Officiolum of Francesco da Barberino

Officiolum of Francesco da Barberino

Between 1304 and 1309, Francesco da Barberino devised and completed his Officiolum, a kind of prayer book. It is thereby considered to be the oldest Italian prayer book. This distinction would already be impressive in and of itself, but what’s more, the prayer book was also exceptionally richly adorned with miniatures, which also mirror the world of ideas and imagery of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Officiolum of Francesco da Barberino therefore represents a true rarity that came within a hair’s breadth of being lost forever…

Francesco da Barberino, Giotto, and Dante’s Divine Comedy

Francesco da Barberino (1264–1348) was a Florentine poet. As a contemporary and friend of Giotto, the famous Italian painter, and Dante Alighieri in flowering 14th century Florence, he was naturally very familiar with their works. The text, recently rediscovered and unknown until recently, was composed by Francesco da Barberino himself, and consequently borrowed heavily from Dante’s Divine Comedy, e.g. the reproduction of the famous Inferno with circles of hell. The 70 illuminated folios make this vividly recognizable. The textual level of Barberino’s allegorical treatment of Hope, an early Christian theme, is especially noteworthy, which are naturally not absent from this prayer book. In his Latin commentaries on the Documenti D’Amore, Barberino had already previously spoken about the importance of elucidating a philosophical text with pictures. The reader at the time therefore profited as much from the imagery of the Officiolum as the modern beholder. Alongside numerous half- and full-page miniatures, the text was additionally embellished with a variety of golden initials and the rear portion of the text is written entirely in gold ink.

A Manuscript Believed to be Lost

It is thanks to a lucky coincidence that we are able to immerse ourselves today into the Florentine imagery of the early 14th century. The Officiolum of Francesco da Barberino was considered to be one of the lost masterpieces of the Middle Ages. Suddenly, it surfaced in 2003 at an auction by Christie’s in Rome – a sensation! Naturally, a bidding war broke out for the famous and masterfully illuminated manuscript, during the course of which the Italian State had to forfeit. In the end, a bid from a still-unknown telephone-bidder was accepted. Twelve years later, he announced the creation of a facsimile of his treasure, which is counted among the great masterpieces of Tuscan and Italian culture altogether.