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![BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [Paris, c.1460]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01584_0014_002(book_of_hours_use_of_paris_in_latin_and_french_illuminated_manuscript045439).jpg?w=1)
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Details
BOOK OF HOURS, use of Paris, in Latin and French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, [Paris, c.1460]
173 x 122mm. ii + 190 + ii leaves, missing leaves but collation impractical, foliation in an ?18th-century hand followed here, ruled space: 88 x 57mm. THIRTEEN QUARTER-PAGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with full borders, panel borders on every page (lacking at least 8 leaves, likely 2 with miniatures, wear or repainting to all the miniatures, some soiling throughout, scattered holes or cuts to the folios). 19th-century straight-grained morocco gilt, large white metal clasp (light wear to edges and gilding).
PROVENANCE:
(1) CHARLES PASQUOI, seemingly a royal usher at the French court: his ownership inscription added in 1655. (2) 18th-century French bookplate, designed by François Huot, with name erased 'F—'. (3) ?RICHARD BRIGHT (1789–1858): the manuscript formed part of the Wills Collection, apparently associated with Guy's Hospital. (4) ALLAN HEYWOOD BRIGHT: ownership inscription, 1895.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel extracts ff.13-17v; Obsecro te in the masculine lacking one leaf ff.18-20; O Intemerata ff.21v-25; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris, lacking five leaves ff.26-93v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.94-111v; Hours of the Cross lacking opening, likely with a miniature ff.113-118v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.119-124v; Office of the Dead ff.125-168v; Joys of the Virgin lacking opening, likely with a miniature ff.169-173; Requests to our Lord ff.173v-176; Theophilus’ prayer to the Virgin in rhyming French ff.177-184v; Suffrages ff.185-192; ruled blanks with later additions comprising psalms and an index ff.193-196.
ILLUMINATION:
The familiar stylistic tropes evident from the earliest works of the Master of Jean Rolin II (fl.1445-65) are present here. Known for a missal produced for the cardinal-bishop of Autun, Jean Rolin (Lyon, Bib. Mun., MS. 517), his illumination was positioned upon a cusp, poised between the elegant stylisations of the previous generation and the more naturalistic style that would come to dominate Parisian illumination. The luminous palette, contrasted with rich blues and browns, and the stocky figures – the men with expressive brown eyes and forked beards and the women with smooth ropes of hair hanging down their shoulders – are particularly notable, as is the intricately detailed rendition of architecture. The miniatures, and borders, are close to the Hours of Guillaume Rolin (Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Rasn. Q.v.I,9) – the figures with a convincing presence despite their slight rigidity.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: the Evangelists in a quadripartite format f.13; Annunciation f.26; Visitation f.50; Nativity f.61; Adoration of Shepherds f.66v; Adoration of Magi f.71; Presentation in the Temple f.78; Flight into Egypt f.82; Coronation of the Virgin f.88v; David in Prayer f.94; Pentecost f.119; Funeral mass f.125; Holy Trinity f.173v.
173 x 122mm. ii + 190 + ii leaves, missing leaves but collation impractical, foliation in an ?18th-century hand followed here, ruled space: 88 x 57mm. THIRTEEN QUARTER-PAGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES with full borders, panel borders on every page (lacking at least 8 leaves, likely 2 with miniatures, wear or repainting to all the miniatures, some soiling throughout, scattered holes or cuts to the folios). 19th-century straight-grained morocco gilt, large white metal clasp (light wear to edges and gilding).
PROVENANCE:
(1) CHARLES PASQUOI, seemingly a royal usher at the French court: his ownership inscription added in 1655. (2) 18th-century French bookplate, designed by François Huot, with name erased 'F—'. (3) ?RICHARD BRIGHT (1789–1858): the manuscript formed part of the Wills Collection, apparently associated with Guy's Hospital. (4) ALLAN HEYWOOD BRIGHT: ownership inscription, 1895.
CONTENT:
Calendar ff.1-12; Gospel extracts ff.13-17v; Obsecro te in the masculine lacking one leaf ff.18-20; O Intemerata ff.21v-25; Office of the Virgin, use of Paris, lacking five leaves ff.26-93v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.94-111v; Hours of the Cross lacking opening, likely with a miniature ff.113-118v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.119-124v; Office of the Dead ff.125-168v; Joys of the Virgin lacking opening, likely with a miniature ff.169-173; Requests to our Lord ff.173v-176; Theophilus’ prayer to the Virgin in rhyming French ff.177-184v; Suffrages ff.185-192; ruled blanks with later additions comprising psalms and an index ff.193-196.
ILLUMINATION:
The familiar stylistic tropes evident from the earliest works of the Master of Jean Rolin II (fl.1445-65) are present here. Known for a missal produced for the cardinal-bishop of Autun, Jean Rolin (Lyon, Bib. Mun., MS. 517), his illumination was positioned upon a cusp, poised between the elegant stylisations of the previous generation and the more naturalistic style that would come to dominate Parisian illumination. The luminous palette, contrasted with rich blues and browns, and the stocky figures – the men with expressive brown eyes and forked beards and the women with smooth ropes of hair hanging down their shoulders – are particularly notable, as is the intricately detailed rendition of architecture. The miniatures, and borders, are close to the Hours of Guillaume Rolin (Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Rasn. Q.v.I,9) – the figures with a convincing presence despite their slight rigidity.
The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: the Evangelists in a quadripartite format f.13; Annunciation f.26; Visitation f.50; Nativity f.61; Adoration of Shepherds f.66v; Adoration of Magi f.71; Presentation in the Temple f.78; Flight into Egypt f.82; Coronation of the Virgin f.88v; David in Prayer f.94; Pentecost f.119; Funeral mass f.125; Holy Trinity f.173v.
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