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TEXT FROM JANUARY THROUGH DECEMBER.
(Paris: ca. 1500). 163 x 115 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 1/2"). 12 leaves. Single column, 18 lines in a gothic book hand.
Feast days in alternating blue and burnished gold script, two-line "KL" initials painted blue with white tracery and embellished with orange and blue ivy on a burnished gold ground, each with a spray of gilt leaves and painted flowers, one-line "A" initials in burnished gold over a pink and blue ground, each page with a panel border of colorful flowers, berries, and acanthus over a painted gold ground, with 24 SMALL MINIATURES, depicting the labor of the month on rectos and zodiacal signs on versos. Some moderate smudging and soiling in bottom and fore margins, January and February with tiny wormhole in head margin, the miniature for January conceivably improved by a later hand, but, all in all, a very lovely Calendar, the high-quality paintings very well preserved, and the whole with vibrant colors and brightly gleaming gold.
Vibrantly illustrated and shimmering with gold, this is an excellent example of a complete Calendar that would have appeared at the beginning of a luxuriously appointed Book of Hours. Each month is illustrated with the labor (or occupation) appropriate for the moment. These are, in turn: warming by the fire, feasting, pruning, picking flowers, courting, threshing hay, harvesting wheat, baking bread, treading grapes, sowing, feeding hogs, and slaughtering a hog. Our artist chose to compose these scenes more as portraits than depictions of actual tasks, framing the image around each figure's face and sometimes only including small details that might indicate their occupation. In the month of June, for example, which depicts threshing hay, we see only a sliver of the farmer's sickle, and nothing at all of the hay. Instead, the farmer himself is the primary focus here: and he is particularly well-executed, with gentle shading on his downcast features, careful brushstrokes highlighting the gleam of his hair, and brushed gold suggesting the sun beating down on a bright June day. In addition to the labor or occupation of the month on the recto, the 12 signs of the zodiac are depicted on the verso of each leaf, these executed with equal charm and care. In cheerful bright colors, our artist has depicted Leo's preening pose and glimmering mane, the drama of Sagittarius' drawn bow, and the cherubic plumpness of Aquarius, molded in bluish shadows. In addition to the aesthetic achievements of its various parts, the whole is desirable as a so-called composite Calendar, with the name of a saint (or special celebration) occupying every day of the year. The origin of the composite Calendar is uncertain, but the general opinion is that it was formalized in the early 14th century. The Parisian Hours of Jeanne d'Evreaux, copied in ca. 1330, has been put forth as an early example. In any case, the Calendar was subject to numerous changes in the course of time, as various saints were canonized and supplanted those who, while still recognized as saintly, were deemed to be less favored residents for a particular calendar date. The saints' days on this Calendar are fairly typical for the Use of Paris, and given the high-quality illumination, liberal use of gold, and robust borders, it is likely that the parent manuscript was produced by an accomplished atelier in that city. Although single Calendar leaves regularly come on the market, complete Calendars--particularly ones with extensive visual programs, as here--are much more difficult to acquire. (ST20810S)
Price: $15,000.00