Lot n° 3
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80000 - 100000
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Book of Hours (Roman Rite) - Lot 3
Book of Hours (Roman Rite)
In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment
Northern France or Belgium, Hainaut (Valenciennes? Mons?) for the large miniatures, circa 1520–1530
With 12 large miniatures, 15 small miniatures, and 24 illuminated borders in trompe-l’œil style
Large miniatures attributable to an artist from Hainaut, possibly the Copenhagen artist, KB, NKS 50 h 8° (“Der Maler der Sept Psaumes allégorisés” [Master of the Seven Allegorized Psalms]); small miniatures attributable to another anonymous artist; illuminated borders by an anonymous artist.
155 ff., some internal losses (notably the calendar, and likely also the Gospel pericopes?), large miniatures painted on leaves with white recto, Gothic script in black ink, 16 long lines per page, ruled in pale red ink (text size: 105 x 70 mm), rubrics in red, line endings in pink or blue with ornamental gilded decoration, small initials in liquid gold on blue or pink backgrounds, large initials (4 lines high) introducing the major textual divisions in gold and brown with scroll motifs, on blue or pink backgrounds, some featuring heads or busts in shades of blue or pink (ff. 7, 12, 32, 50, 55, 65, 81, 103), all large miniatures and first pages of major textual sections surrounded by rich “Ghent-Bruges” style borders on a golden-yellow background or, at times, borders with colored compartments and branches of wood and acanthus leaves (fol. 102v) or a coffered design (with gemstones or jewels, fol. 43v), flowers, fruits, animals, and various figures in the margins (including: a dog chasing a deer, a lion and a horse, a hare and a deer, birds, a fly and a butterfly, a bird pecking at a bunch of grapes, a horseman on horseback, a dog eating a bone, a cat lapping up milk, a sheep, hybrid creatures, a monkey eating a flower, an eagle, two roosters facing each other, a monkey playing music to a snail, a bird and a butterfly, a bagpiper, a hybrid creature ridden by a monkey, two dogs sharing a bone, and a dog posing).
Red velvet binding, smooth spine (velvet pile worn in places), patching with old velvet (?), endpapers replaced, gilt edges.
Binding dimensions: 176 x 120 mm; leaf dimensions: 170 x 112 mm.
A superb manuscript that continues to reveal its secrets. As for the large miniatures, this Book of Hours can be linked to the little-known and scarcely studied work of an artist from Hainaut, clearly an heir to the models and aesthetic of Simon Marmion—known as the “prince of illumination”—who was active in Valenciennes until 1489. While this artist shares certain similarities with the Master of Antoine Rolin—a prolific artist and follower of Marmion in Valenciennes (active until 1520)—the large miniatures can be attributed to another of Marmion’s followers. The Master of the Seven Allegorized Psalms was an excellent painter active in Hainaut who worked alongside the workshop of the Master of Antoine Rolin and that of the Master of Ariana 1 (named after Geneva, BPU, MS Ariana 1). The Master of the Seven Allegorized Psalms notably painted the eponymous work preserved in Copenhagen, KB, NKS 50 h 8°, and he was the second painter of the Book of Hours preserved in London, BL, Add. 31838 (a work painted in collaboration with an artist from the circle of the Master of Antoine Rolin). The borders and the rest of the secondary decoration, as well as the 15 small miniatures illustrating the Suffrages, are highly original and deserve a study in their own right. This manuscript is not mentioned in the specialized literature.
Provenance
1. Manuscript copied and illuminated in northern France, likely partly in Hainaut, based on stylistic elements characteristic of the large miniatures.
These Hours follow the universal liturgical rite of Rome (Hours of the Virgin and Office of the Dead), and the absence of a calendar makes it impossible to identify saints venerated locally. Of note in the litanies is the presence of Saint Lubin (venerated in Chartres) as well as certain saints from the north, such as Leonard and Nicaise.
2. Lardanchet Bookstore (Lyon), typewritten description on the bookstore’s letterhead, attached, dated, and signed: “A. Lardanchet. 1950” (3 pages).
3. France, private collection. Claudine and Denis Jacqmin Collection.
Text
The calendar is missing, and possibly also the Gospel pericopes.
ff. 1v–5, Hours of the Cross.
ff. 5v-6, Seven Prayers of St. Gregory, in French, with prayers added in cursive script (16th-century handwriting). Were these prayers, accompanied by an engraved illustration that has been highlighted and pasted onto the ruled parchment, copied here to make up for a deficiency noted in the 16th century?
ff. 7–10, Hours of the Holy Spirit.
f. 10v, the prayer “Veni creator spiritu mentes,” in the same cursive script as on f. 5v.
ff. 12–7
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