Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 1
Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 2
Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 3
Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 4
Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 5
Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este - photo 6

Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este

Lot 206
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 4 788
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 1032858
Lot 206 | Three Leaves from the Breviary of Lionello d'Este
Estimate value
$ 4 000 – 6 000
Three illuminated leaves from the sumptuous Breviary of Lionello d'Este — also known as the Llangattock Breviary, including one marking the end of the Sanctorale.

All c.270 x 200mm. Three leaves, each with two columns of 30 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand, the texts: (i) Feast of St Catherine of Alexandria (25 November): '[in summitate montis Sinai] et in eodem loco per angelos tuos corpus beate Catherine', with matins followed by 9 lections and ending with the rubric 'Finis festorum breviarii', marking the end of the Sanctorale, this leaf following Hanover, Dartmouth College, Cod. 002074, fol. 3; 9 two-line illuminated initials (ii) Friday after the Octave of the Ascension to Eve of Pentecost: '[Unusquis]que sicut accepit gratiam' and ending 'Per te sciamus da Patrem noscamus atque filium', this leaf preceding one in Rome, American Academy in Rome, Rare Book Room, s.n.; 5 two-line illuminated initials (iii) Saturday, 4th week of Lent, Lesson 2 to Passion Sunday: '[improbat tale commentum et diabo]licam doctrinam esse cognoscit' to 'Gloria et honor deo usquequo altis[simo una patri]; one 3-line inital and 5 two-line initials; rubrics in red, all leaves with full-length bar borders of burnished gold terminating with floral and sprays (lightly thumbed, the second leaf with an initial cut out and patched with a later replacement, else in excellent condition). Mounted and framed.

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, 24 November – 3 December 2015, lots 27 and 28, and 30 July 2020 lot 3.

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. A virtual reconstruction of the manuscript can be found on the 'Broken Books' website (brokenbooks.omeka.net), where the present leaves are listed.
Genre:Religious genre
Place of origin:Italy
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
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