Anonymous Bruges illuminator - photo 1
Anonymous Bruges illuminator - photo 2

Anonymous Bruges illuminator

Sold
£ 5 292
Auction dateClassic
12.12.2022 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 869524
Lot 117 | Anonymous Bruges illuminator
Anonymous Bruges illuminator
The Martyrdom of St Thomas Becket, a miniature on a bifolium from a Book of Hours in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Southern Netherlands, Bruges(?), second quarter 15th century].
A depiction of one of the most dramatic and shocking events of the Middle Ages: the murder, while saying mass in his own cathedral, of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

c. 225 × 310mm. The central bifolium of a gathering, 26 lines, the text comprising the last five of the Fifteen Os and the start of a memorial to St Thomas (‘virtus iusticia et omne quod bonum […] Memoria de sancto Thoma Cantuariensi. Gaude lux Londoniarum Thoma […]’, with a three-quarter page miniature and five-line foliate initial surrounded by a three-sided border (stains and creases in the margins, barely affecting the text or decoration, the miniature somewhat rubbed).

Provenance:
(1) Doubtless from a manuscript of the Use of Sarum produced in Bruges for the English market.
(2) Perhaps back on the Continent in the mid-16th century, as the text and image of St Thomas escaped defacement in accordance with Henry VIII’s decree.
(3) Colker MS 191; acquired in 1971 from Maggs.
Genre:Religious genre
Place of origin:Belgium
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.11.2022 – 12.12.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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