Maestro delle Rivelazioni di Santa Brigida da Siena
Assumption of the Virgin, historiated initial 'F' on a leaf from a Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Siena, c.1400]
Details
Maestro delle Rivelazioni di Santa Brigida da Siena
Assumption of the Virgin, historiated initial 'F' on a leaf from a Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Siena, c.1400]
A leaf from a luxurious Sienese Missal, illuminated by an accomplished Master trained in the workshop of Lippo Vanni.
360 x 251mm. The historiated initial 'F' opens the prayer 'Famulorum tuorum Domine delictis' from the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) on a leaf from a Missal, extending down the column and across the bottom of the page with a foliate border incorporating a face, 26 lines in two columns, contemporary foliation in red 'cc.xlvii.', rubrics in red, initials alternately in red or blue with penwork flourishing of the contrasting colour, verso with 8 penwork initials. Framed.
Provenance:
The parent manuscript was a sumptuous Sienese production of the turn of the 15th century. Three other sister leaves are known: two in the Ligabue Collection in Italy (see S. Marcon, Frammenti d'Arte: Miniature dalla Collezione Ligabue, 2009, nos 8-9) and another was sold by Jörn Günther Rare Books, Catalogue 8: Fifty Manuscripts and Miniatures, 2006, no 41, pp.132-133.
Illumination:
The illumination is the work of the artist responsible for Missal ms G.III.7 in Siena, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati. He is named after a 1399 two-volume Liber celestis revelationum of Santa Brigida, now Siena, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, mss I.IV.25-26 (see A. Labriola, C. De Benedictis and G. Freuler, La miniatura senese, 1270-1420, 2002, pp.334-335). The artist's slender, delicately rendered figures are firmly rooted in the traditions of the workshop of Lippo Vanni: according to Freuler his hand is partially recognisable in the frescoes of San Leonardo al Lago and San Pietro a Siena; in a Gradual at Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, ms N.1928.117A.C.; and in two Gradual volumes in Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Archivio del Capitolo di San Lorenzo, mss E, F (see G. Freuler, La miniatura senese, 2002, pp.178-180). The present leaf and its sisters are closely linked to the Missal in the Biblioteca degli Intronati in Siena: we see identically delicate figural forms and a bright palette of reds, greens and blues. For a discussion and critical assessment of this refined illuminator see G. Freuler, 'Ancora sulla miniatura senese dei secoli XIII-XV. Postille ad un libro (parte I)', Arte Cristiana, XCVII, no 854, 2009, pp.321-332, esp. pp.326 ff.
Assumption of the Virgin, historiated initial 'F' on a leaf from a Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Siena, c.1400]
A leaf from a luxurious Sienese Missal, illuminated by an accomplished Master trained in the workshop of Lippo Vanni.
360 x 251mm. The historiated initial 'F' opens the prayer 'Famulorum tuorum Domine delictis' from the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) on a leaf from a Missal, extending down the column and across the bottom of the page with a foliate border incorporating a face, 26 lines in two columns, contemporary foliation in red 'cc.xlvii.', rubrics in red, initials alternately in red or blue with penwork flourishing of the contrasting colour, verso with 8 penwork initials. Framed.
Provenance:
The parent manuscript was a sumptuous Sienese production of the turn of the 15th century. Three other sister leaves are known: two in the Ligabue Collection in Italy (see S. Marcon, Frammenti d'Arte: Miniature dalla Collezione Ligabue, 2009, nos 8-9) and another was sold by Jörn Günther Rare Books, Catalogue 8: Fifty Manuscripts and Miniatures, 2006, no 41, pp.132-133.
Illumination:
The illumination is the work of the artist responsible for Missal ms G.III.7 in Siena, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati. He is named after a 1399 two-volume Liber celestis revelationum of Santa Brigida, now Siena, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, mss I.IV.25-26 (see A. Labriola, C. De Benedictis and G. Freuler, La miniatura senese, 1270-1420, 2002, pp.334-335). The artist's slender, delicately rendered figures are firmly rooted in the traditions of the workshop of Lippo Vanni: according to Freuler his hand is partially recognisable in the frescoes of San Leonardo al Lago and San Pietro a Siena; in a Gradual at Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, ms N.1928.117A.C.; and in two Gradual volumes in Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Archivio del Capitolo di San Lorenzo, mss E, F (see G. Freuler, La miniatura senese, 2002, pp.178-180). The present leaf and its sisters are closely linked to the Missal in the Biblioteca degli Intronati in Siena: we see identically delicate figural forms and a bright palette of reds, greens and blues. For a discussion and critical assessment of this refined illuminator see G. Freuler, 'Ancora sulla miniatura senese dei secoli XIII-XV. Postille ad un libro (parte I)', Arte Cristiana, XCVII, no 854, 2009, pp.321-332, esp. pp.326 ff.
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts