The extraordinary discovery of a Breviary-Missal at the Leone Museum in Vercelli has brought to
light the oldest known evidence of Salerno’s liturgy, which dates back to the years of Archbishop
Romualdo II Guarna (1153-1181). The manuscript joins a group of codices kept at the “San
Matteo” Diocesan Museum in Salerno, and provides many hitherto unpublished codicological,
musicological, and art-historical details. From the pages of the manuscript emerges the role of the
Beneventan, Ambrosian, and Norman traditions in relation to the customs of the Church of Salerno,
as well as new questions on the multifaceted medieval cultural context, in which written, spoken
and sung words were associated with the images and liturgical installations of the cathedral.
For a better understanding of the different issues, specialists from various disciplines engage in a
constructive dialogue to investigate the peculiarities of the Breviary-Missal, explore its
complexities, and retrace the multiple routes that connected Salerno to Rome, the Mediterranean
basin, and the heart of medieval Europe.
The volume is published in the series ‘Studi e ricerche di Storia dell’Arte’ by Laveglia & Carlone,
and forms an addition to the collection of Salerno manuscripts published in the same venue by
Giuseppa Z. Zanichelli, I codici miniati del Museo Diocesano “San Matteo” di Salerno, with a
contribution by Maddalena Vaccaro, 2019.
Battipaglia (Sa), Laveglia & Carlone 2022 (Studi e ricerche di Storia dell’Arte, 4) 542 pp., 46 tavole a colori, € 60,00.
For more information, visit the publisher’s website or email info@lavegliacarlone.it.
Medieval Art Research 