MEN SOWING, October miniature on a leaf from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
MEN SOWING, October miniature on a leaf from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris, c.1515] 122 x 67mm. Recto with the miniature above the feasts for the opening of the month, written as though on a screen, all within an architectural surround with the zodiac sign in a medallion below; 25 lines on the verso, including a verse in French (repaired tear at left margin touching column, some small cracks or pigment loss). Framed. This small, finely illuminated leaf almost certainly came from a Book of Hours in New York that lacks its Calendar (Morgan Library, Ms M.286). Painted with great delicacy and finesse, the semi-grisaille miniature showing the occupation appropriate to October matches the Morgan Hours in size, style and technique. Recent scholarship has attributed the Hours to the workshop of Jean Pichore (see Caroline Zöhl, Jean Pichore , 2004, p.187; R. Wieck, 'Post Poyet', Excavating the Medieval Image , 2004, pp.247-253). The elegance and sophistication of this October leaf perfectly accords with the output of this artist who played such a dominant role in Parisian illumination in the early decades of the 16th century. A leaf for December and likely from the same manuscript was sold in these rooms 2 June 1999, lot 19. The final quatrains on both leaves belong to a sequence relating each successive sixth year of a man's life to a month: in this case opening 'au moys d'octobre figurant lx ans Se lhomme est riche cela est a bonne heure'. They appear, usually accompanied by appropriate Ages of Man miniatures rather than Occupations, most commonly in printed Horae and their appearance in this manuscript seems likely to be an adoption from such a source.
MEN SOWING, October miniature on a leaf from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
MEN SOWING, October miniature on a leaf from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Paris, c.1515] 122 x 67mm. Recto with the miniature above the feasts for the opening of the month, written as though on a screen, all within an architectural surround with the zodiac sign in a medallion below; 25 lines on the verso, including a verse in French (repaired tear at left margin touching column, some small cracks or pigment loss). Framed. This small, finely illuminated leaf almost certainly came from a Book of Hours in New York that lacks its Calendar (Morgan Library, Ms M.286). Painted with great delicacy and finesse, the semi-grisaille miniature showing the occupation appropriate to October matches the Morgan Hours in size, style and technique. Recent scholarship has attributed the Hours to the workshop of Jean Pichore (see Caroline Zöhl, Jean Pichore , 2004, p.187; R. Wieck, 'Post Poyet', Excavating the Medieval Image , 2004, pp.247-253). The elegance and sophistication of this October leaf perfectly accords with the output of this artist who played such a dominant role in Parisian illumination in the early decades of the 16th century. A leaf for December and likely from the same manuscript was sold in these rooms 2 June 1999, lot 19. The final quatrains on both leaves belong to a sequence relating each successive sixth year of a man's life to a month: in this case opening 'au moys d'octobre figurant lx ans Se lhomme est riche cela est a bonne heure'. They appear, usually accompanied by appropriate Ages of Man miniatures rather than Occupations, most commonly in printed Horae and their appearance in this manuscript seems likely to be an adoption from such a source.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
