Anonymous Parisian workshop

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£ 25 200
Auction dateClassic
13.12.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
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CHRISTIE'S
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United Kingdom, London
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ID 1105561
Lot 31 | Anonymous Parisian workshop
Anonymous Parisian workshop

Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1490]

A handsome example of Parisian illumination at the end of the 15th century.



186 x 128mm. 145 leaves, collation: 112, 2-68, 76 (of 8, lacking iv-v), 8-98, 10-134, 147 (of 8, lacking iv), 15-208, modern foliation in pencil, 18 lines, ruled space: 102 x 63mm, rubrics in red, illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, most pages with one-sided borders, 13 large miniatures within full borders and 15 smaller miniatures within three-sided borders (lacking 3 leaves: one miniature opening terce and a text leaf after f.55, and a miniature opening the Hours of the Cross after f.92v, some marginal soiling, cockling and occasional losses of pigment, else in good condition). 16th-century French calf over wooden boards blind-stamped with repeated ‘IHS’ monogram, seated stag and fleur-de-lys tools, gilt edges (a little scuffed and rubbed).



Provenance:

(1) The liturgical use, the Saints in the Calendar (with Denis and Geneviève in gold) and the style of illumination indicate a Parisian production at the end of the 15th century.



(2) Sotheby's 10 July 1967, lot 102, to Traylen.



Content: Calendar ff.1-12v; Gospel extracts ff.13-19; Obsecro te and O intemerata ff.19v-23v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris ff.24-76v: matins f.24, lauds f.43, prime f.52, terce f.56, sext f.59, none f.63, vespers f.67, compline f.72v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.77-92v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.93-95v, Office of the Dead, use of Paris ff.96-131v; Doulce Dame and Doulx Dieux ff.132-139v; Suffrages ff.140-144v.



Illumination:

This is a handsome example of Parisian illumination at the end of the 15th century. The elegance of the figures and their rather generalised faces with high cheek-bones relate the manuscript to the style of Jean Pichore, the illuminator best known for the manuscripts he painted for the royal family and members of the court. Pichore is recorded in Paris from 1502 to 1520, as 'enlumineur et historieur', and is documented as running a large atelier in the city: F. Avril and N.Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.282-285.



The subjects of the large miniatures are as follows: St John on Patmos f.13, the Annunciation f.24, the Visitation f.43, the Nativity f.52, the Adoration of the Magi f.59, the Presentation in the Temple f.63, the Flight into Egypt f.67, the Coronation of the Virgin f.72v, David and Goliath f.77, Pentecost f.93, Job on dungheap f.96; Virgin and Child f.132, God enthroned f.137.



The subjects of the small miniatures are as follows: Sts Luke f.14v, Matthew f.16, Mark f.17v; Virgin and Child f.18v; Pieta f.21v, Sts Michael f.140, John the Baptist f.140v, James f.141, Christopher f.141v, Sebastian f.142, Nicholas f.142v, Antony Abbot f.143, Katherine f.143v, Barbara f.144, and Geneviève f.144v.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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