Livre d'heures

Book of Hours

66569 — Evidence Of A Special Early Moment In Parisian Book Production Expressive Of Northern Realism Book of Hours Use of Paris†In French and Latin illuminated manuscript on parchment France Paris c. 1400-1410 15 large miniatures by the Master of the Bible Historiale MS fr. 159 as described by Les Enluminures This beautifully executed and unusual Parisian Book of Hours was painted at the time of the Duke of Berry. The ìrealismî seen in the illuminations represents a special moment in Parisian art one exemplifying its northern origins.†The miniatures are attributed to one of the artists responsible for the†Bible Historiale†also referred to as the Master of the Bible Historiale fr. 159 Paris BnF MS fr. 159.†The female patron who ordered the book appears twice in the miniatures. 224 folios mostly in gatherings of 8 i12 complete pastedowns and two flyleaves at front and back some catchwords written in a dark brown ink†in a gothic liturgical script on 14 long lines by different hands ff. 82-82v and ff. 219v-223v written by a slightly posterior†hand ruled in light red ink justification 62 x 85 mm†rubrics in red both in French and Latin versals in burnished gold on alternating†pink†and blue grounds with pink or blue infill and white tracery line endings pink and blue with burnished goldleaf discs and white tracery infill 2-line initials in pink or blue with white tracery on burnished gold grounds with ivyleaves extending in the margins and infill one 3-line initial at the beginning of†the Hours of the Virgin pink†with white tracery†burnished gold and ivyleaf†infill on a blue ground 3-line initials marking the start of the main texts pink or blue with white tracery on highly burnished gold grounds with ivyleaf infill one 4-line letter I traced in pink and white with ivyleaf infill on a burnished gold ground richly decorated borders with extending baguettes foliate pattern on burnished gold grounds and dense ivyleaves in borders 15 LARGE MINIATURES at†the beginning of the main†texts in excellent condition. Nineteenth-century dark brown morocco binding over pasteboards frame of two gilt fillets on covers smooth spine cropped edges affecting very slightly the border decoration at the top edge never affecting text or illuminations in clamshell box. Dimensions 161 x 116 mm. PROVENANCE: 1. Liturgical use and calendar secure a place of origin in Paris. Probably made for the woman patron who appears kneeling on fol.110 and 185. 2. Isydort Bernardon and Marthe Galberict first front fly-leaf. Second front flyleaf reads as follows: ìIsydort Bernardon Bon Compaion qui esme†Monsieur.îLast word is difficult to read; XVIIth century.††3. Du Buisson and Marchand families eighteenth-century notes on family history and marks of ownership 1716 and 1717 back pastedown and fly-leaves: ìCes presentes heures sont tenues de defunst Charles du Buisont . Seigneur de Lublataris demerant a St Michel.î ; ìCes presentes heures appartiennent a moy Gabriel Marchand. Je prie ceux et celle quy les trouveront de me les rendre. Je les reconpanserÈ sic de leurs payne fait a St Michel le traize jour de fevrier 1716"†signed††Marchand; ìJeanne du Buisson fille de Charles du Buisson a espouzÈ Gabriel Marchand 1717.î The name ìDespanageî with the date 1716 also appears on the first flyleaf. 4. Engraved ex-libris pasted on front pastedown eighteenth-century. ìM. Titon de Villotran conseiller au Parlementî. Jean-Baptiste Titon de Villotran is recorded as a ìconseillerî in the Parlement de Paris see Chesnaye-Desbois and Badier†Dictionnaire de la noblesse vol. 19 Paris 1876. 5. Les Enluminures/ Bruce Ferrini Catalogue 9 Books of Hours 2000 no. 1 hence Private Collection. TEXT: ff. 1-12 Calendar red blue and burnished gold in French with numerous Paris saints such as Genevieve in gold Germain Landri Marcel Cloud; ff. 13-18 Gospel Sequences; ff. 18-18v Various Prayers : ìProtector in teî;†ìEcclesiam tuam quesimusî;†ìOmnipotens sempiterne.î; ff.19-22 Obsecro te; ff. 22v-26 O intemerata; ff. 26v-27 Prayer ìDeus qui noluisti pro redempcione.î; ff. 27-27v Prayer ìCommendo tibi Sancta Maria.î; ff. 27v-28 Prayer ìSignum crucis dominum.î; f. 28v blank; ff. 29-80v Hours of the Virgin use of Paris†Matins f. 29 Lauds f. 39v Prime f. 50 with ant. ìBenedicta tuî and cap. ìFelix namqueî Terce rubric erroneous f. 55bis; Sext f. 59v; None f. 63v with ant. ìSicut liliumî and cap. ìPer te Deiî; Vespers f. 68; Compline f. 75; ff. 80v-81v Suffrage to Sebastian written in a different but contemporary hand ìAnthienne de saint Sebastienî et ìOroison de saint Sebastienî; ff. 82-82v Salve regina different hand slightly posterior; ff. 83-83v blank except for a XVIIth†century inscription on fol. 83 in brown ink that reads :†ìBernardon 1648î; ff. 84-102 Penitential Psalms and†litanies; ff. 102v-105v Short Hours of the Cross; ff. 106-109v Short Hours of the Holy Spirit; ff. 110-115v Fifteen Joys of the Virgin in French; ff. 116-119v Seven Requests to Our Lord in French; ff. 120-184v Office of the Dead use of Paris; ff. 185-204 Suffrages; ff. 204-218 Prayers: ìLa priere Theophilusî: ìGlorieuse vierge royne.î†ff. 204-213v ; ìTres devote oroison†de la sainte trinitÈîff. 213v-217;†ìOmnipotens sempiterne deus qui dedisti†nobis.î ff. 217-218; ff. 218-218v Seven verses of St. Bernard; f. 219 Prayer: ìOmnipotens sempiterne Deus qui Ezechie.î; ff. 219v-221v Prayer for Communion ìTres devote oroyson quant on veult recevoir le corps de nostre seigneur.î Different hand; ff. 221v-224v Prayer upon receiving Communion ìTres devote oroison quant on a receu le corps de nostre seigneurî. ILLUSTRATION: f. 29 Annunciation; f. 39v Visitation; f. 50 Nativity; f. 55bis Annunciation to the Shepherds; f. 59v Adoration of the Magi; f. 63v Presentation in the Temple; f. 68 Flight into Egypt; f. 75 Dormition of the Virgin; f. 84 God in Judgment; f. 102v Crucifixion; f. 106 Pentecost; f. 110 Female donor presented by patron saint John the Baptist kneeling before the Virgin and Child; f. 116 Last Judgment; f. 120 Funeral Mass; f. 185 Donor kneeling before her patron saint John the Baptist. An unrecorded Parisian Book of Hours this manuscript has a sequence of beautifully executed miniatures attributed by FranÃois Avril to one of the artists responsible for the†Bible Historiale†Paris BnF MS fr. 159 a grand manuscript given to Jean Duke of Berry by Raoulet díAuquetonville before 1402. Our Book of Hours was painted for an unidentified female donor depicted twice in the manuscript. Once she kneels in prayer before St. John the Baptist who must be her patron saint f. 185. A second time St. John the Baptist presents her to the Virgin and Child whom she adores in prayer f. 110. Her costume befits a lady of the court and suggests a date around 1400. The paintings corroborate this date. The†Bible Historiale†is regarded as one of the earliest works of an artist surely trained in the Netherlands who appeared in Paris at the beginning of the fifteenth century and cannot be traced after 1405. Bella Martens called him the ìMaster of 1402î and Millard Meiss in 1967 renamed him the Master of the Coronation of the Virgin after a stunning frontispiece of this subject in a manuscript of Jacobus de Voragineís†Golden Legend†of 1402-03 Paris BnF MS fr. 242. In Paris working with collaborators on large projects the Coronation Master was responsible for a sequence of richly illuminated volumes that include the†Fleur des histories de la terre díOrient Paris BnF MS fr. 12201 and Boccaccioís†Des cleres et nobles femmes†Paris BnF MS fr. 12420. Among the related hands in the lavish†Bible Historiale†emerges as a distinctive personality who must have had his own workshop. Working side by side with the Coronation Master the Master of the†Bible Historiale†assimilated his style and our manuscript recalls some of these early works. We suspect that our artist like the Coronation Master originated in the North because of the ìrealismî of the exceptionally fine miniature of the Nativity f. 50 with its hemp floor and wattled fence the tenderness of Joseph seated close to the Virgin Mary and the bare breasts of the reclining Virgin. The finely tessellated diaper backgrounds and the triangular tiled floor that tilts upward both repeatedly used in our Book of Hours also occur in the miniature of the Coronation of the Virgin. In the†Funeral Mass†f. 120 the dark outlines for the expressive faces are comparable to those in†Clerics Singing†in the†Bible Historiale. Likewise the soft features of the Virginís rounded face the crisp modeling in her garment and her slender delicate hands are found in the†Coronation of the Virgin†and elsewhere. Sprinkled with tiny plants the blossom with red blue or white flowers the simple landscapes reappear in the†Bible Historiale.†The rendering of the donors anticipates the treatment of the female heroines in the Boccaccio manuscript. The engaging style of the Master of the†Bible Historiale†like that of Jacquemart de Hesdin and the Master of the Breviary of Jean sans Peur exemplifying a ìrealismî that derives from their northern origins represents a special moment in Parisian illumination one that was short-lived. Art in Paris was to evolve in another direction which the more refined cosmopolitan style of the Boucicaut and Bedford Masters best represent. THIS FULL DESCRIPTION TAKEN FROM THE CATALOG OF THE FIRM LES ENLUMINURES Meiss Millard 300 312 355 II fig. 822;†French Painting in the Timede Berry974 I 383-4 II figs. 458-64 HBS 66569 $350000 1400 hardcover books