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Details
TWO BISHOPS, historiated initials 'K' cut from a choirbook, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Lombardy, c.1490]
a) 89 x 102mm overall. A bust-length figure of a tonsured bishop in a red brocade cope with a gilded border, in a green foliate initial with grey terminals, an infill of blue and an outer ground of burnished gold, to the right the staves of a black calligraphic initial with a profile head, on the verso part of a four-line stave of red and the letters 'son' (slight losses to the gold of the ground).
Mounted and framed with
b) 188 x 108mm overall. A bust-length figure of an aged, tonsured bishop in a green brocade cope with a mosaic-gold border and morse in a pink foliate initial with terminals of green, an infill of blue and an outer background of burnished gold, to the right the stave of a black calligraphic initial with a profile head, part of a four-line stave in red and the letters 'leison', on the verso a smaller historiated initial with the head of a bearded man, parts of two four-line staves of red and music of square notation (slight losses to the gold ground, a few small ink spots on the saint's pate, the lower part of the cutting folded back).
These colourful and decorative initials from the Kyriale of a Gradual show the careful finish, intense and saturated tones and decorative forms that identify the illumination produced in the workshop of Francesco da Castello, a Milanese artist who also worked on manuscripts for King Matthias Corvinus in Budapest. These particular initials are extremely close to some found in the series of choirbooks presented to the Cathedral of Lodi by its bishop, Carlo Pallavicino, in 1495 (Lodi, Civica Biblioteca Laudense Mss lauden. 1-6 and New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, Mss 682-687) and in others made for S. Maria degli Angelo in Busseto.
[Lombardy, c.1490]
a) 89 x 102mm overall. A bust-length figure of a tonsured bishop in a red brocade cope with a gilded border, in a green foliate initial with grey terminals, an infill of blue and an outer ground of burnished gold, to the right the staves of a black calligraphic initial with a profile head, on the verso part of a four-line stave of red and the letters 'son' (slight losses to the gold of the ground).
Mounted and framed with
b) 188 x 108mm overall. A bust-length figure of an aged, tonsured bishop in a green brocade cope with a mosaic-gold border and morse in a pink foliate initial with terminals of green, an infill of blue and an outer background of burnished gold, to the right the stave of a black calligraphic initial with a profile head, part of a four-line stave in red and the letters 'leison', on the verso a smaller historiated initial with the head of a bearded man, parts of two four-line staves of red and music of square notation (slight losses to the gold ground, a few small ink spots on the saint's pate, the lower part of the cutting folded back).
These colourful and decorative initials from the Kyriale of a Gradual show the careful finish, intense and saturated tones and decorative forms that identify the illumination produced in the workshop of Francesco da Castello, a Milanese artist who also worked on manuscripts for King Matthias Corvinus in Budapest. These particular initials are extremely close to some found in the series of choirbooks presented to the Cathedral of Lodi by its bishop, Carlo Pallavicino, in 1495 (Lodi, Civica Biblioteca Laudense Mss lauden. 1-6 and New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, Mss 682-687) and in others made for S. Maria degli Angelo in Busseto.