Missal of Barbara of Brandenburg Facsimile Edition

The Missal of Barbara of Brandenburg is a stunning achievement of two generations of painters employed by the noble rulers of Mantua. It is named for one of its patrons, Barbara, consort of Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. A book of prayers, readings, and chants for the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist, it was written and illuminated in Mantua and Pavia starting in 1442 with work extending into the 1460s. The manuscript's sixty-eight miniatures—principally by (Luchino) Belbello da Pavia, and Girolamo da Cremona—are gems of northern Italian Renaissance manuscript painting.

Half-page miniatures that extend across the width of the page, most with full painted borders, introduce the nine most important feasts—Christmas, Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, the Annunciation to the Virgin, the Assumption of the Virgin, and All Saints.

Lombardy's Star Illuminator

When he was commissioned to illuminate the missal, Belbello da Pavia had already had a distinguished career illuminating manuscripts for the Marquis of Ferrara and the Duke of Milan. Most important, he had been entrusted with completing the illumination of the sumptuous Visconti Hours. Bulky figures and a palette of glowing yellow, pink, red, and blue are hallmarks of his work.

A Talented Newcomer

Barbara of Brandenburg described Girolamo da Cremona, whom she hired at the recommendation of Andrea Mantegna to pick up the work of Belbello, as "a young man who illuminates very well." Mantegna's distinctive art profoundly influenced him and the missal's third illuminator (who contributed only two miniatures). In the missal, Girolamo adapted Mantegna's aesthetic to the brilliant palette of Belbello's earlier contributions.

A Noble Commission

Work on the missal began in 1442 at the behest of the young Gianlucido Gonzaga (1421-1448), son of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. He engaged Pietro Paolo Marone to write the text and Belbello to illuminate the large and sumptuous missal. Marone completed the text in 1453, and Belbello had painted about two-thirds of the planned-for miniatures (forty-six in number) before his work was halted.

Portions of the book, then in Pavia, were returned in 1461 to Mantua, and Barbara of Brandenburg (1422-1481) employed Girolamo to complete the remaining twenty miniatures. Her coat of arms appears in the painted border at the feast of the Ascension, which is introduced by one of Girolamo's half-page miniatures (fol. 204v).

A Famous Scribe

The missal's scribe, Pietro Paolo Marone, followed the expected layout for a missal: most of the text is written in two columns, with the prayers and readings in a slightly larger script than the texts of the chants to be sung by the choir on specific feast days.

Marone, whose fame rests on his work in this missal and the Bible of Borso d'Este, wrote the text in a pleasingly regular Gothic Rotunda, the characteristic script of fifteenth-century Italian liturgical books.

Donated to the Cathedral

Probably originally intended for the cathedral of San Pietro at Mantua, the manuscript was finally donated to the church in 1554 by Ercole Gonzaga (1505-1563). There it remained until 1913 when some leaves were stolen. The manuscript was then transferred into the regional government's care and to Mantua's Palazzo Ducale, and the stolen leaves were recovered. The book was returned to the cathedral in 1983—the red velvet binding dates from 2008.