BOOK OF HOURS, in Latin, Calendar in French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Burgundy, c. 1490] 163 x 114mm., II + 115 leaves (of ?118, lacking 3 folios between 83 and 84 including one miniature), 21 lines, ruled in pink, justification 98 x 56mm., written in brown ink in a bâtarda, rubrics in red, one-, two- and three-line initials in gold or contrasting monochrome on dark pink or blue infilled with foliage sprays in gold, similar line-fillers and some five-line initials, others with monochrome staves and foliage infill on a gold ground, outer panel-borders of acanthus, fruit and flower sprays on most pages have grounds of reserved parchment, some with bands or ovals of gold, red, blue or grey, 1 full border similar, (first Calendar border cropped), SIXTEEN SMALL MINIATURES WITH THREE-SIDED BORDERS of similar type, FIFTEEN LARGE MINIATURES, ELEVEN WITH ARCHITECTURAL FRAMES AND BAS-DE-PAGES SCENES, imprint from pilgrim badges on folio 1, modern brown morocco. PROVENANCE: 1). The use of the Office of the Virgin is that said by Madan to be possibly Netherlands, the Calendar (Desiderius, 23 May; Claudius, 6 June; Medard, 8 June; Philibert, 20 August; Benigne, 24 November), however, and the presence of St. Benigne in the Suffrages, where he is the only saint represented in a large miniature with a full border, indicate that the manuscript was made in Burgundy, probably for use in Dijon, the city of which St. Benigne was patron. The style of illumination confirms this origin. 2). Jeanne Joly. He ex-libris on f.1 and her signature on f.117v are written in a cursive script of c. 1600. TEXT: Calendar (ff.2-8); Gospel Extracts (ff.9v-14); Obsecro te (ff.15-17v); Prayer on the Passion, Domine ihesu xpe adoro te in cruce pendentem (ff.18-19); Suffrages (ff.20-26v), Christopher (f.20), Michael (f.20v), John the Baptist (f.21), John the Evangelist (f.21v), Peter and Paul (f.22), Benigne (f.23), Catherine (f.24), Mary Magdalene (f.24v), Margaret (f.25), Barbara (f.26); Office of the Virgin (ff.28-66), Lauds (f.35v), Prime (f.44), Terce (f.47v), Sext (f.51), None (f.54v), Vespers (f.58), Compline (f.62v); Hours of the Cross (f.67); Hours of the Holy Ghost (f.70); Seven Penitential Psalms (ff.73-81); Litany, lacking end, probably 2 folios (ff.81-83v); Office of the Dead, lacking opening folio (ff.84-114v); Prayers to Sebastian, Antony, Denis, Roch and Anne in a 15th-century land on folios originally left blank (ff.115-117v). Blank folios: 27r & v, 66v and 72v. DECORATION: Illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates (possibly Hennequin Cougny) and his workshop. Manuscripts in this style were first grouped together by Nicole Reynaud and, besides Books of Hours, included liturgical manuscripts made for eminent ecclesiastics at Autun, Langres and Dijon at the end of the fifteenth century. John Plummer ( Last Flowering , p.75) added the present manuscript to the group, when it was in the possession of Lathrop C. Harper of New York. The miniatures of this manuscript are typical of this distinctive and effective style of illumination. Except for the pale flesh of the principal figures the colours used are somewhat sober. Settings and drapery are ususally modelled with near-vertical hatching and highlighted and outlined with liquid gold. The most individualistic aspect of the style is the integration of camïeu d'or elements into otherwise conventionally represented scenes when groups of figures are drawn in gold on areas of dark brown, for example the soldiers in the Crucifixion (f.67) and the disappointed suitors in the Marriage of the Virgin (f.35v). THE SUBJECTS OF THE LARGE MINIATURES ARE: folio 1. Coronation of the Virgin. Christ seated beneath a canopy blesses the kneeling Virgin, an angel holding a crown hovers above her, a group of seraphim look on from behind a gothic screen (by a different hand) folio 9v. St. John on Patmos writing folio 14v. Descent from the Cross folio 18. Mass of St. Gregory folio 23. St. Benigne folio 28.
BOOK OF HOURS, in Latin, Calendar in French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Burgundy, c. 1490] 163 x 114mm., II + 115 leaves (of ?118, lacking 3 folios between 83 and 84 including one miniature), 21 lines, ruled in pink, justification 98 x 56mm., written in brown ink in a bâtarda, rubrics in red, one-, two- and three-line initials in gold or contrasting monochrome on dark pink or blue infilled with foliage sprays in gold, similar line-fillers and some five-line initials, others with monochrome staves and foliage infill on a gold ground, outer panel-borders of acanthus, fruit and flower sprays on most pages have grounds of reserved parchment, some with bands or ovals of gold, red, blue or grey, 1 full border similar, (first Calendar border cropped), SIXTEEN SMALL MINIATURES WITH THREE-SIDED BORDERS of similar type, FIFTEEN LARGE MINIATURES, ELEVEN WITH ARCHITECTURAL FRAMES AND BAS-DE-PAGES SCENES, imprint from pilgrim badges on folio 1, modern brown morocco. PROVENANCE: 1). The use of the Office of the Virgin is that said by Madan to be possibly Netherlands, the Calendar (Desiderius, 23 May; Claudius, 6 June; Medard, 8 June; Philibert, 20 August; Benigne, 24 November), however, and the presence of St. Benigne in the Suffrages, where he is the only saint represented in a large miniature with a full border, indicate that the manuscript was made in Burgundy, probably for use in Dijon, the city of which St. Benigne was patron. The style of illumination confirms this origin. 2). Jeanne Joly. He ex-libris on f.1 and her signature on f.117v are written in a cursive script of c. 1600. TEXT: Calendar (ff.2-8); Gospel Extracts (ff.9v-14); Obsecro te (ff.15-17v); Prayer on the Passion, Domine ihesu xpe adoro te in cruce pendentem (ff.18-19); Suffrages (ff.20-26v), Christopher (f.20), Michael (f.20v), John the Baptist (f.21), John the Evangelist (f.21v), Peter and Paul (f.22), Benigne (f.23), Catherine (f.24), Mary Magdalene (f.24v), Margaret (f.25), Barbara (f.26); Office of the Virgin (ff.28-66), Lauds (f.35v), Prime (f.44), Terce (f.47v), Sext (f.51), None (f.54v), Vespers (f.58), Compline (f.62v); Hours of the Cross (f.67); Hours of the Holy Ghost (f.70); Seven Penitential Psalms (ff.73-81); Litany, lacking end, probably 2 folios (ff.81-83v); Office of the Dead, lacking opening folio (ff.84-114v); Prayers to Sebastian, Antony, Denis, Roch and Anne in a 15th-century land on folios originally left blank (ff.115-117v). Blank folios: 27r & v, 66v and 72v. DECORATION: Illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates (possibly Hennequin Cougny) and his workshop. Manuscripts in this style were first grouped together by Nicole Reynaud and, besides Books of Hours, included liturgical manuscripts made for eminent ecclesiastics at Autun, Langres and Dijon at the end of the fifteenth century. John Plummer ( Last Flowering , p.75) added the present manuscript to the group, when it was in the possession of Lathrop C. Harper of New York. The miniatures of this manuscript are typical of this distinctive and effective style of illumination. Except for the pale flesh of the principal figures the colours used are somewhat sober. Settings and drapery are ususally modelled with near-vertical hatching and highlighted and outlined with liquid gold. The most individualistic aspect of the style is the integration of camïeu d'or elements into otherwise conventionally represented scenes when groups of figures are drawn in gold on areas of dark brown, for example the soldiers in the Crucifixion (f.67) and the disappointed suitors in the Marriage of the Virgin (f.35v). THE SUBJECTS OF THE LARGE MINIATURES ARE: folio 1. Coronation of the Virgin. Christ seated beneath a canopy blesses the kneeling Virgin, an angel holding a crown hovers above her, a group of seraphim look on from behind a gothic screen (by a different hand) folio 9v. St. John on Patmos writing folio 14v. Descent from the Cross folio 18. Mass of St. Gregory folio 23. St. Benigne folio 28.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
