This wonderfully preserved manuscript comes from the workshop of Giovanni di Giuliano Boccardi, called Boccardino Vecchio (c. 1460-1529), one of the last great Florentine illuminators. Boccardino Vecchio created this manuscript in collaboration with Tommaso di Stefano Lunetti (c. 1465-1534) – an apprentice in the atelier of Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni del Fora. In the second half of the 15th century, collaboration between illuminators in Florence was quite common and needed, as large luxury commissions – for Matthias Corvinus or the Medici family – could only be completed in collaboration.
The patron, for whom this manuscript was made, is unknown to us, a coat of arms in the bas-de-page on f. 14r, that could have revealed his or her identity, has been left empty. A full-page miniature with the personification of Death with high cleric and worldly dignitaries may – perhaps spontaneously – have been inserted to lend the Office of the Dead a special emphasis by a double illustration. This could hint to the fact that the earlier patron died, while the book was still being produced. Could it be that his or her descendants may have decided that the manuscript should be perceived like an epitaph to commemorate the deceased?
Boccardino was a renowned specialist for painted cameos and coins, with a detailed knowledge of archaeology – which influenced his work as an artist. The border decoration for Matins of the Office of the Virgin (f. 14r) includes beautifully painted pearls, set gemstones and embossed coins and thus recalls gold work, typical of Renaissance illumination in Florence. The border is composed of differently shaped fields framed by slim golden bars. These fields are filled with dense acanthus tendrils in gold, white and blue. Six fields show the above-mentioned gold coins with portraits in profile. On the head of the page two putti hold a roundel with Christ's monogram, in the bas-de-page, two mermaids present an empty escutcheon. Some of the jewellery can be identified as accurate reproductions of antique models. Other pieces, including those in the book at hand, are more likely to be free variations.