, pp 118-23
    "Recent acquisitions (2005-11) at the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Burlington Magazine 1312:154 (July 2012) p. 529, Fig. X
    Fliegel, Stephen N., "The Caporali Missal", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 47 no. 09, November 2007 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 5 archive.org
    "New in the Galleries: Liturgical Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58, no. 6 (November/December 2018): Back cover. Reproduced and Mentioned: Back cover.
    De Marchi, Andrea, and Matteo Mazzalupi. L'Autunno del medioevo in umbria: cofani nuziali in gesso dorato e una bottega perugina dimenticata. 2019. Reproduced and mentioned; p. 51, Fig 45
    Pierini, Marco, Veruska Picchiarelli, and Perugino. Il meglio maestro d'Italia: Perugino nel suo tempo. Milano : Dario Cimorelli editore, 2023. Mentioned: p. 214; reproduced: p. 217, I.10
    Hindman, Sandra The Wonderland of Books of Hours, Paris: Les Enluminures, 2023. fig 3, p. 150 www.lesenluminures.com
  • "Italy's best maestro" - Perugino in his day. Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, Italy (organizer) (March 4-June 11, 2023) https://gallerianazionaledellumbria.it/mostre/mostra-perugino/.
    Liturgical Textiles and Manuscripts from Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy (Manuscript and Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 5, 2018-December 2, 2019).
    The Caporali Missal: A Masterpiece of Renaissance Illumination. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-June 2, 2013).
    Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
  • {{cite web|title=The Caporali Missal|url=false|author=Bartolommeo Caporali, Giapeco Caporali|year=1469|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.154