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TEXT FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
(Austria [Salzburg]: second half of 12th century). 321 x 218 mm. (12 5/8 x 8 5/8"). Single column, 27 lines, in a lovely proto-gothic hand, top two lines in red or black uncials.
Rubrics and numbers in red, two one-line initials in red, with A LARGE (115 mm.) IMAGE OF JOSEPH WEARING HIS COAT OF MANY COLORS, the body outlined in brown ink, and the coat outlined in red. Lower margin of recto with a 20th century note in red ink (see below). Recovered from a binding and thus with overall darkening on the recto and with nothing readable on the verso, bottom line of text a bit damaged because of crease through it, a few small holes, two corners trimmed (one or two letters of final line of text lost), but more than half of the Joseph figure (including the face) still visible, and the text on the recto entirely legible.
Containing a beautiful proto-gothic script and a rare figurative Romanesque initial, this leaf is a particularly desirable example of early Austrian manuscript production. The text here is (as neatly noted in German at the tail edge of the recto) Genesis 37:2-10, the beginning of the story of Joseph, the 17-year-old son of Jacob (here called Israel) and his second wife, Rachel. In the well-known biblical account, Joseph is his father's favorite of 12 sons, and the patriarch gives him a beautiful coat of many colors, making his brothers jealous. Joseph here intensifies their dislike of him by recounting to his brothers two of his dreams, in which sheaves of grain and then various celestial bodies bowed down to him. Dream or reality, the images did not sit well with the brothers, who sold Joseph into slavery. Although once the leaf was reused as binding material, we can nevertheless make out an historiated "I" in the form of Joseph as a young man, including an outline of his multi-colored coat. It is difficult to say with certainty whether the initial would originally have been washed with color, or composed solely as a line drawing, but whatever the case, we are lucky to have so much of it intact. With his long, flowing hair, semi-nude body, and hand placed delicately on his hip, Joseph is depicted in quite a seductive manner, and the simple line-drawing further emphasizes the body's curves and lithe appearance. Romanesque initials with historiation are not nearly as common as decorative ones, and the present depiction is especially unusual. While illustrations of Joseph do appear in other manuscripts of this period, they tend to focus on specific events from the biblical narrative--particularly those that lend themselves to the tradition of Joseph as a prefiguration of Christ, such as Joseph being thrown into the pit, or revealing his identity to his brothers. The present example, by contrast, is all about the presentation of the figure. This leaf almost certainly belonged to a Lectionary owned by a Romanesque church in Salzburg, a manuscript that was later dismembered for use in bookbinding. According to the source from which we purchased this leaf, it was shown in 1893 to the Medieval historian (and later the Abbot of St. Peter's, Salzburg) Willibald Hauthaler (1843-1922), who wrote the identification in red ink along the lower edge. It was later owned by the Salzburg-based merchant, artist, and collector Carl von Frey (1826-96). It appeared at Christie's in 2010 where (along with five sister leaves) it sold for £13,970. (ST20617d)
Price: $12,500.00