Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433-1484) - photo 1
Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433-1484) - photo 2

Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433-1484)

Starting price
£ 10 000
Auction dateClassic
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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ID 993177
Lot 16 | Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433-1484)
Francesco di Antonio del Chierico (1433-1484)

The Crucifixion, full-page miniature from the 'Strozzi' Book of Hours, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Florence, c.1460]

A sensitive evocation of a dramatic scene from a famous Book of Hours historically associated with the Strozzi family, illuminated by the great Florentine artist Francesco di Antonio del Chierico, and once in the collection of John Boykett Jarman.



132 x 93 mm, single leaf, depicting Christ crucified, flanked by the Virgin and St John, Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross, all within a wide border of scrolling foliate and flowers on a gold ground, the fore-edge margin with a pencil ‘6’ (trimmed to the edge of the border and set into late 19th-century parchment, a few minor losses of gold in the border). Mounted and framed.



Provenance:

(1) Perhaps made for a member of the Florentine Strozzi family: another leaf from the parent volume has a heraldic shield, apparently with the Strozzi arms, possibly indicating patronage by Filippo Strozzi the Elder (1426-91), according to Sotheby's, 18 June 1991, lot 44.



(2) John Boykett Jarman (d. 1864), London jeweller and bibliophile: probably in his sale at Sotheby’s, 13–14 June 1864, probably part of lot 5.



(3) Henry Newnham Davis (d.1873): his sale at Sotheby's, 26–27 November 1900, part of lot 198, bought by Brewer, presumably on behalf of the family; this leaf next owned by:



(4) Alfred Sidney Davis (1864–1947), one of Henry’s nine children, with his initials ‘A.S.D.’ on the leaf into which the miniature is set.



(5) Sotheby’s, July 8, 1970, lot 32 (ill.).



Sister Leaves:

A list of the ten thus-far identified sister leaves with fuller descriptions can be found at P. Kidd, mssprovenance.blogspot.com/p/the-strozzi-jarman-book-of-hours.html. These are (not including the present leaf):

1. The Annunciation, sold at Sotheby's 11 July 1966, lot 199, bought by Colnaghi.

2. Virgin and Child, Private Collection, California.

3. Christ carrying the Cross, sold at Sotheby's 26-27 November 1900, part of lot 198, bought by Brewer.

4. Christ nailed to the Cross?, sold at Sotheby's 26-27 November 1900, part of lot 198, bought by Brewer.

5. Crucifixion (historiated initial), Maggs, Bulletin 4 (September 1966), no 59A.

6. David and Nathan, Art Institute of Chicago.

7. David playing the psaltery, Sotheby’s, 18 June 1991, lot 44.

8. The Last Judgement, Private collection, New York.

9. Funeral Service, Sotheby’s, 18 June 2002, lot 13.



Illumination:

The palette, decorative vocabulary and the graceful agitation of the drapery are all characteristic of the work of Francesco di Antonio del Chierico, the preferred illuminator of the greatest institutional and private patrons of Florence from the 1450s until his death in 1484. The elegance of the composition and emotional pathos of the mourners at the Cross demonstrate why his work was so sought after.





Literature

C. de Hamel and M. J. Westerby, The Medieval World at Our Fingertips: Manuscript Illuminations from the Collection of Sandra Hindman (London and Turnhout, 2018), no 12, citing the present leaf at p.139.
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