Beschreibung:

PSALTER OF JEAN DE FOIX, BISHOP OF COMMINGES, Liturgical Psalter with Canticles, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Toulouse, c.1495] 248 x 165mm. i + 171 + i leaves, with pencil foliation 1-172 including, first endleaf at front, followed here: 1 7, 2-13 8, 14 7, 15-20 8, 21 7(of 8, lacking i ?), 22 6, 23 lines written in a gothic bookhand in brown-black ink between two verticals and 24 horizontals ruled in pink, justification: 160 x 99mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-, two- and three-line initials of liquid gold on grounds of blue, dark red or brown flourished with gold, over TWO HUNDRED HISTORIATED INITIALS ACCOMPANIED BY PANEL BORDERS and SIXTEEN MINIATURES ACCOMPANIED BY FULL-PAGE BORDERS with divided fields of acanthus on bare parchment and naturalistic sprays of fruit or flowers on coloured or golden grounds with birds, monkeys, insects and occasional coats of arms and emblems. 19th-century black straight-grained morocco gilt (spine and joints repaired at head and foot). FROM THE RENOWNED COLLECTION OF THE BARONS VON ROTHSCHILD OF VIENNA PROVENANCE: 1. Jean de Foix, Bishop of Comminges (1466-1501): his arms and emblem on folio 17, and his emblem, the stylised tau cross that makes frequent appearances in the works he commissioned, for example on the gable of the carved portal of the Chteau d'Alan, appearing in numerous borders Thought to have gained his taste for books from his uncle Cardinal Pierre de Foix, Jean became one of the most active bibliophiles in the Languedoc at the end of the 15th century: we are grateful to Franois Avril for identifying this as one of the group of manuscripts, all the work of the same artists, that were illuminated for him. 2. Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild (1836-1905): no 460, listed as in the Galerie of the palace at Theresianumgasse, in the February 1906 inventory of his possessions. 3. Baron Alphonse von Rothschild (1878-1942): the majority of Nathaniel's estate was left to his brother Albert, and on Albert's death in 1911 Nathaniel's palace, and presumably the manuscripts along with it passed to Albert's eldest son Alphonse. This Psalter appeared in two subsequent inventories of the palace and these inventory numbers are recorded on a label at the upper corner of the lower cover (935) and in pencil (AR3418) on the verso of the end-leaf. The manuscript remained in the palace until 1938 when, following the Anschluss, the property of the von Rothschilds was seized by the Nazis. The Psalter was passed to the sterreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, and has their shelf-mark (Series Nova 2847) written in pencil on a flyleaf. After the war it was restored to Alphonse's descendants. CONTENT: Liturgical Psalter according to the Use of Rome with Canticles. ILLUMINATION: The historiated initials and miniatures are the work of the artist who played the major rle in illuminating the splendid Missal written for Jean de Foix in 1492, painting miniatures, many of the borders and the small miniatures within the borders (Paris, Bib nat., Lat. 16827). His vigorous and robust figures are painted in a restrained palette, broadly handled and with little highlighting or detailed modelling of form; impact and dramatic effect were his principal concerns. The groups of figures he placed in borders show a lighter approach, and the artist's predilection for portraying monkeys is evident in both the Missal and the present Psalter. This illuminator was also the principal artist in another manuscript made for Jean de Foix; the volume containing the Books attributed to Solomon that must have been part of a large multi-volume Bible (Paris, Bib. nat., Ms N. a. lat. 3192). He has been described as an artist of 'grand talent' whose work and influence has been recognised in various manuscripts made in Toulouse at the end of the 15th century, and he was still active there in 1501-1502 when he contributed to the illumination of the Annales des capitouls (Toulouse, Arch. munic., ch