Beneventan neumes - photo 1
Beneventan neumes - photo 2

Beneventan neumes

Lot 37
08.11.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 2 142
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1053151
Lot 37 | Beneventan neumes
Estimate value
£ 700 – 1 000
Beneventan neumes
A leaf from an Antiphonal, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [southern Italy, 13th century]
A large-format example of late Beneventan script and musical notation.

c.390 x 260mm, 12 lines written in black ink in a Beneventan minuscule, Beneventan neumes on a single-line red F staff, initials in red, larger initials filled with blue and/or yellow (recovered from a binding and stabilised on modern vellum, heavily stained with some parts of the text obscured). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Provenance:
(1) Bernard Quaritch, Beneventan Script, cat. 1128 (1990), no 21, acquired in 1988 by:

(2) Schøyen Collection, MS 69.

Text:
The text, from the Sanctorale, contains responsories and antiphons for Matins and Lauds on the Feast of St Agatha (5 February), starting on the verso as bound: '[...] adiuva me domine deus meus' to 'ut comprobaret Dominus quod a periculis incendii meritis'. The 1990 Quaritch entry indicated that several textual variants and the choice of versicles in the present leaf are comparable to Benevento, Biblioteca Capitolare 21 (for example, 'Ipse me dignatus', 'Mens mea solidata', and 'Domine qui me creasti').

Script and music:
The angularity of the script, the straight shoulder of medial 'r', the triangular-shaped top of some ascenders, and the substitution of charateristically Beneventan zoomorphic and flora initials with gothic-type majuscules embellished with red dots all suggests a date in the 13th century. The Beneventan neumes are thick and relatively short, with less frequent use of liquescents, and the quilisma is missing altogether.
Place of origin:Italy
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
02.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
03.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
04.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
05.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
06.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
07.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.