Cocharelli Codex

The fragmentary Cocharelli Codex was written in the first quarter of the 14th century by a highly educated member of the wealthy Genoese merchant family Cocharelli as a textbook for his sons. The Latin verse treatise combines passages on the Christian seven capital vices and seven cardinal virtues with historical events in Genoa, Acre and Cyprus. The sources of the as yet unidentified compiler include biblical proverbs and a variety of moral treatises by earlier authors, which are evidence of his high level of education and access to a well-stocked library, as well as anecdotes and stories passed down orally by his grandfather Pellegrino Cocharelli. The latter was economically active in Acre, Cyprus and Genoa between 1269 and 1307 and was therefore actually a witness to some of the events described, such as the fall of Acre. However, the manuscript is particularly famous for its extraordinary illumination, which is the product of extremely skilled hands and combines various traditions of book art. The miniatures are regarded as pinnacles of Italian medieval book illumination.