Beschreibung:

Associate of the Master of Sir George Talbot Book of Hours, use of Rome, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Southern Netherlands, Bruges or Ghent, first decades 16th century] A rich and engaging example of Ghent-Bruges illumination at the height of the Flemish Renaissance, with iconographically unusual miniatures by an associate of the Master of Sir George Talbot. 116 x 87mm. 235 leaves, collation: 110 (of 8, i and ii inserted miniatures), 29 (of 8, ii an inserted miniature), 39 (of 8, ii an inserted miniature), 48, 59 (of 8, ii an inserted miniature), 6-178, 187 (of 8, viii a cancelled blank), 199 (of 8, i an inserted miniature), 20-218, 229 (of 8, v an inserted miniature), 23-288, 295 (of 8, lacking iv-v, viii a cancelled blank), sporadic pencil foliation, 15 lines, ruled space: 77 x 50mm., rubrics in red, capitals touched in yellow, one- and 2-line initials throughout, 20 small miniatures or historiated initials, including 15 three-quarter illuminated borders in the Ghent/Bruges style of naturalistic flowers and fruit scattered in trompe l'oeil designs, 7 full-page miniatures in within full borders in similar style (f.1 probably originally bound before f.136, probably lacking 2 text leaves after f.233 and perhaps a Calendar at the beginning, else complete, some minor marginal cropping, occasional stains and signs of use). Early 18th-century red morocco gilt. In a fitted brown morocco case, title gilt. Provenance: (1) The Litany includes St. Bavo (Ghent) and St Donatian (Bruges). The 1995 Sotheby’s catalogue suggests that the script is very close to the hand of the Dominican scribe Johann de Bomalia, who is recorded as a member of the Bruges illuminator's guild of SS. John and Luke in 1489, signing manuscripts such as Meermanno-Westreenianum MS. 10.E.3, illuminated by Simon Bening; the Hours of James IV of Scotland and his wife Margaret Tudor: now Vienna, ÖNB, cod. lat. 1897; and a Book of Hours sold at Christie’s, 6 June 2007, lot 40 (see W.H.J. Weale, 'Documents inédits sur les enlumineurs de Bruges', Le Beffroi, IV, 1872-3, pp.318, 322, 329 and 332.) (2) Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, New York, 7 March 1967, lot 122. (3) Paul Francis Webster (1907-1984): his bookplate; his sale at Sotheby’s New York, 24 April 1985, lot 103. (4) Sotheby’s 5 December 1995, lot 55. Content: Hours of the Cross ff.3-11; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.13-20; Mass of the Virgin ff.22-29v; Gospel Sequences ff.30-37; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, ff.39-135: matins f.39, lauds f.62, prime f.77, terce f.84, sext f.91, none f.97, vespers f.103, compline f.113; Advent office and other seasonal variants f.122; Hymn to the Virgin based on the ‘Salve regina’, with rubric ‘Has videas laudes / qui sacra virgine gaudes […]', and beginning ‘Salue virgo virginum stella matutina’ ff.135v-145; a prayer for use during the Elevation of the Host with an offer of 2000 years’ indulgence f.145v-148v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.150-177; Office of the Dead, use of Rome, f.179-235v. Illumination: This engaging and luxuriously illuminated Book of Hours appears to be the work of a single illuminator associated with the work of the Master of Sir George Talbot, named after a Book of Hours made for the Earl of Shrewsbury around 1500 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms Gough Liturg.7). The small-featured round heads on compact and calm little figures are a constant feature of the miniatures. The palette is varied, the use of colour often inventive and striking. The borders are predominantly of 'Ghent-Bruges' types, with naturalistic strewn flowers, trompe l’oeil borders, and architectural surrounds. It is an attractive and distinctive style, and compositions and features of setting show the illuminator's familiarity with the main currents of Flemish illumination in the first decades of the 16th century – particularly the work of the Master of the Prayerbooks of c.1500, the Master of Mary of Burgundy and Alexander Bening The dramatic Last Judgement (f.149v) draws on compar