A prophet, from an illuminated Psalter-Hours - photo 1
A prophet, from an illuminated Psalter-Hours - photo 2

A prophet, from an illuminated Psalter-Hours

Lot 193
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 2 772
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 1032845
Lot 193 | A prophet, from an illuminated Psalter-Hours
Estimate value
$ 1 800 – 2 500
A leaf from a lavishly illuminated Psalter-Hours made for a Nun.

177 x 135mm. 20 lines, ruled space: 149 x 91mm., the text Psalms 1:1-2:11, '[B]eatus vir qui non abiit' to 'servite Domino in timore et exultate ei [in tremore]', likely f.2 facing a full-page illuminated 'B', a historiated initial 'Q' with a prophet opening Psalm 2, versal initials alternately in red or gold with red or blue penwork flourishing, flamboyant and varied line-fillers throughout, including a fish and a dog-head biting down on the tail of a golden bird, the first line of text in gold on a red and blue ground with white tracery, the scribe omitting the words 'in consilio', added in a contemporary hand in the margin (margins cropped, a little thumbed, but in good condition). Mounted and framed.

Provenance:
(1) The parent volume was made for a nun: 'our absess' ('abbatissam nostram') is mentioned in a collect and in the petitions that follow the litany of Saints. The extent and lavishness of the illumination suggests an important commission made for a woman of great wealth, perhaps even royalty. Peter Kidd discusses this manuscript at length both in his Medieval Manuscripts Provenance blog (see entries for 5 March and 13 June 2015, 9 May 2020, etc.) and his catalogue entry for the Bob McCarthy Collection, vol. II (Spanish, English, Flemish and Central European Miniatures), where he provides a comprehensive list of all known leaves, including the present one.

(2) A very faint modern inscription in pencil on the verso reads 'MS. 2483 / PS. I-II'

Illumination:
The leaf—and indeed the entire manuscript—is notable for its inventive and flamboyant line-fillers, peopled with fish, birds, dragons, grotesques, etc., and for the exceptional and unusual fact that every single psalm and prayer is preceded by a historiated initial (where most commonly the format would be to have larger initials only for the eight major divisions). The illumination has previously been attributed to England, Flanders, Eastern France, Lower Lorraine, and the Rhineland. As Kidd points out, though, although the highly varied line-fillers of some leaves are usually associated with English manuscripts, the style of the illuminated initials finds no close parallels in England: Flanders or the Rhineland therefore seem a more likely origin.
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