With High Quality Illumination, Liberal Use of Gold, and Delightful Marginal Details

TEXT FROM COMPLINE.

A MEDIEVAL VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF FROM A BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN, WITH A LARGE MINIATURE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN.

(Paris: ca. 1500). 163 x 115 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 1/2"). Single column, 18 lines in a gothic book hand.

Rubrics in red, line fillers in blue and pink with gold bezant, six one-line initials in burnished gold on pink and blue ground, two two-line initials in blue on gold ground with a flower in the center, one three-line initial in blue filled with ivy on gold ground, verso with panel border of colorful flowers and acanthus, recto with A LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN with an "L" shaped frame of burnished gold and painted flowers, and A FULL BORDER of acanthus, flowers, a man playing a bagpipe, and a hybrid creature wearing a hat, all on a painted gold ground. Very minor wrinkling to vellum, but the leaf IN LOVELY CONDITION, with the gold everywhere gleaming brightly.

From a luxuriously appointed Book of Hours, this leaf features a handsome miniature of the Coronation of the Virgin attributed to the workshop of Jean Pichore (fl. ca. 1502-20), a major figure among illuminators of the period and one of the most sought-after artists in France at the turn of the 16th century. Executed with imagination and delicacy, the miniature features the traditional subject associated with the hour of Compline, showing the Virgin being crowned Queen of Heaven, following her Death and Assumption. The composition here is quite intimate, with the Virgin kneeling before her son as she accepts, with humility, the crown he lays upon her head. Christ is depicted barefoot and slightly bowed toward his mother in a gentle display of respect. The artist creates a wonderful backdrop for this scene, composed entirely of seraphim painted gold, blue, light pink, and green, closely packed together. Two of the seraphim hold up light pink draperies behind the central figures, as if to shield this tender moment from prying eyes. The borders here are a source of delight, featuring a figure wearing a jester-like cap and playing the bagpipe as well as a creature with the body of a bird and the face of a human, donning a rather fashionable bycocket cap. The illumination here is of high quality, features a liberal use of gold, and contains unique marginal details, suggesting that the original manuscript must have been a costly commission for a wealthy patron. (ST20810R)

Price: $6,000.00