Fragment of a leaf from a Homiliary, with large coloured initials, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [probably Italy, tenth century] Substantial fragment of a large leaf, trimmed at top (with loss of about 8 lines there; what remains with readings from homilies by St. Pope Leo and St. Pope Gregory for epiphany) and inner vertical edges (with loss of a few letters from column edge there), with double column of 32/31 remaining lines in a large and bold late Carolingian hand, with insular 'r' that descends far below the line, an et-ligature commonly used integrally within words, and the '-ris' abbreviation formed from a downward flick of the pen under the word, bright red rubrics, two large red penwork initials in panels touched in pale yellow and green wash or left in blank parchment, one with a quadrilobed shape mounted at its centre, the other with long curved brushstrokes of green wash hanging downwards from the horizontal strokes of the letter ('S') filling both upper and lower bowls, reused in a binding and hence with some splashes, small stains and cockling, overall good and presentable condition, 288 by 193mm. Acquired from a European private collector in 2007. Whilst this late Carolingian hand and some of its scribal features can be found in apparently archaicising Italian hands as late as the eleventh century (such as that of Florence, Bibl. Nazionale, F.N.II.I.412: see K. Berg, Studies in Tuscan Twelfth-Century Illumination, 1968, pl. 1), the initials here are firmly Carolingian in design and colouring, and of a type quickly swept away in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries by the new white-vine initials. These initials with their terminal-lappets in different colours and compartmented bodies follow early Carolingian models such as those found in a Homilary made at Murbach c. 800 (see Pracht auf Pergament, 2012, no. 7), and most probably reached Italian centres through books sent from northern centres in the ninth century. However, the grass-skirt-like green wash brushstrokes that hang down within the 'S' are without parallel known to us.
Fragment of a leaf from a Homiliary, with large coloured initials, in Latin, decorated manuscript on parchment [probably Italy, tenth century] Substantial fragment of a large leaf, trimmed at top (with loss of about 8 lines there; what remains with readings from homilies by St. Pope Leo and St. Pope Gregory for epiphany) and inner vertical edges (with loss of a few letters from column edge there), with double column of 32/31 remaining lines in a large and bold late Carolingian hand, with insular 'r' that descends far below the line, an et-ligature commonly used integrally within words, and the '-ris' abbreviation formed from a downward flick of the pen under the word, bright red rubrics, two large red penwork initials in panels touched in pale yellow and green wash or left in blank parchment, one with a quadrilobed shape mounted at its centre, the other with long curved brushstrokes of green wash hanging downwards from the horizontal strokes of the letter ('S') filling both upper and lower bowls, reused in a binding and hence with some splashes, small stains and cockling, overall good and presentable condition, 288 by 193mm. Acquired from a European private collector in 2007. Whilst this late Carolingian hand and some of its scribal features can be found in apparently archaicising Italian hands as late as the eleventh century (such as that of Florence, Bibl. Nazionale, F.N.II.I.412: see K. Berg, Studies in Tuscan Twelfth-Century Illumination, 1968, pl. 1), the initials here are firmly Carolingian in design and colouring, and of a type quickly swept away in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries by the new white-vine initials. These initials with their terminal-lappets in different colours and compartmented bodies follow early Carolingian models such as those found in a Homilary made at Murbach c. 800 (see Pracht auf Pergament, 2012, no. 7), and most probably reached Italian centres through books sent from northern centres in the ninth century. However, the grass-skirt-like green wash brushstrokes that hang down within the 'S' are without parallel known to us.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
