Fra Girolamo da Milano (Olivetan Master, active 1425-50) - photo 1
Fra Girolamo da Milano (Olivetan Master, active 1425-50) - photo 2

Fra Girolamo da Milano (Olivetan Master, active 1425-50)

Lot 10
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 3 528
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 993357
Lot 10 | Fra Girolamo da Milano (Olivetan Master, active 1425-50)
Estimate value
£ 1 000 – 1 500
Fra Girolamo da Milano (Olivetan Master, active 1425-50)

St John the Baptist, historiated initial ‘D’ cut from an illuminated manuscript choirbook on vellum [Lombardy, Milan, c. 1430]

An elegant, emotionally expressive miniature by Fra Girolamo da Milano.



72 × 70 mm, a cutting, trimmed (in the early 19th-century manner) to the edges of the ornament, and laid down on card, the initial in a typical Lombard palette of green, red, and purple, on a gold ground, the figure wearing a bright red blue-lined cloak, his flesh, hair, and camel-skin tunic all drawn in brown ink on the plain vellum, with painted white highlights (the gold somewhat worn, otherwise in fine condition). Laid down on card and framed.



Illumination:

The style and technique of the present initial is characteristic of Fra Girolamo da Milano. It is notable that although there is some minimal modelling of the dark blue lining of John’s mantle, there is no attempt to model the orange, relying instead on the underdrawing to show through the more translucent pigment. Until his real name was discovered, Girolamo was known as the Olivetan Master, because a very large cutting of a historiated initial in the Cini Collection, Venice, is signed by him as ‘a certain brother of the Olivetan Order’ and dated 1439 (see Le miniature della Fondazione Giorgio Cini: pagine, ritagli, manoscritti, ed. by Massimo Medica and F. Toniolo (exh. cat. Milano, 2016), no 153). The identification of the Olivetan Master as Frater Ieronimus / Fra Girolamo was made by Anna Melograni, 'Appunti di miniatura lombarda. Ricerche sul "Maestro delle Vitae Imperatorum,"' Storia dell'arte, 70 (I990): pp.273-75. For a more extensive study of this master see Melograni, 'I corali quattrocenteschi della Collegiata di S. Lorenzo a Voghera,' Storia dell'arte, 75 (1992): pp.117-64.





Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
12.07.2023 – 12.07.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Fra Girolamo da Milano, or the Olivetan Master (active 1425-50)
Fra Girolamo da Milano, or the Olivetan Master (active 1425-50)
£4 000

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.