best greetings from Vienna, Austria!
Arno Gschwendtner
Sotheby´s: Auction Date: 7 Jul 09, 10:30 AM, Location: London
Western Manuscripts and Miniatures and the Korner sale; SALE L09740
http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159539671
LOT 53: MINIATURE PRAYERBOOK, IN LATIN, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
6,000—8,000 GBP
DESCRIPTION
[northern Italy (Milan), c. 1500-10]
277 leaves (including 3 original endleaves at back), 50mm. by 35mm., a single
leaf in gathering xxi cancelled, else complete, collation: i-xx8, xxi7 (last
wanting), xxii-xxxiv8, horizontal catchwords, written space 33mm. by 23mm., 10
lines of dark brown ink in a small and fine late gothic bookhand, rubrics,
significant texts and 1-line initials in liquid gold, numerous 2-line initials
in liquid gold on tri-coloured grounds heightened with white penwork, eight
large historiated initials (5 or 6 lines in height) in green and blue with
medieval jewels on gold grounds, foliate extensions of scrolling vines touched
in gold ending in thistle-like flowers forming three-quarter border frames which
enclose coats-of arms of the Sforza, Visconti and Colonna families, decorated
frontispiece with complex 5-line initial in gold with a medieval jewel, flower
and two pearls on burgundy ground with full border frame, gilt and gauffered
edges, small hole in folio 70, last three endleaves with added prayers in Latin
in early modern hand, outer edges trimmed by a few millimetres, some minor
dampstaining to upper edges of leaves, else excellent condition, last endleaf
with rustholes showing that original binding had metal corner-pieces and a
central boss, nineteenth- or early twentieth-century black leather with marbled
pastedowns and silver edges to boards, elaborate silver clasp with initials
'RIB' on inside, in fitted case
PROVENANCE
provenance
Almost certainly written and illuminated for the Italian noblewoman, Agnese da
Montefeltro (1450-1520), wife of Fabrizio Colonna and daughter of Battista
Sforza: a damaged Colonna coat-of-arms on fol. 1r (with a better preserved
example on fol. 40r; a column or on geules) and a tiny profile portrait of her
on fol. 1r; arms of the Sforza family, the mighty fifteenth-century lords of
Milan, on fol. 26v (quartered with imperial eagles sable on or and basilisks on
argent; Battista was herself a daughter of Alessandro Sforza, the first lord of
Pesaro from the Sforza line and the brother of the dynasty's founder Francesco I
Sforza), and of the Visconti (a basilisk on azure) on fol. 13r, who were
incorporated into the Sforza family through the marriage of Francesco Sforza to
Bianca Maria Visconti in 1441.
Agnese was a member of an important bibliophilic and military family. Her
husband Fabrizio was the count of Tagliacozzo and grand constable of the kingdom
of Naples. He was famed for his military and political prowess, appearing as the
main speaker in Machiavelli's Art of War, a text that also cites him as an
authority on military structure and strategy. Her daughter, Vittoria Colonna,
was a poet, bibliophile and close friend of the artist Michelangelo, who
addressed some of his finest sonnets to her, and made drawings for and of her.
It is thus fitting that this exquisite little book was made for Agnese in Milan
around the first decade of the sixteenth century. These years were troubled ones
for the Sforza dynasty in Milan, whose influence was seriously threatened by the
forces of King Charles VIII of France, and this volume may have been
commissioned as a gift in order to remind her (and her powerful husband) of her
ancestral links to Milan and its ruling dynasty.
CATALOGUE NOTE
text
The text includes a prayer to the Trinity with Psalms (fol. 1r); the prayer 'O
Dulcissime domine Iesu christe qui es sponsus ...' (13r); the prayer 'Deus
propicius esto michi peccatori ...' (26v); the prayer 'Domine ihesu Christi qui
sempiterne verba ...', attributed to the venerable Bede, with important
devotional phrases such as 'Heli heli lama zabathani' picked out in liquid gold
(39r); the prayer 'Precor te piissime domine ihesu christe propter illam eximiam
caritatem ...' here attributed to Pope Benedict XII (47r); the prayer 'Deus
propicius esto mihi ...' attributed to St. Augustine (51v); the prayer 'Domine
Jhesu Christe, rogo te ut amore ...' (60v); prayers attributed to St. Bernard
(63v); Gospel readings and prayers (97r); the 'Obsecro te' (148r) and 'O
intemerata' (158v); prayers to the Virgin attributed to St. Thomas Becket
(165v); furthers devotions to the Virgin (168r); prayers to the saints,
including Sebastian (188r), George (190r), Helena (202r), Catherine (204r), and
Apollonia (206v); the Seven Penitential Psalms (212r); a Litany and further
prayers (247v).
illumination
The historiated initials are the work of a skilled Milanese artist. The faces
and hair of the figures shares a great deal with the work of the Master 'BF',
but the use of pearls and jewels within the bodies of the initials points to a
group of miniatures tentatively attributed to Taddeo de Scoriatis Milanese
(Olschki, Wildenstein Collection of miniatures, pp. 106-11). The miniatures
include: (1) folio 1r, 5-line initial in gold enclosing Christ on a liquid gold
and deep blue background, all on burgundy ground, and with a full border
enclosing a medieval jewel, seven putti, two griffin-like creatures, a small
lamb and a tiny detailed portrait of the original female owner; with some loss
of paint from initial and somewhat thumbed on edges; (2) folio 13r, 5-line
initial in blue and green with medieval jewels on outer edges on gold ground,
enclosing a bearded Saint-bishop, foliate borders on three sides enclosing the
Visconti arms in upper border; (3) folio 26v, 5-line initial as above, enclosing
a female saint holding a palm of martyrdom, the Sforza arms in foliage in
bas-de-page; (4) folio 40r, 5-line initial as above, enclosing a naked putti
carrying the Cross, arms identified as those of the Colonna in foliage in upper
border; (5) folio 47r, 5-line initial as above, enclosing Saint Apollonia
holding a book and her tooth in a pair of delicate golden pliers, a white veil
with an inscription beginning 'Tanto ...' supported by two hands in the
bas-de-page; (6) folio 51v, 5-line initial as above, enclosing a female saint;
(7) folio 60v, 6-line initial as above, enclosing a female saint with long
flowing blond hair; (8) folio 64v, 5-line initial as above, enclosing the
Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a white dove descending to the
Virgin below, whose face peeps out of the window created by the initial looking
straight at the reader, surrounded by saints, a silhouette portrait on red
ground in the upper border; (9) folio 67r, 5-line initial as above, enclosing a
female saint next to a pink tower (probably St. Barbara); (10) folio 220v,
5-line initial as above, enclosing King David in profile, with an alternative
version of the Sforza arms (with three gold rings interlocking on geules in the
place of the basilisks) in the bas-de-page; (11) folio 247v, 5-line initial as
above, enclosing a crowned Saint-Pope, wearing the three-tiered papal crown.
############
LOT 118
THE KORNER HOURS, USE OF ROME, IN LATIN, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
600,000—800,000 GBP
http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159541757
DESCRIPTION
[southern Netherlands (Ghent and Valenciennes), c. 1475-80]
248 leaves (5 blank), plus 6 vellum flyleaves, 75 mm. by 55 mm., complete,
collation: i-ii6, iii-v8+1, vi8, vii6, viii8+1, ix-xviii8, xix4, xx8+1, xxi12+7,
xxii8+1, xxiii-xxiv8, xxv8+1, xxvi-xxx8, with all full-page miniatures on the
added sheets, 14 lines, ruled in red ink, written-space 44 mm. by 26 mm.,
written in dark brown ink in a small calligraphic lettre bâtarde, rubrics in
red, one- and 2-line initials throughout in burnished gold on red and blue
grounds with white tracery, twenty-five large illuminated initials with full
borders of naturalistic flowers, birds and insects on coloured or liquid gold
grounds, fourteen full-page miniatures, mostly in gently arched compartments
within full borders, very occasional spots of thumbing in margins, quire 21
slightly loose, other negligible wear, generally in extremely fine original and
fresh condition throughout, early nineteenth-century red morocco gilt, crest of
a double-headed eagle on each cover, green morocco doublures gilt, vellum
endleaves, edges gilt and gauffered
PROVENANCE
provenance
(1) The patron is shown kneeling in the miniature for Saint Katherine on folio
167v, in a scene directly related to the Burgundian court (see below). The
patron is either Charles the Bold himself (1433-1477), duke of Burgundy 1467-77,
or "a high-ranking Burgundian courtier" (Kren, p. 182), probably in the ducal
household. Although the text is entirely continental, the inclusion of a
miniature of Saint George (who is in red in the Calendar, as is Saint Thomas
Becket and his translation) may suggest a connection with England. In 1468
Charles the Bold married the sister of Edward IV, Margaret of York (1446-1503),
patron of Simon Marmion; their daughter was Mary of Burgundy.
(2) Philip Augustus Hanrott (1776-1856), who also owned the celebrated Carmelite
Missal; his sale, Evans, 16 July 1833, lot 2409, "in a very delicate and
superior style of Art".
(3) William Knight; his sale in our rooms, 2 August 1847, lot 1335.
(4) William Stuart (1825-1893), J.P., M.P., D.L., of Tempsford Hall,
Bedfordshire, and Aldenham Abbey, Hertfordshire, given to his wife Henrietta
Maria Sarah (d. 1853), on 9 August 1847, as inscribed on the flyleaf. She was
the daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Pole; they were married on 8 August 1821,
and this was perhaps a wedding anniversary present. It passed by descent to
Major William Dugald Stuart (1860-1922) and to his widow, Milicent Stuart
(1869-1933); her sale in these rooms, 4 June 1934, lot 25, to Tancred Borenius.
(5) Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Lord Moyne (1880-1944), D.S.O., P.C., adventurer
and statesman, assassinated in Cairo; his sale in these rooms, 4 May 1953, lot
25, to Eisemann, for Eric Korner, originally to mark his 60th birthday, later
given to his wife as a surprise wedding aniversary present.
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES
literature
O. Pächt, 'Die niederländischen Stundenbücher des Lord Hastings', Litterae
textuales, Essays presented to G. I. Lieftinck, IV, 1976, p. 30, fig. 3.
G. T. Clark, 'The Chronology of the Louthe Master and his Identification with
Simon Marmion', Margaret of York, Simon Marmion, and the Visions of Tondal,
Papers delivered at a Symposium ... June 21-24 1990, ed. T. Kren, Malibu, 1992,
p. 207, n.10, "present location unknown".
B. Brinkmann, Offizium der Madonna: Der Codex Vat. Lat. 10293 und verwandte
kleine Stundenbücher mit Architekturbordüren (Codices e Vaticanis Selecti, 32),
1992, pp. 133-5. and pl. 41.
T. Kren in Illuminating the Renaissance, The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript
Painting in Europe, ed. T. Kren and S. McKendrick, J. Paul Getty Museum and the
Royal Academy of Arts, 2003, pp. 182-3, no. 37.
CATALOGUE NOTE
text
A Calendar (fol. 1r); the Hours of the Cross (fol. 14r) and of the Holy Ghost
(fol. 25r); the Mass of the Virgin (fol. 35r), with the Gospel Sequences (fol.
46r); the Hours of the Virgin "secundum usum romanum", with Matins (fol. 55r),
Lauds (fol. 72r), Prime (fol. 90r), Terce (fol. 97r), Sext (fol. 103v), None
(fol. 109v), Vespers (fol. 116r) and Compline (fol. 127v), with the Salve regina
(fol. 135r); the Obsecro te (fol. 148r) and O intemerata; Suffrages of the
saints (fol. 160r); the Penitential Psalms (fol. 176r) and Litany; and the
Office of the Dead (fol. 202r).
illumination
At certain precisely recognisable moments in art history there are sudden and
dramatic leaps of startling innovation. Giotto, the Limbourg brothers, the Van
Eycks, Michelangelo, Monet and others, by a fortuitous concatenation of
historical circumstance and available genius, were able to make significant
changes in the way people looked at the world. One of these moments occurred in
the early 1470s, in the circle of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York.
Manuscripts changed. Books became very large, or tiny. The illusionistic
Ghent/Bruges scatter borders were invented, with the first true copies of plants
from nature since classical times. Trompe l'oeil insects appear to settle on the
naturalistic flowers (examples here are on fols. 24v, 163v, 167v, 201v, etc.),
as if a living creature has itself been deceived by the reality of the painting.
Light (and darkness) and pure colour pour into manuscripts, and the refined art
of the Van Eycks or Memling is reduced into the smallest scale it can without
losing its freshness. The memorable and beautiful Crucifixion here (fol. 13v) is
hardly two inches high. Figures become three-dimensional and seem to float in
space. Settings are often domestic, even homely; religion is personalised. The
Korner Hours is much the smallest and is one of the oldest of the revolutionary
new type of manuscript. The two great innovators were Simon Marmion, and the
artist (or group of artists) known, after the daughter of Charles and Margaret,
as the Master of Mary of Burgundy.
Simon Marmion is easy. He is one of the best documented early Netherlandish
artists, working both in panel paintings and in manuscripts. He was brought
originally by Philip the Good from Amiens in 1454 to help prepare stage sets. In
1458 he bought a house in Valenciennes, where he probably lived and mostly
worked until his death in 1489. He worked extensively for Charles the Bold and
Margaret of York. "The most striking characteristics of the several dozen
illuminated manuscripts and paintings that are associated with the name of
Marmion is, in a word, naturalism. Marmion was especially gifted in the
representation of light and texture, and his understanding of atmospheric
effects and spatial illusion grew throughout his career" (T. Kren, The Visions
of Tondal from the Library of Margaret of York, 1990, p. 21). Two of the
miniatures by him here, the Last Judgement (fol. 175v) and the Battle for the
Soul (fol. 201v), show heat and darkness, light and death. It is almost possible
to smell the sizzling of the demons and to sense the silence of the skies. One
of the most unexpected subjects Marmion shows here is the image of Saint
Katherine (fol. 167v). He takes the subject from a rare text by Jean Miélot,
publisher to Philip the Good, which he had recently illuminated in 1475 for
Margaret of York, the Vie de sainte Catherine. The saint is permitted by the
Virgin to select a husband among all the kings and emperors of the world, and
she chooses Christ. The patron of the manuscript is kneeling in the miniature.
The image has political undertones, for the dukes of Burgundy were not emperors,
a sensitive matter, and (here) they choose religion instead of the imperial
crown.
The Master of Mary of Burgundy is more of a problem. The artist was named by
Otto Pächt from two supreme Books of Hours made for Mary, one in Vienna (Cod.
1857) and one in Berlin (Kupferstichkabinett Ms 78.B.12; cf. Pächt, The Master
of Mary of Burgundy, 1948). To the same artist Pächt assigned the exquisite
little Hours of Engelbert of Nassau in the Bodleian Library (MS Douce 219-20).
These are truly revolutionary books, beautiful and atmospheric, close to tiny
galleries of pictures by Hugo van der Goes and Joos van Ghent in the palm of
one's hand. Art historians do not always advance knowledge. Recent work on the
enigmatic and elusive Master of Mary of Burgundy now tends to diffuse his oeuvre
into the work of several painters, and the Vienna and Berlin manuscripts are no
longer accepted as being necessarily by the same artist. The Engelbert of Nassau
Hours is assigned to the Vienna side of the group, whereas the Korner Hours
belongs with the Berlin manuscript. Was there a multi-faceted genius, or more
than one artist in Ghent working together (perhaps one family)? Genius can
emerge in partnerships (the Limbourgs, the Van Eycks). The very unsatisfactory
term of 'the Ghent Associates' has been provisionally coined for manuscripts
around the Berlin Hours (A. van Buren, 'The Master of Mary of Burgundy and his
Colleagues, The State of Research and Questions of Method', Zeitschrift für
Kunstgeschichte, 38, 1975, pp. 307-9). The mercantile word 'Associates' seems to
suggest something routine or mass-produced. This is not at all true: these works
are rarer than those of Marmion. Seven miniatures in the Korner Hours were
ascribed by Pächt to the Master of Mary of Burgundy himself. For simplicity, we
have kept this name in the list which follows. It now needs new work to tell us
who or what this extraordinary artistic enterprise really was. The finest
miniatures here are the Virgin and Child (fol.147v), as exquisite as any panel,
and the dramatic scene of Saint Michael expelling demons (fol. 163v). These
works "rank with the most beautiful works in the new Ghent style of
illumination" (Kren, Illuminating the Renaissance, p. 182).
The miniatures are:
1, Folio 13v, Simon Marmion, The Crucifixion, 49 mm. by 30 mm., the Holy Women
at the foot of the Cross, Saint John comforting the Virgin on the left, soldiers
on the right, landscape background including people walking out along the road
from the distant city of Jerusalem; full border on a grey ground, including gold
acanthus leaves and coloured flowers.
2, Folio 24v, Simon Marmion, Pentecost, 49 mm. by 29 mm., set in the atrium
along the edge of a courtyard of a palace, the apostles and the Virgin kneeling
and gazing upwards, the Holy Dove in the blue sky, other figures walking in the
gardens on the right; full border on a liquid gold ground, including white and
grey acanthus leaves, a red admiral butterfly and strawberries.
3, Folio 34v, Simon Marmion, The Virgin and Child, 49 mm. by 30 mm., set in a
domestic interior, the Virgin seated on an oriental cushion before a sofa with
red cushions, two angels playing musical instruments, a clock on the wall beside
the window, an altar on the other side; full border on a blue ground including
gold acanthus leaves and red and white flowers.
4, Folio 54v, Simon Marmion, The Annunciation, 49 mm. by 30 mm., set in a
Romanesque church, the Virgin seated on the floor with her deep blue dress
spread around her, a prayer desk to the right, Gabriel falling to one knee, the
Holy Dove descending on a golden beam of light shining through an upper window;
full border on a golden-brown ground, including gold acanthus leaves and
coloured flowers.
5, Folio 147v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, The Virgin and Child, 70 mm. by
47 mm., the Ara Coeli, the Virgin half-length standing behind a crescent moon
over which the hem of her robe is draped, holding and suckling the Christ Child,
gold ground, flecked in red; full-page, without border.
6, Folio 159v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint Peter, 49 mm. by 30 mm.,
the apostle in a white toga, holding gold keys, walking on the shore of the lake
of Galilee, fishing boats in the water, a great city on the far bank, with hills
behind; full border on a red ground, including gold acanthus leaves and white
flowers.
7, Folio 161v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint George and the Dragon, 60
mm. by 38 mm., the saint as a knight in armour on a warhorse, the dragon rearing
up on its hind legs, the princess seeking refuge at the far right, a great
castle behind with people watching from the battlements; three-quarter border of
jewels on a liquid gold ground.
8, Folio 163v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint Michael the Archangel
expelling the Demons, 50 mm. by 31 mm., a white angel with a banner flying over
the fiery pit of Hell, monsters' eyes staring brightly in the smoky gloom; full
border on a gold ground including white and grey acanthus leaves, a moth,
cornflowers and strawberries.
9, Folio 165v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint Christopher, 49 mm. by 32
mm., the giant in a billowing red cloak stepping through a river with the Christ
Child on his shoulders, rocks all around and a landscape background; full border
on a golden-brown ground, including two insects, gold acanthus leaves and
coloured flowers.
10, Folio 167v, Simon Marmion, Saint Katherine's vision of Christ as her spouse,
44 mm. by 29 mm., set in a princely interior with a high bench and hanging
textiles, the saint curtseying before God who is attended by two gold angels and
surrounded by saints, including kings and bishops, a kneeling layman on the
right; full border including a moth and pinks on a liquid gold ground.
11, Folio 169v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint Anthony, 50 mm. by 30 mm.,
the saint in robes of the palest purple seated in prayer with Saint Paul the
Hermit, in a rocky glade in a forest clearing, a spring behind, Paul's raven
flying above with a piece of bread in its beak; full border of carnations and
cornflowers on a liquid gold ground.
12, Folio 171v, The Master of Mary of Burgundy, Saint Barbara, 61 mm. by 37 mm.,
the saint standing with a palm and open book (in a chemise binding), a hanging
tapestry on the left, to the right a view out through a cloister to a building
site where Barbara's father is inspecting the tower under scaffolding;
three-quarter border of jewels on a liquid gold ground.
13, Folio 175v, Simon Marmion, The Last Judgement, 48 mm. by 30 mm., Christ
seated on a rainbow, saints on either side with the Virgin and Saint John the
Baptist foremost, an angel blowing a trumpet down to the earth below, where the
dead rise from their graves and are seized by devils on the right and dragged
towards the fiery abyss; full border of white and grey acanthus leaves and
coloured flowers on a liquid gold ground.
14, Folio 201v, Simon Marmion, The Battle for the Soul, 47 mm. by 29 mm., a dead
man lying in a meadow in an evening landscape, his soul emerging from his mouth,
an angel hovering above battling a demon, who tumbles over on the right, all set
between God and the heavenly hosts above and the smoky pit of Hell below; full
border on a red ground, including a butterfly, gold acanthus leaves and daisies.
The illuminated borders are:
1, Folio 14r, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus leaves, a white
butterfly, pinks, roses and cornflowers; 2, folio 25r, on a liquid gold ground,
including white and grey acanthus leaves, three birds, pinks and strawberries;
3, folio 35r, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus leaves, two yellow
butterflies, daisies and little blue and white flowers; 4, folio 44r, on a
liquid gold ground, including white and grey acanthus leaves, two birds,
cornflowers and daisies; 5, folio 46r, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus
leaves, two birds, pimpernels and daisies; 6, folio 48v, on a liquid gold
ground, including white and grey acanthus leaves, two birds, pinks, and other
flowers; 7, folio 51v, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus leaves,
including a bird, cornflowers and pimpernels; 8, folio 55r, on a yellow-brown
ground, including gold acanthus leaves strawberries, cornflowers and a daisy; 9,
folio 72r, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus leaves, two birds and
coloured flowers; 10, folio 90r, on a liquid gold ground, including white and
grey acanthus leaves, two birds, pinks and cornflowers; 11, folio 97r, on a grey
ground, including gold acanthus leaves, two birds, pimpernels, strawberry
flowers and thistles; 12, folio 103v, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus
leaves, a bird, convolvulus and cornflowers; 13, folio 109v, on a liquid gold
ground, including many flowers; 14, folio 116r, on a liquid gold ground,
including white and grey acanthus leaves, a bird, pimpernels and convolvulus;
15, folio 127v, on a liquid gold ground, including white and grey acanthus
leaves, a butterfly, cornflowers and thistles; 16, folio 148r, on a liquid gold
ground, including white and grey acanthus leaves, a butterfly and blue pansies;
17, folio 160r, on a red ground, including gold acanthus leaves, carnations and
cornflowers; 18, folio 162r, on a blue ground, including gold acanthus leaves
and strawberries; 19, folio 164r, on a liquid gold ground, including white and
grey acanthus leaves, a moth, pimpernels and cornflowers; 20, folio 166r, on a
brown ground, including gold acanthus leaves, and little flowers; 21, folio
168r, on a liquid gold ground, including a bird, strawberries, daisies, irises,
cornflowers and roses; 22, folio 170r, on a liquid gold ground, including a
butterfly, daisies, convolvulus, cornflowers and pimpernels; 23, folio 172r, on
a liquid gold ground, including a moth, a yellow butterfly, a strawberry,
daisies, pinks, irises and other flowers; 24, folio 176r, on a liquid gold
ground, including white and grey acanthus leaves, three birds, violets, daisies
and cornflowers; and 25, folio 202r, on a grey ground, including gold acanthus
leaves, a white butterfly, strawberries and other flowers.
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