Beschreibung:

ANTIPHONAL OF ELISABETH VON GEMMINGEN, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM
ANTIPHONAL OF ELISABETH VON GEMMINGEN, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT CHOIRBOOK ON VELLUM [Speyer, c.1504] 555 x 370mm. 238 folios: 1 7 , 2-28 8 , 29 4 , 30 2 , 31 8 , 32 1 , gatherings numbered with roman numerals, eight lines of music of square notation on a four-line stave of red above text in black ink in a gothic bookhand, FOURTEEN LARGE HISTORIATED INITIALS, TWO LARGE FOLIATE INITIALS all with marginal sprays or borders with flower and leaf sprays and the coats of arms of the von Gemmingen and von Neuenstein families, WIDE BORDER MINIATURE, large calligraphic initials throughout with penwork flourishing in black and red, many incorporating heads or beasts (occasional slight cropping to borders, small pigment losses or abrasions, illuminated initial on f.97v water-damaged). Mid-16th-century panelled pigskin ruled and rolled in blind with figured metal corner-pieces and central bosses (slight scuffing and worming, two replacement straps and clasps). A MAGNIFICENT MONUMENT OF GERMAN ILLUMINATION AND FEMALE PATRONAGE PROVENANCE AND CONTENT: This splendid choirbook contains chants for the Divine Office for feasts from the Sanctoral -- from the Visitation on 2 July (f.1) to St Katherine on 25 November (f.171) -- followed by the Common of Saints (ff.176-223v) and Hymnal (ff.224v-338). It was illuminated for Elisabeth of Gemmingen, who is shown kneeling before Saint Katherine in the border miniature of f.171. Elisabeth, named in the banderole above her head, is shown dressed in the habit of a Dominican. She was the daughter of Hans von Gemmingen and Brida von Neuenstein of Speyer, whose coats of arms are painted beside the lavishly illuminated initials throughout the manuscript: U. Frommberger-Weber, 'Spätgotische Buchmalerei in den Städten Speyer, Worms und Heidelberg (1440-1510). Ein Beitrag zur Malerei des nördlichen Oberrheingebietes im ausgehenden Mittelalter', Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins , 121 (1973), pp.35-145. Elisabeth was received into the Dominican Order in 1486 in the convent of Sankt Maria Magdalena zu Hasenpfühl close to Speyer Cathedral. In 1504 she became prioress of the convent and this is perhaps the most likely date for her to have had the manuscript made. It seems likely to have been intended for the use of the sisters there. The rubric for the Feast for St Dominic names him as 'our patron' and the predominant presence of female saints, ten of the fourteen illustrated feasts, would fit with this use. Elisabeth is known to have presented a window and a Missal to her convent and this manuscript, another instance of her artistic patronage and benefaction, seems most likely to have been created for the same destination. It was clearly just one volume of a multi-volume series of choirbooks -- four other leaves with miniatures, now in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum in Aachen, clearly came from a companion Antiphonal with Feasts from the Temporal: E.G. Grimm, Miniaturen, Handzeichnungen, Aquarelle (Katalog des Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen) , 1977. Presumably the gatherings of a volume with Sanctoral feasts from December to June was written continuously with those of the present volume, which are numbered from xxviii-lviii. The division into two was made after the first leaf of the first gathering of this book. Collection d'un amateur suisse , Mm.-Mensing et fils, Amsterdam 22 November 1929, lot 35. ILLUMINATION: The illumination is in three distinct styles. The first and most impressive, with the initials formed of sweeping broad shapes of highly burnished gold framing accomplished and lively figure groups in detailed settings, is the work of a professional artist who exemplifies the style of manuscript illumination in Swabia around 1500. He was responsible for nine of the initials. These are sometimes accompanied by flamboyant and colourful borders with flowers and leaves that curl across the margins of the page, sometimes containing birds and figures as well as the coats of arms of the pa