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[ILLUMINATION]. Fragment from the Gradual of Louis XII and A…
See original version (French)
[ILLUMINATION]. Fragment from the Gradual of Louis XII and A…
See original version (French)
Lot no. 15
[ILLUMINATION].
Fragment from the Gradual of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany.
In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment.
France, Paris (?), circa 1499-1500
Dimensions: 415 x 230 mm
This fragment, with the introit Invocabit me et e(go) for the first Sunday in Lent, is taken from the Gradual of Louis XII of France and his second wife, Anne of Brittany, produced in Paris around 1500. This manuscript was undoubtedly intended for use in the royal Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, as suggested by the depiction of Louis and Anne kneeling in prayer before its most famous relic, the Crown of Thorns, in a historiated initial from the same manuscript, now in the Musée Dobrée in Nantes. (See Catalogue Galerie Les Enluminures, 1994, no. 28).
According to Le Roux de Lincy, the manuscript was dismembered around 1840, when fragments began to appear on the art market in France. Other historiated initials in the manuscript include the Last Supper and Pentecost (Firmin-Didot sale, Paris, 10 June 1884, lot 78; Sotheby's, 1 June 1905, lot 723, then again on 7 December 1924, lot 900; the miniature of Pentecost was attributed by J. Günther to Jean Pichore in Brochure 9, 2006, no. 55), the Creation of Eve, Noli me Tangere, Saint Mary Magdalene and the Trinity (Sotheby's, 8 July 1974, lots 26-29). Horizontal cut-outs with lines of text and musical staves similar to our fragment have survived, as for the Second Sunday of Advent (Delorme-Collin du Bocage sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 15 December 2004, lot 8), Quinquagesime Sunday (Sotheby's, 29 November 1990, lot 39, and again on 2 July 2013, lot 7), Ash Wednesday (Galerie Les Enluminures, 2004, no. 24 ; Sotheby's, 6 December 2005, lot 21), and the first Friday of Lent (sold by Librairie ancienne Bruno Sepulchre in 2010). Complete leaves include that for the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene with a historiated initial illustrating her Ascension (Sotheby's, 5 July 2016, lot 45) and that for the third Sunday after Easter (Wellesley College, Massachusetts, MS 6). Several bands of border ornaments and initials have also been identified, such as the one in the Lilly Library, Bloomington (Indiana), Ricketts 107 (see De Hamel, 2010, whose entry provides a list of known fragments); or the one in Philadelphia, Free Library, Lewis T 659 (see Nicolas Herman's Blog, 2020).
The texts identified indicate that this impressive choir book included both the Temporal and the Sanctoral. The largest complete surviving page shows that the volume was substantial, measuring 685 x 515 mm. It was illuminated by a team of renowned Parisian illuminators, including the Master of Philippe de Gueldres (Louis and Anne before the Crown of Thorns), Jean Coene (Ascension of Mary Magdalene) and Jean Pichore (Pentecost). Many extracts include the royal arms of France, the crowned initials L and A (as in the present extract), the ermine of Brittany, and the leaf showing the Ascension of Mary Magdalene (Sotheby's, 5 July 2016, lot 45) includes the arms of Orléans, Louis's arms before he was crowned king on 7 April 1498. The folio held at Wellesley includes the arms of France quartered with those of Milan, suggesting that the manuscript was illuminated during the period when Louis was both King of France and Duke of Milan, from 6 September 1499 to 5 February 1500.
See : Le Roux de Lincy, A. La Vie de la Reine Anne de Bretagne, 1860-61, II, p. 86. - De Hamel, C. Gilding the Lilly: A Hundred Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts in the Lilly Library, Bloomington, 2010, no. 83, pp. 182-183. - Blog Nicolas Herman, Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis: Louis + Anne Forever.
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