Circle of Giorgio d`Alemagna - photo 1
Circle of Giorgio d`Alemagna - photo 2

Circle of Giorgio d`Alemagna

Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
Auction dateClassic
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +01:00
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CHRISTIE'S
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
ID 1249833
Lot 16 | Circle of Giorgio d'Alemagna
Circle of Giorgio d'Alemagna
A bearded man in profile, on a leaf from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Ferrara, c.1441-1448]
A fine leaf from the sumptuous Breviary of Lionello d'Este with text to be read on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week. Whilst the illumination of the Breviary as a whole adhered to a unified decorative scheme, each leaf is nevertheless unique, with its own variations; here, a profile of a bearded man inhabits the inner margin.

275 x 199 mm. Two columns of 30 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, catchword on verso, the text from lessons 1-4, matins, Holy Thursday ‘sedet sola civitas plena populo […]’ to ‘in tribulatione positi verba sunt ista. Orat multa pa//[tiens]’, one-line initials in burnished gold or blue penwork, three two-line initials in burnished gold on blue or red grounds, three bar-borders with foliate and floral sprays, one full-length scrolling foliate border incorporating a man’s head in profile (small pigment loss to man’s beard, slight browning at lower, outer edge).

Provenance:
(1) All aspects of the manuscript – size, format and illumination – correspond to those of the Missal of Borso d'Este, marquis and then duke of Ferrara (Modena, Biblioteca Estense, Ms W.5.2, lat. 239) and the Breviary was certainly made either for him or his predecessor Lionello, and intended, like the Missal, for use in the ruler’s chapel. It is now usually identified with the Breviary recorded in accounts in the d’Este archives as having been illuminated for Lionello by Giorgio d’Alemagna, Bartolomeo di Benincà, Guglielmo Giraldi and Matteo de' Pasti.

(2) The parent manuscript was sold at Christie’s, 8 December 1958, lot 190, as part of the estate of the 2nd Baron Llangattock. It carried the bookplate of John Etherington Welch Rolls (1807-1870), father of the 1st Baron Llangattock. Many miniatures had already been removed (supposedly by soldiers during the Peninsular War) and after the sale the remaining leaves were separated and dispersed. Sister leaves were sold recently at Christie’s 30 July 2020, lot 3; and 5-19 October 2023, lots 205 and 206.

(3) This leaf sold at Christie's, 24 November - 3 December 2015, lot 28.

Illumination:
The Breviary, a masterpiece of Ferrarese illumination, was written by Francesco de Codigoro, with Giorgio d’Alemagna as its principal illuminator, but in 1443, because of the enormity of the project, Giorgio enlisted the help of Bartolomeo de Benincà, Matteo de’ Pasti (a pupil of Pisanello) and Guglielmo Giraldi. The charming, finely modelled portrait of a bearded man directly mirrors that of young man facing right in the border of a leaf recently sold at Christie's New York, 5-19 October 2023, lot 205, and that of a young woman, facing left, that appears in another leaf in Ferrara, Museo Civico Schifanoia, Inv. OA 1631. The most comprehensive recent study of the Breviary is F. Toniolo, ‘Il lungo viaggio del Breviario di Lionello d'Este tra le due sponde dell'Atlantico’, Medioevo: arte e storia, 2008, pp.564-77 (see also Toniolo in Les Enluminures du Louvre, 2011, no 45). A virtual reconstruction of the manuscript can be found on the 'Broken Books' website (brokenbooks.omeka.net), where the present leaf is listed.
Place of origin:Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Books and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.07.2024 – 10.07.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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