MARIANO DEL BUONO, border cutting from an ILLUMINATED MEDICI MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Florence, c.1470] 170 x 85mm overall. Lower border from the recto of a folio, a central medallion with the arms of the Medici supported by five putti within the family's emblematic diamond ring, to either side fleshy acanthus foliage of blue, pink, green and orange with burnished gold disks and infills inhabited by a goldfinch, a hare, two putti, two bearded heads, a lion and a spotted goat (small pigment losses and smudging, overpaint on shield). Mounted. This is an excellent example of the style of the Florentine illuminator Mariano del Buono (1433-1504), incorporating all the components that characterise his delightful and profusely populated borders. The lively and varied putti and animals can be matched in other manuscripts; the sedately positioned goat, for example, makes a frequent appearance (A. Garzelli, Miniatura fiorentina del rinascimento 1440-1525 , Florence 1985, ii, figs 677, 685 & 686). The foliage type of the present border seems to have been used by Mariano in liturgical manuscripts, and the size and two-column layout of the original folio suggest that it may have been from a Breviary. The diamond ring and coat of arms were not specific to any one member of the Medici family so that it is not possible to precisely identify the patron of the original manuscript; Mariano is known to have illuminated books for several of the Medici including Lorenzo il Magnifico and Piero di Lorenzo. with TWO-FACED INITIAL and FOLIATE INITIAL, on cuttings from choirbooks, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM a) [northern France, c.1500] 179 x 153mm. A skeletal 'T' with two faces, Janus-like, of a singing woman and a bearded Saracen, against a red ground with moulding frame, on a cutting with 3 four-line staves with music of square notation and 3 lines of text written in black ink in a gothic bookhand (some ink loss, slight rubbing to edge of ground). Mounted. b) [Italy, probably Tuscany, 14th century] 182 x 141mm overall. An initial 'E' of pink staves with orange terminals and an infill with green, orange and blue foliate shapes, against a blue ground with a green leaf into the margin, on a cutting with 3 four-line staves with music of square notation and 2 lines of text in black ink in a gothic bookhand, with the folio no 184 in arabic numerals in the margin of the verso (two small holes from ink erosion in the neumes). Mounted. (3)
MARIANO DEL BUONO, border cutting from an ILLUMINATED MEDICI MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Florence, c.1470] 170 x 85mm overall. Lower border from the recto of a folio, a central medallion with the arms of the Medici supported by five putti within the family's emblematic diamond ring, to either side fleshy acanthus foliage of blue, pink, green and orange with burnished gold disks and infills inhabited by a goldfinch, a hare, two putti, two bearded heads, a lion and a spotted goat (small pigment losses and smudging, overpaint on shield). Mounted. This is an excellent example of the style of the Florentine illuminator Mariano del Buono (1433-1504), incorporating all the components that characterise his delightful and profusely populated borders. The lively and varied putti and animals can be matched in other manuscripts; the sedately positioned goat, for example, makes a frequent appearance (A. Garzelli, Miniatura fiorentina del rinascimento 1440-1525 , Florence 1985, ii, figs 677, 685 & 686). The foliage type of the present border seems to have been used by Mariano in liturgical manuscripts, and the size and two-column layout of the original folio suggest that it may have been from a Breviary. The diamond ring and coat of arms were not specific to any one member of the Medici family so that it is not possible to precisely identify the patron of the original manuscript; Mariano is known to have illuminated books for several of the Medici including Lorenzo il Magnifico and Piero di Lorenzo. with TWO-FACED INITIAL and FOLIATE INITIAL, on cuttings from choirbooks, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM a) [northern France, c.1500] 179 x 153mm. A skeletal 'T' with two faces, Janus-like, of a singing woman and a bearded Saracen, against a red ground with moulding frame, on a cutting with 3 four-line staves with music of square notation and 3 lines of text written in black ink in a gothic bookhand (some ink loss, slight rubbing to edge of ground). Mounted. b) [Italy, probably Tuscany, 14th century] 182 x 141mm overall. An initial 'E' of pink staves with orange terminals and an infill with green, orange and blue foliate shapes, against a blue ground with a green leaf into the margin, on a cutting with 3 four-line staves with music of square notation and 2 lines of text in black ink in a gothic bookhand, with the folio no 184 in arabic numerals in the margin of the verso (two small holes from ink erosion in the neumes). Mounted. (3)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
