Missal cover

Author: Unknown

Date: ca. 1710

Material: White silver and velvet

Dimensions (cm): H 37 x W 27

Provenance: Cabeceiras de Basto, Confraria do Santíssimo Sacramento da Freguesia de São Nicolau

Inventory No.: MAS O 156

 

This Roman missal is covered with crimson velvet with silver application in the centre, in the corners and on the articulated clasps. The contrast of colours and of textures of the different materials serves to enhance the work of acanthuses and flowers, as well as the centre cartouche, where the arms of the Canon Pedro Ferreira de Leiva can be seen, framed in a composition of scrolls and phytomorphic elements.

The ornamentation of religious texts was a very frequent habit in the medieval period. This exuberant ornamentation follows the opulence of the liturgy following the Council of Trent (1545 – 1563), in which one aimed at captivating the attention of the faithful, and it can be included in the naturalist language of the initial Baroque.