SIMON BENING SAINT ODILIA. FULL-PAGE ILLUMINATED MINIATURE ON VELLUM. From the Hours of Albrecht of Brandenburg. [Bruges, c.1522-23] 172 x 124mm. Saint Odilia [or Ottilia], the blind saint, in nun's habit kneeling at prayer before a small Crucifix, inmidst a landscape of craggy stones, with sparse trees and bushes. In the far background mountains and people walking along a road beside a river. Above at the head of the rock, a standing figure, possibly beneath the legendary spring said to cure blindness, an angel pointing at his eyes. The border is filled with vines and bunches of grapes, in the lower border two peasants carrying heavy bunches of grapes, charecteristic of Alsace, where the saint is venerated. Mounted on a wooden panel (203 x 151mm), with the illuminated crest of the Marquis of Londonderry on verso. The present forms part of a series of 16 miniatures, all collected by the Marquis of Londonderry, and now known to be single leaves from the Hours of Albrecht of Brandenburg removed in the early 19th century. The manuscript had been commissioned by Cardinal Albrecht from Bening, then the most eminent miniaturist in Bruges in 1521 and is one of his greatest works. It was last sold at Sotheby's, 21 June 1988 (lot 65). These miniatures were first identified by F.Wormald and P.M.Giles, Descriptive Catalogue of the additional Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum , (1982) vol.I. pp 270ff describing five miniatures of the group. Two other miniatures are in the Lehmann Collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The forthcoming catalogue of miniatures in the Lehmann Collection by Sandra Hindman will prove conclusively that this and the other Londonderry Bening miniatures, were originally single leaves removed from the Brandenburg Hours . Other miniatures are in the National Museum Stockholm, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. A Crucifixion and St.Margaret are privately owned. Finally a miniature of the Circumcision was offered at Sotheby's 21 June 1988 (lot 106). PROVENANCE: i. Acquired at Rome by Frederick Marquis of Londonderry in 1856. An elaborate shield recording his ownership and date is painted on the back of the mount, also signed in ink "Bessy Rome 1856". ii. Captain G.Pitt-Rivers, sold as part of a group of 11 such leaves at Christie's 14 March 1929, purchased by Horace Buttery for L3,360. iii. Sold at Sotheby's 11 June 1960 lot 41a, then described as St.Clare, to Alan Thomas (his catalogue 7, 1961) and thence to the present owner.
SIMON BENING SAINT ODILIA. FULL-PAGE ILLUMINATED MINIATURE ON VELLUM. From the Hours of Albrecht of Brandenburg. [Bruges, c.1522-23] 172 x 124mm. Saint Odilia [or Ottilia], the blind saint, in nun's habit kneeling at prayer before a small Crucifix, inmidst a landscape of craggy stones, with sparse trees and bushes. In the far background mountains and people walking along a road beside a river. Above at the head of the rock, a standing figure, possibly beneath the legendary spring said to cure blindness, an angel pointing at his eyes. The border is filled with vines and bunches of grapes, in the lower border two peasants carrying heavy bunches of grapes, charecteristic of Alsace, where the saint is venerated. Mounted on a wooden panel (203 x 151mm), with the illuminated crest of the Marquis of Londonderry on verso. The present forms part of a series of 16 miniatures, all collected by the Marquis of Londonderry, and now known to be single leaves from the Hours of Albrecht of Brandenburg removed in the early 19th century. The manuscript had been commissioned by Cardinal Albrecht from Bening, then the most eminent miniaturist in Bruges in 1521 and is one of his greatest works. It was last sold at Sotheby's, 21 June 1988 (lot 65). These miniatures were first identified by F.Wormald and P.M.Giles, Descriptive Catalogue of the additional Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum , (1982) vol.I. pp 270ff describing five miniatures of the group. Two other miniatures are in the Lehmann Collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The forthcoming catalogue of miniatures in the Lehmann Collection by Sandra Hindman will prove conclusively that this and the other Londonderry Bening miniatures, were originally single leaves removed from the Brandenburg Hours . Other miniatures are in the National Museum Stockholm, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. A Crucifixion and St.Margaret are privately owned. Finally a miniature of the Circumcision was offered at Sotheby's 21 June 1988 (lot 106). PROVENANCE: i. Acquired at Rome by Frederick Marquis of Londonderry in 1856. An elaborate shield recording his ownership and date is painted on the back of the mount, also signed in ink "Bessy Rome 1856". ii. Captain G.Pitt-Rivers, sold as part of a group of 11 such leaves at Christie's 14 March 1929, purchased by Horace Buttery for L3,360. iii. Sold at Sotheby's 11 June 1960 lot 41a, then described as St.Clare, to Alan Thomas (his catalogue 7, 1961) and thence to the present owner.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
