Beschreibung:

The Master of Cardinal de Bourbon (active final decades 15th century) The Hours of François Le Clerc, use of Rome, in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1480s-90s] An engaging, dramatic and iconographically eccentric deluxe Hours richly illuminated by the Master of Cardinal de Bourbon for the Le Clerc family, barons of La Forêt-Le-Roi, La Motte, Luzarches and later Fleurigny, and seigneurs of Chaumont and Givry. 146 x 97mm. ii + 144 +ii leaves, bound too tightly to collate, sporadic modern foliation in pencil (very faded), 19 lines, ruled space: 81 x 54mm, rubrics in red, capitals touched in yellow, illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, each page with illuminated foliate borders, 24 small calendar miniatures with the zodiac signs and occupations of the month, 7 full-page miniatures within elaborate architectural frames, 31 large miniatures within full borders (lacking single leaves with miniatures and text after ff.47, 127, 128 and a single leaf of text after f.143, f.82 misbound). 19th-century green morocco gilt, pink silk endleaves (edges scuffed). Green slipcase and quarter-morocco box, gilt title on spine. Content: Calendar ff.1-12v; Passion according to St John ff.13v-22v; Obsecro te ff.23-26v; O intemerata and other prayers ff.27-30; Gospel extracts f.31-38v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, ff.39-81v: matins f.39, lauds f.48 (lacking opening), prime f.58v, terce f.62v, sext f.66, none f.69, vespers f.72, compline f.77v; Hours of the Cross ff.83-85v; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.86-102; Short Office of the Dead, with three lessons ff.103-117; suffrages f.118-126v; blank f.127; Douce Dame f.128-139 (lacking opening); prayers ff.140v-144. Illumination: The illumination has been attributed by François Avril and Nicole Reynaud to the Master of Cardinal Charles de Bourbon, an enigmatic illuminator named after a Vie et miracles de monseigneur Saint Louis commissioned in 1482 by Cardinal Charles de Bourbon (Paris, BnF, Fr. 2829). His documented career spans the final decades of the 15th century, and his clients included Catherine de Chourses-Coëtivy, for whom he illustrated, between 1484 and 1496, a manuscript of the Douze Périls d’enfer (Arsenal, ms. 5207); a De Bello Judaico; and an Estrif de Fortune (Chantilly, Musée Condé, mss 1061 and 566). Localising his activity has proved difficult: a Book of Hours formerly in the Siraudin collection is for the use of Mâcon and another now at the Bibliothèque municipale in Caen is for the use of Amiens, whereas other Hours attributed to him are for the use of Paris (Paris, BnF, Lat. 1382; Leeds, University Library, Brotherton ms.5). Avril and Reynaud note that the artist very rarely collaborated with anyone else: the one notable exception is in the Siraudin Hours, where the single miniature not in his hand is by a follower of Maître François This, and his royal and courtly Parisian clientele throughout the 1480s and 90s establishes him firmly – for this period at least – within the Parisian artistic milieu. The Master's style finds echoes in the work of Maître François but the richness of his palette and greater sensitivity to dramatic perspective lays the foundations for a whole host of Parisian artists to follow, including the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse and Jean Pichore The sumptuous full-page miniatures in the present Hours certainly rank among the most dramatic examples of his work: the miniature depicting the Betrayal and Arrest of Christ is an atmospheric night scene where Christ stands radiant in the foreground as the swarms of soldiers coming to arrest him fade into darkness in the background, their helmets glinting with liquid gold, all set against a dark purple background. The extraordinary miniature with scenes from the life of David on f.86 – where receding perspectives portray David spying on Bathsheba, David and Bathsheba in mourning garb, and David defeating Goliath – is a densely-packed composition set within a