Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 1
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 2
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 3
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 4
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 5
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg - photo 6

Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg

Lot 4
12.07.2023 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 12 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 993351
Lot 4 | Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg
Estimate value
£ 10 000 – 15 000
Workshop of Johannes von Valkenburg

St Clare sheltering Franciscan nuns and St Michael vanquishing the Devil, two historiated initials on two leaves from the Clarissan 'Petronilla' Gradual, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Cologne, early 14th century (probably between 1306 and c.1311)]

Two imposing leaves from a known Clarissan Gradual illuminated in Cologne at the turn of the 14th century.



422 x 297 mm, 2 leaves, written with eight lines of text in gothic textura script and music in square notation on four-line red staves, the text comprising (a) the Nativity of the Virgin, the introit ‘Dilexisti iusticiam et odisti iniquitatem’ introduced by a large historiated initial ‘D’ depicting Sts John the Evangelist and St Margaret flanking St Clare, under whose outspread cloak are sheltering six black-clad nuns, and (b) the Dedication of St Michael’s, the introit ‘Benedicite dominum omnes angeli’, introduced by a historiated initial ‘B’ depicting St Michael defeating the dragon (some cockling and staining to margins, lower left corner of leaf (a) lacking and repaired, some ink erosion to the text, remnants of adhesive on reverse). Mounted and framed.



Provenance:

(1) Apparently made for the House of Poor Clares, Cologne, consecrated in 1306, one of the sister leaves having an image of 'Petronilla prima abbatissa', i.e. Petronilla von Scherve, their first abbess, who is not known to have been alive after 1311.



(2) Sulpiz Boisserée (1783–1854), art collector, of Cologne: described as being in his possession in his journal for 16 May 1823; his sale by Lempertz, Bonn, 3–13 November 1854, lot 2166.



(3) Broken up by 1893: the leaves now in Aachen belonged to Dr Peter Wings, who died in that year.



(4) Christie’s, 16 December 1970, lots 4 and 6, bought for £190 and £130 by Scharf.



Sister leaves:

From the 1854 catalogue description we know that the parent volume had 21 miniatures (i.e. historiated initials) with borders. There are a number of leaves that are reliably attributed to the Clarissans of Cologne, but the foliation of the surviving leaves does not make immediate sense, and it suggests that they may have belonged to two or more volumes:



- (f.I) Advent. King David before Christ, adored by a nun identified as 'Petronilla prima abbatissa' (Aachen, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, NGK 1131.4).

- (f.XIII) Feast of John the Evangelist (27 December). The Last Supper (McCarthy Collection, BM1536).

- (f.XVII) Epiphany. Adoration of the Magi (Aachen, NGK 1132).

- (f.XXIII) Feast of St Michael (29 September). St Michael (one of the present leaves).

- (f.XXIIII) Nativity of St Francis. Francis’s vision (Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, GS no. 64)

- (f.XXVIII) Common of Saints, Apostles (Aachen, NGK 1130).

- (f.XLVI) Common of Saints, Confessors. St. Francis and another saint (Venator & Hanstein, 14–15 March 2008, lot 512a-b).

- (no foliation) Office of the Dead. A Clarissan nun on a bier being carried in procession (as above).

- (f.XLVIII) Nativity of the Virgin (8 September). St Clare (one of the the present leaves).

- (f.LXVIII) Easter. The Maries at the Sepulchre, and Noli me tangere (Aachen, NGK 1133).

- (f.LXXXIX) Sunday after Pentecost. Christ Enthroned, adored by nuns (Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, KdZ 1236).

- Feast of Sts Catherine and Barbara (Hanover, Kestner Museum)



Most initials have a kneeling nun in the adjacent margin.



Illumination:

The Cologne Clarissan choirbooks have most recently been studied by Renate Mattick, Johanna Gummlich and Sabine Benecke, but there is disagreement as to their datings and stylistic groupings (a synthesis of their arguments can be found in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II, p.206). The style of illumination is close to that of the two Cologne Graduals produced by Johannes von Valkenburg, Franciscan scribe and illuminator, in 1299 (Cologne, Diözesan Bibliothek Ms. 1B and Bonn, Universitätsbibliothek Ms. 384), and of two Psalters at the Walters (W.11 and W.41), all of which draw on Liège illumination of the 1280s.





Literature

Renate Mattick, 'Drei Chorbücher aus dem Kölner Klarissenkloster im Besitz von Sulpiz Boisserée', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 59, 1998.

Johanna Gummlich-Wagner, 'Neue Zuschreibungen an das Kölner Klarissenskriptorium', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch LXI, 2000.

Johanna Gummlich-Wagner, Bildproduktion und Kontemplation. Ein Überblick über die Kölner Buchmalerei in der Gotik, Weimar 2003.

Peter Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, II: Spanish, English, Flemish, and Central European Miniatures (London, 2019), no. 52.



Special notice

No VAT is payable on the hammer price or the buyer's premium for this lot. Please see the VAT Symbols and Explanation section of the Conditions of Sale for further information
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

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.