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12 - [ENLUMINATION] Leaf from a book of hours, beginning of the G…
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Estimate €4,000 - €6,000
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Description
[ENLUMINATION] Leaf from a book of hours, beginning of the Gospel Pericopes. In Latin, brown ink, gouache and burnished gold on parchment. Saint John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos and his symbol the eagle. France, Troyes, circa 1460. Some rubbing to the burnished gold nimbus but good condition overall. Sheet size: 140 x 187 mm Recto: Curved miniature surrounded by illuminated borders with coloured acanthus decoration, vine leaves and gilded bezants, floral motifs and birds on a reserved background; curved miniature surrounded by illuminated borders with coloured acanthus decoration, vine leaves and gilded bezants, floral motifs and birds on a reserved background, large initial in blue with white highlights on a gold background and coloured vines, 5 lines of text, gothic script; text on recto: beginning of the Péricopes évangéliques, with heading: Inicium sancti evangelii secundum Iohannem gloria tibi domine. Verso: 15 lines of text, gothic script, illuminated border in the outer margin, gilded vine leaves and besants, foliage, coloured flowers; initials in burnished gold (1 to 2 lines high) on a pink and blue background with white highlights; endpapers in the same style. Text on verso: continuation of the beginning of the Gospel according to Saint John. This leaf is taken from the same Book of Hours as a Crucifixion (see lot 13). This very fine miniature is attributable to a Trojan artist known as the "Master of the Troyes Missal", a prolific artist who has been identified since the work of François Avril (1993 and 2007). The Master of the Troyes Missal is credited with decorating a magnificent missal for use in Troyes copied by the scribe Jean Coquet around 1460 (Paris, BnF, lat 865A; see Avril and Reynaud, 1993, no. 97, pp. 182-183). It is characterised in particular by the treatment of moonlit faces with heavily shaded complexions and deep, dark blue starry skies, lit by broad, zenithal rays of light. We admire the realistic details, the modelling of the flesh and the treatment of the trees and bright green vegetation. Also typical of this artist is the very fine treatment of the rocky massifs and the mostly nocturnal scenes, with a taste for starry skies, as in this miniature. A small group of manuscripts by this same artist are known, including Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 117, Missel de Saint-Jean-au-Marché; Paris, BnF, lat. 11972-11974, Postilles de Nicolas de Lyre; Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 3897, Heures à l'usage de Troyes, acquired by the Médiathèque de Troyes (Christie's, 19 November 2003, lot 22) (see Avril and Reynaud, 1993, pp. 181-184, with a more extensive list of manuscripts in the hand of the Master of the Troyes Missal: Paris, BnF, latin 10471, latin 13273; Marseille, BM, MS. 112; Nancy, BM, MS. 36; Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, 2007, p. 78 and pp. 126-134; see also the list provided by Plummer, 1982, p. 60, no. 79). Although the Master of the Missal of Troyes was indeed active in Troyes in Champagne, he also worked for patrons and sponsors from the Franche-Comté region. It appears that the artist spent periods of time, and even a second part of his career, in Franche-Comté (Besançon?), where he seems to have worked for patrons from the Comtois region such as Charles de Neuchâtel, archbishop of Besançon (see his superb Missel, Auckland, Auckland City Librairies, Special Collections, Med. MSS G). Another Book of Hours is held by the Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M 28, New York. On the Missal Master of Troyes, see the notes on him in Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, Très riches heures de Champagne. L'enluminure en Champagne à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris, 2007, cat. 21A, 21 B and 22; see also Avril and Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peinture 1440-1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 182-184.
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About the sale ENLUMINATIONS, ANCIENT and MODERN BOOKS
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Auction time 06/17/2026 at 2:00 PM
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