Cardinal Angelo Acciaiuoli
Owners
Cardinal Angelo Acciaiuoli (1340-1408) was a major patron of Florentine artists, including Gherardo Starnina and the illuminators involved in the production of his Missal. He resided mostly in Rome after becoming Chancellor of the Holy See in 1387, and especially after he was appointed Archpriest of St Peter’s in the Vatican in 1404 and Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1405. Nevertheless, from 1385 until his death Acciaiuoli was also the commendatory abbot of the Badia in Florence, a Benedictine monastery with an active scriptorium. The Badia’s account books, which survive in the State Archives of Florence, preserve the names of the artists responsible for Acciaiuoli’s Missal. Three of them painted the Cardinal’s portrait within the volume.
Historiated initials and border with Angelo Acciaiuoli’s portrait and arms (Mass for Pentecost Sunday)
The S introduces the Mass for Pentecost, while the smaller initial D with the dove of the Holy Spirit opens the collect (short prayer) recited on Pentecost Sunday. The presence of two historiated initials, and of the patron’s portrait and arms, signal the importance of the feast.
The initial S shows the Virgin and the twelve apostles receiving the Holy Spirit in an interior above and, below, the peoples of the nations of the world, to whom the apostles will soon begin to preach in tongues, gathered outside. This unusual and busy rendition of Pentecost is a faithful replica of an image painted by Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci in a manuscript produced at Santa Maria degli Angeli a decade earlier. Less crowded versions of the same composition were reused later by Lorenzo Monaco and Bartolomeo di Fruosino.
This page is representative of Hand B’s work. The Cardinal’s portrait (hotspot 1) exemplifies the monumental figures and robust facial types characteristic of this artist, as do the figures of the prophets depicted in the upper border (hotspot 2).