Beschreibung:

Details
Workshop of Maître François
The Nativity, miniature on a leaf from a Book of Hours, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1470s]
A characteristic example of the dominant style of Parisian illumination in the second half of the 15th century.
130 × 93 mm, a single leaf, with a narrow strip cut from another border added at the top, the recto with 15 lines, comprising prayers at the end of Lauds in the Hours of the Virgin, ending with blue rubric ‘Prime’, the verso with a fine arch-topped miniature above four lines of text and a four-line initial, all surrounded by a lush and vibrantly coloured full border, the miniature incorporating elements of the Vision of St Bridget, notably the radiance of the infant being far brighter than the candle held by Joseph (some losses of pigment, notably to the Virgin’s face, the border slightly cropped at the left and lower edges). Mounted and framed.
Illumination:
The prevalent style of illumination in Paris in the second half of the 15th century can be traced through the work of three successive illuminators: the Master of Jean Rolin, Maître François and the Master of Jacques de Besançon (see Avril & Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France, 1993, pp.38-52 and 256-262). Alongside a prolific and more routine output, most of the prestigious commissions from the court and leading ecclesiastics were fulfilled by this trio. On the basis of the close correspondence of archival evidence with the attributed oeuvres of Maître François and the Master of Jacques de Besançon their identification as the father and son illuminators, both named François le Berbier, has been generally accepted: see M. Deldicque, ‘L’enluminure à Paris à la fin du XVe siècle: Maître François le Maître de Jacques de Besançon et Jacques de Besançon identifiés’, Revue de l’Art, 2014, pp.9-18.
The present manuscript was painted by a follower or the workshop of the father. A notable feature of the style is the technique by which it is created: with the exception of the Virgin’s dark blue draperies, which are modelled in darker blue, shadows and shading in the rest of the scene are created by a pointilliste-like stippling of hundreds of tiny touches of the brush; the highlights of Joseph's mantle are created with similar touches of gold. These features can be found in François le Berbier the elder's most lavish and impressive attributed work: the Wharncliffe Hours (Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria) - see for example the corresponding Nativity miniature on f.34v.