The Caporali Missal:  A Masterpiece of Renaissance Illumination

Sunday, March 3, 2:00
Cleveland Museum of Art Recital Hall
Stephen Fliegel, Curator of Medieval Art, examines a little-known manuscript missal produced for the Franciscan community of Montone in Italy’s Umbria region in 1469.  The subject of a current exhibition, the missal is examined for its impressive decoration by the Caporali brothers as well as the context of its use as the service book for the priest at the altar. Please join us for a private Cleveland State University luncheon beforehand.

The Book Arts in World Religions

Wednesday, March 20, 5:30
Cleveland State University Student Center Ballroom
This panel discussion places the Caporali Missal in a global context by examining the book arts in a variety of religious traditions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and the religions of India. Participants include Cleveland State University faculty members Dr. Sucharita Adluri, Dr. Samantha Baskind, and Dr. Marian Bleeke, and the Rev. David Novak of Ss. Robert and William Parish, Euclid.

Praying Mantises in Gray Vesture: The Followers of St. Francis between Ideal and Praxis in Late Medieval Italy

Wednesday, April 17, 5:30
Cleveland State University Student Center Ballroom
The Caporali Missal, recently purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art, is a liturgical book commissioned in 1469 and used for the celebration of Mass by Franciscan friars in the central Italian town of Montone. As a book facilitating prayer, it tells us something about the piety of the Franciscan friars who used it, the patronage which made it possible and the wider struggles for authentic vocational identity within the Order during the late fifteenth century. This lecture, presented by Father Michael Cusato, one of the leading historians of Franciscan history working in the United States today, is an attempt to place this precious book in its wider religious and historical context in the Late Middle Ages.

Music for the Mass of St. Francis in the Caporali Missal: A Lecture and Performance

Sunday, April 21, 2:00
Cleveland Museum of Art Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Gallery
Dr. David Rothenberg of Case Western Reserve University discusses the liturgical and musical contents of the Caporali Missal, illustrated with performances of musical excerpts from the Mass for the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi by a chamber choir. Meet in the exhibition gallery.

The ‘Wild-Herb Taste’ of Umbrian Painting in the Later Fifteenth Century

Wednesday, May 8, 7:00
Cleveland Museum of Art Recital Hall
In The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1897) Bernard Berenson asked: “What did the Central Italians contribute to the magic of Renaissance art?” adding that “Even Umbrian painting is [now] being studied for its own wild-herb taste, and not merely in its Florentine phases.”  Dr. Tom Henry of the University of Kent discusses the particular contribution of the Umbrians to the Italian Renaissance, and will relate this to the Caporali exhibition by referring to works painted for the church of San Francesco in Montone.

FOR TEACHERS

Science of Manuscripts Workshop (in partnership with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

Saturday, April 13, 10:00 – 1:00

While today most books are machine-made, 15th-century texts such as the Caporali Missal were made by hand. These service books and other manuscripts were lavishly decorated with colors that maintain their ability to dazzle. From the natural pigments used to create the paint to the application of gold and silver leaf, explore the geology behind such artwork. Practice using natural pigments to create paint and your own works of art. Workshop registration includes parking. Fee: $35 for TRC and SRC members, $40 for non-members.

JOIN IN

Second Sunday

March 10, 11:00 – 4:00
Bring your family to the museum to enjoy a wealth of family-friendly experiences themed for the Caporali exhibition. Activities include artmaking, storytelling, scavenger hunts, and movement-based gallery talks. Fun for the whole family, and free to all!