Bank of America supports TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund Conservation of the Black Book of Hours at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library

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Apr 30, 2025 New York

Black Book of Hours Courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum Library Photos Kirk Davis Swinehart — Black Book of Hours Courtesy of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library. Photos Kirk Davis Swinehart

New York, NY - April 30, 2025: The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) and TEFAF. New York Lead Partner, Bank of America, are pleased to announce the Hispanic Society Museum & Library as the recipient of this year’s TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) in New York. Established in 2012, this annual grant supports the vital work of the international art community in preserving artistic and cultural heritage. In a newly established collaboration, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project is jointly supporting TMRF, creating the opportunity to double the fund’s impact this year.

With funding from the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund and Bank of America’s Art Conservation Project, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, a free public museum located in Washington Heights in New York City, will conserve Horae beatae marie secundum usum curie romane (Black Book of Hours). Given the extreme rarity of books of hours on vellum stained with black ink or painted with black pigment, it is among the most important items in the Hispanic Society’s manuscript collection. The work will be on view at TEFAF New York, which runs from May 9-13, 2025 at the Park Avenue Armory, with an invitation-only preview day on May 8. “The Society's broader mission includes advancing knowledge of Hispanic arts, literature, and history through its museum and library collections. The Black Book of Hours serves as a tangible connection to the past, embodying the artistic and historical narratives that the Society seeks to celebrate and share, ” Dr. John O’Neill, Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library commented. “Its restoration not onlypreserves the physical artifact but also reinforces the Society's commitment to cultural education and heritage preservation.”

Dating from circa 1458, the Black Book of Hours is one of only seven known illuminated manuscripts on black-colored vellum. It is believed that the volume belonged to Maria of Castile, queen of Alfonso V of Aragón, based on a 17th-century note and the book’s Castilian coat of arms. The calendar is also appropriate for the Crown of Aragón, with the canonization of St. Vincent Ferrer in 1455 as the earliest possible date of composition of the manuscript. It has been suggested that this book of hours was an offering of bereavement to María of Castile presented on the death of her husband in 1458. The fact the book is executed on black parchment and that María’s coat of arms is no longer blazoned with Aragón have been cited as evidence. The artist, most certainly Flemish, likely worked for the Aragonese court.

The conservation treatment, which seeks to address the inordinate pressure on the volume’s structure exerted by its tight, 19th-century blue Morocco leather binding each time the book is examined or exhibited, will begin with the careful disbinding of the 149 folios. The process will continue with a comprehensive condition assessment addressing issues such as losses, tears, and areas of bloom. Baseline data for monitoring environmental effects will be established by micro-sampling to analyze the vellum, gold, and silver decorations. Custom housing will be constructed to facilitate examination while ensuring safe, long-term storage. Additionally, high-resolution photography of each page will enable scholars across the globe to access the object without physical handling. Since the manuscript was presented to the Hispanic Society in 1933, this textually complete Book of Hours remains one of the museum’s most requested volumes.

“Art is often vulnerable to the passage of time. Realizing there’s a critical need to preserve art for future generations, we started the Art Conservation Project in 2010,” said Brian Siegel,

Global Arts, Culture & Heritage Executive at Bank of America. “Since then, over 275 awards have been made in 40 countries. This year's projects include a wide array of artistic styles, media and cultural traditions across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.”

Rachel Kaminsky, head of the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund committee, explains the significance of this important conservation project: “In keeping with the mission of the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund, we are proud to support the Hispanic Society Museum & Library’s ongoing commitment to sharing culturally significant treasures with audiences in New York and around the world. The restoration and preservation of the Black Book of Hours will allow for its proper display and ensure that future generations can study and appreciate this extraordinary and rare manuscript. Doubly exciting, the book will be exhibited at TEFAF New York, giving visitors a chance to view it firsthand prior to conservation.”

TEFAF will once again host a talk on the TMRF initiative presented in partnership with ICOM-CC. Moderated by Carolyn Riccardelli, Objects Conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the panel on Saturday, May 10, “The Black Book of Hours and the Role of Philanthropy in Manuscript Preservation,” will take attendees behind the scenes of the complex preservation project. More information and free registration for ticket holders here.

ABOUT THE TEFAF MUSEUM RESTORATION FUND

Since its inception in 2012, the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) has supported the museum community by funding over 25 restoration projects. TMRF restoration grants are crucial for restoring and preserving works of art in public collections. This year (2025), theCondé Museum in Chantilly and the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York City have been selected as grant recipients, receiving a total of €100.000 (compared to €50.000 in grants in 2024) to undertake the restoration of extraordinary illuminated manuscripts. In a newly established collaboration with TEFAF New York’s Lead Partner, Bank of America, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project is jointly supporting the restoration of the Black Book of Hours at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library.

ABOUT BANK OF AMERICA Lead Partner of TEFAF New York

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,700 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 58 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

ABOUT THE HISPANIC SOCIETY MUSEUM & LIBRARY

Founded in 1904 by the American scholar, philanthropist, and collector Archer M. Huntington, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library houses one of the world’s premier collections of art from Spain, Portugal, Latin America, and the Philippines. Located in a historic Beaux-Arts building on Audubon Terrace in the dynamic Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, the Hispanic Society is home to over half a million objects spanning thousands of years of art history across three continents. Unparalleled in scope and quality, the collection includes works by Baroque and early modern masters like El Greco, Diego Velázquez, Luisa Roldán, and Francisco de Goya; visionary 20th century artists like Joaquín Sorolla; and major figures from Viceregal Latin America such as Sebastián López de Arteaga and Juan Rodríguez Juárez, along with extensive collections of antiquities, ceramics, textiles, and decorative arts. The Hispanic Society’s library is one of the most important centers for research on Hispanic art and culture, containing an extraordinary array of rare books and manuscripts, including a map of the world dated to 1526 and a first edition of Don Quixote. The library is open to the public by appointment. The Hispanic Society is committed to giving voice to Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking communities and cultures in New York, throughout the United States, and across the world. As an active member of the Washington Heights community, the Hispanic Society regularly hosts concerts, lectures, and tours, and invites contemporary artists and community members to dialogue with the collection. Through its ambitious special exhibitions, a world-class permanent collection, innovative educational programming, dedicated support of living artists, and advanced research initiatives, the Hispanic Society continues to reimagine the potential for a museum and its ability to lead meaningful change.

ABOUT AXA XL Global Lead Partner

AXA XL Insurance is the P&C (Property & Casualty) and specialty risk division of AXA, known for solving even the most complex risks. AXA XL offers traditional and innovative insurance solutions and services in over 200 countries and territories. As part of its specialty risk offering, AXA XL protects a range of objects, including fine art, antiquities, antiques, jewelry, watches, classic cars, raw and polished gemstones, and bullion, from thousands of years to weeks old. Over the past 50 years and well into the future, AXA XL, a leading global insurer of fine art and specie, has and will continue to redefine how it serves and services its collector, museum, corporate, gallery, conservator, and artist clients across Europe, the UK, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific region, with a sincere consideration for the way valuable objects are insured and cultural patrimony is protected.

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TEFAF NEW YORK 2025

Opening Hours

May 8 by invitation only
Friday, May 9 – Monday, May 12 | 11 AM – 7 PM
Tuesday, May 13 | 11 AM – 6 PM

For further information, please visit our website.

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ABOUT TEFAF

TEFAF is a not-for-profit foundation that champions expertise, excellence, and diversity in the global art community. This is evidenced by the exhibitors selected for its two fairs, which occur annually in Maastricht and New York. TEFAF is an expert guide for private and institutional collectors, inspiring art lovers and buyers everywhere.

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ABOUT TEFAF NEW YORK

TEFAF New York was founded in early 2016, originally as two annual art fairs at the Park Avenue Armory—TEFAF New York Fall and TEFAF New York Spring. Today, TEFAF New York is one singular, annual fair that encapsulates modern and contemporary art, jewelry, antiquities, and design, featuring around 90 leading exhibitors from around the globe. Tom Postma Design, celebrated for its innovative work with leading museums, galleries, and art fairs, has developed designs for the fairs that interplay with the spectacular spaces while giving them a lighter, contemporary look and feel. Exhibitor stands will flow throughout the Armory’s landmark building encompassing the Wade Thompson Drill Hall and extending to both the first and second floors of the Armory’s period rooms, creating a fair of unprecedented depth and impact in New York City.

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