Neapolitan prayerbook illuminated for a patron of the Aragonese court by the Master of Isabella di Chiaromonte, the favored artist of Queen Isabella of Naples.

ii (vellum) + 88 + i (vellum) leaves, foliated in a modern hand in pencil 1–88 in lower left margin, else complete [collation: i6+1, ii8, iii8, iv8, v8, vi8, vii6, viii10, ix6, x10, xi6, xii4] ruled in brown ink in one column of 14 lines (justification: 90 mm × 65 mm), written in a gothic rotunda script with marginal penwork extensions (ff. 1–83v), concluding in a litera antiqua script (ff. 84–88), with contemporary additions to f. 88v in cursiva, capitals in alternating blue and gold ink, numerous three-line initials in burnished gold on alternating grounds of blue and crimson with white penwork fillagree, FIVE ILLUMINATED INITIALS of seven lines in gold, blue, and crimson on burnished gold with acanthus infill and extensions into margins and gold bezants, ONE FULL BORDER DECORATION with floral and acanthus in gold blue and vermillion and small fowl perching among tendrils, a cartouche formed of crimson foliage contains the grinning figure of a skeleton, SIX FUL- PAGE MINIATURES of fourteen lines framed in gold with square knotwork at corners. Bound in nineteenth-century velvet binding with two silver clasps and a raised silver frame with filigree at corners and two medals at the center depicting a haloed Virgin on the front and Saint Benedict on the reverse, surrounded by the inscription “CRVX S. P. BENED,” fore-edges gilt, in excellent condition with well-preserved pages exhibiting only minor soiling to a few margins and slight cockling throughout, modern interventions to the six miniatures to stabilize pigments. 105 mm × 77 mm.

Provenance
(1) Created for a client “Bernardus,” named in an indulgence on f. 74 (“ut custodi me Bernardum servum tuum indignum”). A concluding prayer written in Catalan (incipit: “Senyor ver Déu Jesu Christi”) suggests Bernardus was part of the Aragonese milieu.

(2) Ownership stamp on front pastedown identifies “Baron A. W.” of Hamburg (“Hands[chriftensammlung] Freihr. [Freiherr] A. W. Hamburg”), probably Albert Wilhelm von Westenholz (1879–1939). His sale offered by Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co., 7 Feb. 1941; this manuscript, however, not listed therein. Dealer notes on front and rear pastedowns identify the manuscript as a “Taschenbrevier. Italien Ms. Toscan[a]15. Jahr[hundert].”

(3) Albert Van Loock, Brussels. His number “24” on front flyleaf.

(4) Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York. His bookplate and manuscript number “30” on front pastedown.

Text
ff. 1–52, Office of the Dead; ff. 53–57, Mass of the Blessed Virgin; ff. 58–59, Gospel of John; ff. 60–61, Gospel of Matthew; ff. 62–63 Gospel of Luke; ff. 64–65, Gospel of Mark; ff. 65–81v, Indulgences (65–67, Verses of Saint Bernard; ff. 67–68, Elevation Prayer of Pope Boniface VIII; ff. 68–70, Prayer of the Last Seven Words; ff. 70r–75, Prayer of Saint Augustine; ff. 75–77v, Prayer of Mercy); ff. 77v–81v, Athanasian Creed; ff. 81v–83v, Apostles Creed; ff. 83v–84, Pater Noster; ff. 84–84v Ave Maria; ff. 84v–87, Prayer to the Trinity; ff. 87–88, Profession of Faith (in Catalan); ff. 88v, contemporary gothic cursiva addition on rear flyleaf containing a short devotional prayer.

Illumination
This delightful prayerbook, or perhaps a fragmentary Book of Hours, was illuminated by the Master of Isabella di Chiaromonte, the favored illuminator of Queen Isabella of Naples. The manuscript was executed in collaboration with a second artist of Netherlandish training responsible for the six full-page miniatures, which are somewhat obscured by the overpainting of a modern restorer. The Neapolitan illuminator is documented as the creator of several prestigious royal commissions, including the heraldic page added to the Codex of Santa Marta (Naples, Archivio di Stato; see Leone de Castris 2002) and the Queen’s personal Book of Hours (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library, MS Typ. 463), produced between 1458 and 1465. The decorative program of the present manuscript is closely related to that of the Harvard Hours, suggesting a date of execution around 1460. Working alongside the Chiaromonte Master, the northern artist supplied the manuscript’s full-page miniatures, five of which are fully integrated into the text block and therefore appear to have been planned and executed contemporaneously with the manuscript itself (Bodo Brinkman, correspondence with the owner 1986).

The participation of a northern artist is characteristic of the cosmopolitan artistic milieu of fifteenth-century Naples, where Flemish painting and illumination enjoyed exceptional prestige under the Aragonese rulers. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify a specific hand due to modern overpainting that obscures much of the miniature's original design. Nevertheless, they were perhaps painted by Flemish artist who must have emigrated to the Neapolitan court, which maintained close artistic ties with the Burgundian Netherlands, attracting artists and works from the north, most notably the painter Barthélemy d’Eyck, active in the circle of René of Anjou, whose works were known and absorbed by Neapolitan artists Niccolò Antonio Colantonio and Antonello da Messina. The Master of Isabella di Chiaromonte himself assimilated Netherlandish motifs into his work. In a Book of Hours now in the Walters Art Museum (MS W.328), for example, he employs patterned textile backdrops, tiled interiors, and spatial constructions derived from contemporary Flemish models.

The manuscript was commissioned by an individual named Bernardus, who is mentioned in an indulgence prayer on folio 74: ut custodi me Bernardum servum tuum indignum (“that You may protect me, Bernard, Your unworthy servant”). In the absence of a calendar or litany, its precise use remains difficult to determine. However, a profession of faith copied on ff. 87–88 in Catalan suggests that Bernardus may have originated in the Crown of Aragon and was perhaps a recent arrival in Naples. Given the strong Dominican associations of the Chiaromonte Master’s documented oeuvre, as well as Queen Isabella’s own close ties to the Dominican Order, the commissioner may have belonged to a Dominican community for whom the artist is known to have executed other commissions.

The six miniatures depict the following subjects: f. 1v, standing skeleton holding a scythe in a field; f. 52v, Virgin and Child seated on a green chair with sunburst halo above; f. 57v, Saint John with eagle, holding a scroll, seated on the island of Patmos; f. 59v, Saint Matthew with angel, holding a scroll, seated in a field with gold scrollwork on a blue background; f. 61v, Saint Luke with ox, seated in a field and writing in a book with diapered gold pattern on a red background; f. 63v, Saint Mark with lion, writing in a scroll and seated in a landscape.”

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Brucia Whitthoft, “The Hours of Isabella di Chiaromonte,” Harvard Library Bulletin 18 (1970), pp. 298–307; Angela Daneu Lattanzi, “Di alcuni codici miniati attribuibili a Matteo Felice e bottega,” La Bibliofilia 75 (1973), pp. 1–43; Ranée Katzenstein, “A Neapolitan Book of Hours in the J. Paul Getty Museum,” The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 18 (1990), pp. 69–98; Gennaro Toscano. “Il Maestro di Isabella di Chiaromonte: Note sulla miniatura a Napoli a metà Quattrocento,” Artes 3 (1995), pp. 34–45; Gennaro Toscano, “Matteo Felice: Un miniatore al servizio dei re d’Aragona di Napoli,” Bollettino d’Arte, 6 (1995), pp. 87–118; Gennaro Toscano, “I manoscritti miniati per Isabella di Chiaromonte,” in La Biblioteca Reale di Napoli al tempo della dinastia Aragonese, ed. Gennaro Toscano, Valencia, 1998, pp. 233–40, 367–74, 417, 425; Pierluigi Leone de Castris, “Il codice di Santa Marta: Miniatura e pittura nella Napoli angioina, aragonese e viceregnale,” Napoli Nobilissima 5 (2002), pp. 88–99; Gennaro Toscano, “Maestro di Isabella di Chiaromonte,” in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani, ed. Milvia Bollati, Milan, 2004, pp.690–92; Gennaro Toscano, “Livres et lectures de deux princesses de la cour d’Aragon de Naples: Isabella de Chiaromonte et Ippolita Maria Sforza,” in Livres et lectures des femmes en Europe entre Moyen Âge et Renaissance, ed. Anne-Marie Legaré, Turnhout, 2007, pp. 295–310; Gennaro Toscano, “Isabella de Chiaromonte (1424–1465), reine de Naples, et sa commande à Colantonio du Retable de saint Vincent Ferrier,” in Femmes de pouvoir, femmes politiques durant les derniers siècles du Moyen Âge et au cours de la première Renaissance, ed. Éric Bousmar et al., Brussels, 2012, pp. 585–99; Teresa D’Urso, “Manuscript Illustration in the South of the Italian Peninsula,” in A Companion to the Renaissance in Southern Italy (1350–1600), ed. Bianca de Divitiis, Leiden, 2023, pp. 563–90.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Teresa d’Urso for consultation on this entry.

Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz