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TEXT IN LATIN.
(France (Picardy, perhaps Amiens): ca. 1290). 159 x 104 mm. (6 1/4 x 4 1/8"). Double column, 25 lines, two sizes of text in a gothic book hand.
Rubrics in red, several calligraphic initials touched in red, two five- to six-line "I" initials in pink with white embellishment on painted pink ground with long extenders and gilt bezants, one four-line initial in pink and blue with white embellishments enclosing a charming big-eared drollery with a dragon-like body and the head of a beast, the whole on a gilt ground, with long painted extenders. Upper corners with modern pencil pagination. A hint of rumpling, but in very fine condition, the letters especially well preserved.
From a Breviary made for Cistercian use, this attractive leaf displays all the hallmarks of an expensive production, including beautifully rendered initials (including a particularly nice inhabited capital), skillful use of gold, and a lovely book hand. A substantial fragment of the original manuscript (consisting of 128 leaves) sold for £36,000 all in as lot 90 on 5 July 2005 at Sotheby's, where it was attributed to the Amiens area based on the presence of 12 lessons for the city's first bishop, St. Firminus. Sotheby's description notes that "It could be from the Cistercian nunnery of the Paraclete near Amiens, founded in 1219. It is remarkable to find polychrome illumination of such high quality in a book for use by a monastic order famous for its austerity and plainly decorated books." Individual leaves from this manuscript have appeared in other sales at Sotheby's (most recently 23 May 2017, lot 4), at Christie's (14 December 2022, lot 7), and in Maggs' Bulletin 10 (nos. 42-43) and Catalogue 1262 (no. 13). (ST20983a)
Price: $2,400.00