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Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[France, Paris, c.1460]
155 x 115 mm. i + 192 + i leaves, bound too tightly to allow collation, partial modern foliation in pencil, ruled in red ink for 15 lines per page, justification: c. 75 x 50 mm, written in a fine formal gothic script in brown ink, rubrics in red, the calendar in red, blue, and gold, capitals stoked in pale yellow wash, EIGHT LARGE ARCHED MINIATURES each accompanied by a full border of acanthus and other flowers, incorporating animals and birds, above four lines of text and a three-line foliate initial, EVERY TEXT PAGE WITH A BORDERPANEL of stylised and semi-naturalistic acanthus and other flowers and fruit in colours and gold, 4-line foliate initials on a gold ground at the beginning of major prayers, 2-line initials in red and/or blue and white on a gold ground, line-fillers and 1-line gold initials on blue and red grounds throughout (inserted single leaves with miniatures likely missing after ff.18, 27, 76, 87, 111 and 164, some rubbing and smudging of borders, and faces in miniatures on ff.13 and 94 damaged and perhaps retouched). 19th-century dark purple/black leather stamped in blind à la cathédrale. Later fitted slipcase with gilt leather spine.
PROVENANCE:
(a) Written for a woman, as indicated by feminine Latin forms throughout (ff.20v, 24, 176, 179), who doubtless lived in Paris. Owned in the late 15th or 16th century by Anne de Canus who offered a reward for its return if lost, signed with her initials ADC (inscription legible with UV light, f.192v). (b) 'This Missal was the property of Lord Viscount Harberton, & brought by him from Rome' (inscription on front flyleaf); this perhaps refers to Henry (1749-1829), second Viscount Harberton, who owned the famous Wodhull-Harberton Hours (Christie's, 6 July 2011, lot 23), and who was likely responsible for the binding. (c) Sotheby's 12 July 1939, lot 9, according to the Schoenberg database. A typescript description inserted at the front has the blind-stamp of 'Brentano's, New York' and a clipping from a catalogue loosely inserted has prices in dollars.
CONTENT:
Calendar in French, with an entry for every day, including Genevieve and Marcel in gold, ff.1-12v; Gospel extracts ff.13-18v; Prayers to the Virgin: Obsecro te beginning imperfectly, O intemerata, and Ave regina, ff.19-26v; blank f.27v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris, beginning imperfectly, ff.28-93: matins f.28, lauds f.51v, prime f.63, terce f.69, none, beginning imperfectly, f.77, vespers f.80v, and compline, beginning imperfectly, f.88; blank, f.93v; Seven Penitential Psalms f.94-107; a short Litany including Genevieve, petitions, and two collects ff.107-111; Hours of the Holy Cross, beginning imperfectly, ff.112-116v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris, ff.117-164v; The Fifteen Joys, in French, beginning imperfectly, f.165-170; the Seven Requests, in French, ff.170v-174; 'Cinq devotes oroisons', each beginning 'Ave domine iesu christe [...]', ff.174-175; the (eight) Verses of St Bernard ff.175-176v; Suffrages to the Trinity, the Cross, and Sts Michael, John the Baptist, Peter & Paul, Christopher, Sebastian, Nicholas, Anthony, and Anne, ff.176v-183; Mass prayers ff.183-184v; further suffrages to Sts Vincent, Laurence, Stephen, Cosmas & Damian, Fiacre, Genevieve, Barbara, Margaret, Katherine, Avoi, Agnes, and Thomas Becket, ff.184v-190v; ruled, blank, ff.191-192v.
ILLUMINATION:
The illumination is by the Master of Jean Rolin, or a close imitator (see Plummer, The Last Flowering, 1982, nos 82-84, and Avril & Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.38-45) who was active in Paris in the 1450s and '60s as a successor to the Bedford Master, associate of the Coëtivy Master, and 'the chief formative influence for the style of Maître François'. His style is characterised by a crispness created by well-defined forms, often modelled with extensive use of subtle gold dots and hatching; his female figures often have very white skin, while men's faces are subtly modelled in darker shades and can appear swarthy.
The subjects of the miniatures are: St John writing on Patmos f. 13; Visitation f.51v; Nativity f.63; Annunciation to the Shepherds f.69; Flight into Egypt f.80v; David in Penitence f.94; a priest reading the Last Rites to a man on his deathbed, in a domestic interior, accompanied by his wife, f.117; The Trinity enthroned in Heaven f.170v.
[France, Paris, c.1460]
155 x 115 mm. i + 192 + i leaves, bound too tightly to allow collation, partial modern foliation in pencil, ruled in red ink for 15 lines per page, justification: c. 75 x 50 mm, written in a fine formal gothic script in brown ink, rubrics in red, the calendar in red, blue, and gold, capitals stoked in pale yellow wash, EIGHT LARGE ARCHED MINIATURES each accompanied by a full border of acanthus and other flowers, incorporating animals and birds, above four lines of text and a three-line foliate initial, EVERY TEXT PAGE WITH A BORDERPANEL of stylised and semi-naturalistic acanthus and other flowers and fruit in colours and gold, 4-line foliate initials on a gold ground at the beginning of major prayers, 2-line initials in red and/or blue and white on a gold ground, line-fillers and 1-line gold initials on blue and red grounds throughout (inserted single leaves with miniatures likely missing after ff.18, 27, 76, 87, 111 and 164, some rubbing and smudging of borders, and faces in miniatures on ff.13 and 94 damaged and perhaps retouched). 19th-century dark purple/black leather stamped in blind à la cathédrale. Later fitted slipcase with gilt leather spine.
PROVENANCE:
(a) Written for a woman, as indicated by feminine Latin forms throughout (ff.20v, 24, 176, 179), who doubtless lived in Paris. Owned in the late 15th or 16th century by Anne de Canus who offered a reward for its return if lost, signed with her initials ADC (inscription legible with UV light, f.192v). (b) 'This Missal was the property of Lord Viscount Harberton, & brought by him from Rome' (inscription on front flyleaf); this perhaps refers to Henry (1749-1829), second Viscount Harberton, who owned the famous Wodhull-Harberton Hours (Christie's, 6 July 2011, lot 23), and who was likely responsible for the binding. (c) Sotheby's 12 July 1939, lot 9, according to the Schoenberg database. A typescript description inserted at the front has the blind-stamp of 'Brentano's, New York' and a clipping from a catalogue loosely inserted has prices in dollars.
CONTENT:
Calendar in French, with an entry for every day, including Genevieve and Marcel in gold, ff.1-12v; Gospel extracts ff.13-18v; Prayers to the Virgin: Obsecro te beginning imperfectly, O intemerata, and Ave regina, ff.19-26v; blank f.27v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Paris, beginning imperfectly, ff.28-93: matins f.28, lauds f.51v, prime f.63, terce f.69, none, beginning imperfectly, f.77, vespers f.80v, and compline, beginning imperfectly, f.88; blank, f.93v; Seven Penitential Psalms f.94-107; a short Litany including Genevieve, petitions, and two collects ff.107-111; Hours of the Holy Cross, beginning imperfectly, ff.112-116v; Office of the Dead, use of Paris, ff.117-164v; The Fifteen Joys, in French, beginning imperfectly, f.165-170; the Seven Requests, in French, ff.170v-174; 'Cinq devotes oroisons', each beginning 'Ave domine iesu christe [...]', ff.174-175; the (eight) Verses of St Bernard ff.175-176v; Suffrages to the Trinity, the Cross, and Sts Michael, John the Baptist, Peter & Paul, Christopher, Sebastian, Nicholas, Anthony, and Anne, ff.176v-183; Mass prayers ff.183-184v; further suffrages to Sts Vincent, Laurence, Stephen, Cosmas & Damian, Fiacre, Genevieve, Barbara, Margaret, Katherine, Avoi, Agnes, and Thomas Becket, ff.184v-190v; ruled, blank, ff.191-192v.
ILLUMINATION:
The illumination is by the Master of Jean Rolin, or a close imitator (see Plummer, The Last Flowering, 1982, nos 82-84, and Avril & Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.38-45) who was active in Paris in the 1450s and '60s as a successor to the Bedford Master, associate of the Coëtivy Master, and 'the chief formative influence for the style of Maître François'. His style is characterised by a crispness created by well-defined forms, often modelled with extensive use of subtle gold dots and hatching; his female figures often have very white skin, while men's faces are subtly modelled in darker shades and can appear swarthy.
The subjects of the miniatures are: St John writing on Patmos f. 13; Visitation f.51v; Nativity f.63; Annunciation to the Shepherds f.69; Flight into Egypt f.80v; David in Penitence f.94; a priest reading the Last Rites to a man on his deathbed, in a domestic interior, accompanied by his wife, f.117; The Trinity enthroned in Heaven f.170v.
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni