Circle of Amico Aspertini - photo 1
Circle of Amico Aspertini - photo 2
Circle of Amico Aspertini - photo 3
Circle of Amico Aspertini - photo 4

Circle of Amico Aspertini

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£ 37 800
Auction dateClassic
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 993160
Lot 25 | Circle of Amico Aspertini
Circle of Amico Aspertini

Book of Hours, use of Rome, in Latin and Italian, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Bologna, c.1490]

A charming, complete, Renaissance Book of Hours, illuminated by an accomplished Bolognese artist, perhaps for the Bolognetti family of the same region.



139 x 100mm. ii + 172 + ii leaves, complete, collation: 112, 2-1110, 128, 13-1610, 1712, catchwords survive, 15 lines, ruled space: 81 x 54mm., rubrics in red, small initials alternately in red and blue, illuminated initials in gold and colours, often inhabited with flowers, throughout, 5 historiated initials within full borders, 8 illuminated initials inhabited by flowers within full borders (erased rubrics at ff.150v-151, 157v-158, 166, 168-168v, 169, 170, 171-171v, 172-172v, f.150 with a small hole caused by erasure, a few minor losses of pigment to the dove on f.147, else in excellent condition). 17th-century blind-tooled calf (lacking catches and clasps, edges and spine scuffed).



Provenance:

(1) Coat of arms in the lower margin of f.1: azur a woman’s face within a wreath or, the ends tied in saltire. The closest to this coat of arms is that of the ancient noble Bolognetti family of Bologna and Rome: most commonly this is accompanied by three fleurs-de-lis or and with a bust of a woman dressed in red rather than just a face, and with knotted tresses rather than a wreath, but variants appear without the fleurs-de-lis and with a wreath knotted as in the present manuscript, for example in a branch from Modena (see Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, fondo Vittorio Emanuele, ms.319 or in L'arte del blasone dichiarata per alfabeto, con le figure necessarie per l'intelligenza de' termini di Marc'Antonio Ginanni, Venice 1756). Curiously, the Italian rubrics introducing the prayers to the Virgin and prayers to be said during Mass have been erased by an early owner.



(2) ‘PIRRHO’ 17th?-century inscription scratched into upper cover of binding.



(3) Lady Mary Lyon (née Charteris, 1895-1991), of Apperley Court, daughter of the 11th Earl of Wemyss, wife of Algernon Walter Strickland and then Major J.G. Lyon: her sale at Sotheby's, 23 April 1945, lot 38, bought by Kauffman for £665.



Content: Calendar ff.1-12v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, ff.13-77: matins f.13, lauds f.23v, prime f.35, terce f.39, sext f.42v, none f.45v, vespers f.49, compline f.56, variations for different times of the liturgical year f.64v; Mass of the Virgin Salve sancta parens ff.77v-79v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.80-102v; Office of the Dead ff.103-143; Hours of the Cross ff.143v-146v; Hours of the Holy Spirit f.147-150; Prayer of St Augustine ‘O Dulcissime domine Iesu Christe […]’ ff.150v-157v; Prayers to the Virgin ff.157v-164; Prayers to be said during Mass ff.164v-172v.



Illumination:

The borders in the present manuscript have features of Ferrarese manuscripts of the end of the 15th century, but the charming hand at work in this manuscript is more likely Bolognese, and recalls the early work of the eccentric and eclectic painter Amico Aspertini in the splendid Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri, now British Library, Yates Thompson MS 29, particularly in the treatment of David with pointed beard and wispy hair, his cheeks defined by strokes of pink and orange (on the Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri, see M. Medica et. al, Libro d'Ore di Bonaparte Ghislieri, 2008).



The subjects of the historiated initials are as follows: the Virgin and Child f.13; David with his harp f.80; a crowned skull f.103; the Holy Cross f.143v; the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove f.147.



The large illuminated initials within full borders are on ff. 23v, 35v, 39, 42v, 45v, 49, 56, and 77v.



Christie's would like to thank Federica Toniolo for her thoughts on this manuscript.





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