A leaf from a Psalter on vellum

Sold
$ 1 764
Auction dateClassic
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1032840
Lot 188 | A leaf from a Psalter on vellum
A lively Romanesque initial on a leaf from a 12th-century Italian Psalter.

c.185 x 130mm. 26 lines written in a small, rounded Romanesque minuscule in two sizes, the initial 'E' opening Psalm 80: 'Exultate deo adiutori nostro', initials and rubrics in red, two modern foliations '37' and '46' in upper right margin (a few stains and smudges, generally in good condition). Mounted and framed.

Illumination:
The distinctive palette of greens, reds and yellows and the thick white-vine tendrils are features associable with manuscripts produced in the first half of the 12th century in central Italy, specifically in the region around Arezzo: K. Berg, Studies in Tuscan Twelfth-Century Illumination, Oslo 1968, no 15; F. Avril & Y. Zaluska, Manuscrits enluminés d'origine italienne. VI-XII siècles. Bibliothèque nationale, 1980, nos 71-75. The eccentric style of the initial is reminiscent of the extremely eccentric illumination of a manuscript of Pietro di Cava, Expositiones in librum primum Regum (Cava de’ Tirreni, Biblioteca Statale del Monumento Nazionale Badia di Cava, ms. 9), datable to the first half of the the 12th century.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
14.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
15.10.2023 13:00 – 17:00
16.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
17.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
18.10.2023 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms