The celebrated Colonna Missal was commissioned by Cardinal Pompeo di Girolamo Colonna (d. 1532) for use in the Sistine Chapel. It was written and illuminated c. 1532-35, and some of its decoration is contemporary with Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment over the High Altar. The rubrics frequently assume the presence of the Pope during services, and the Missal was clearly intended to be seen by and used in the presence of the Pope and his innermost circle. Six of the Missal's seven volumes were acquired in 1868 by Alexander, Lord Lindsay (later 25th Earl of Crawford), from the bookseller Thomas Boone, for £1,500. They were then acquired by Enriqueta Rylands in 1901 for the recently founded John Rylands Library. The present volume is actually number two in the chronological sequence.
The seventh volume of the Colonna Missal, c.1532 - c.1555
Item Provenance
Bernard Quaritch 1895; various private collectors including Sir Alfred Chester Beatty and Estelle Doheny; the Arcana Collection, from which it was sold at Christie's, 6 July 2011, lot 27