The Property of
A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
COMPARDEL, ÉTIENNE (fl. c. 1640-1692), illuminator. Occupation de l'âme pendant le S. Sacrifice. [France, 17th century].
Details
COMPARDEL, ÉTIENNE (fl. c. 1640-1692), illuminator. Occupation de l'âme pendant le S. Sacrifice. [France, 17th century].
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM AND PAPER, 80 leaves, plus 9 protective tissues bound in, collation not possible because of tight binding, 111 x 78mm. (4 3/8 x 3 1/8in.), each page within a gold frame, written in dark brown ink in an italic hand, titles and 2- or 1- line initials in roman script in gold, red or blue, 9 FULL-PAGE MINIATURES on inserted vellum leaves. Occasional slight foxing or soiling of margins.
BINDING
Nineteenth-century black sharksin, rebacked, each cover ornamented with small gold-colored nailheads forming a border, fleur-de-lys cornerpieces and a monogram of the letters A.L.M. surmounted by a crown, the same device repeated in the two pierced brass clasps, orange silk doublures, gilt edges, in a pink and black patterned silk pouch, in an olive morocco pull-off case by Gruel.
MINIATURES
John the Baptist (f. 6v).
David praying (f. 15v).
Annunciation to the shepherds (f. 18v).
Philip baptising the Ethiopian (f. 27v).
Israelites gathering manna (f. 40v).
Sacrifice of Isaac (f. 51v).
Christ on the road to Emmaus (f. 60v).
Israelites gathering manna (f. 68v).
Pentecost (f. 74v).
Five of the miniatures (ff. 15v, 18v, 27v, 40v, 60v) are signed by Étienne Compardel, who was active in Paris, c. 1670-1692. In addition to this manuscript he is credited with a Recueil d'oiseaux et d'animaux peints sur velin (sale, J.J. DeBure, Paris, 1853, no. 302) a manuscript with landscape paintings, Plans de forêts, bois et buissons...de l'Isle de France, Brie, Perche, Picardie et pays reconquis (cf. Thieme-Becker, 7, 1912), and the frontispiece of a manuscript Plans et figures geométriques des forets royales du department de Touraine, Anjou et Maine (Sotheby's Monaco, 28 February 1987, lot 372). Four miniatures in the present manuscript (ff. 6v, 51v, 68v, 74v) are not by Compardel, but were painted in a similar style by a less skillful hand.
TEXT
Each of 35 short chapters is headed by a phrase identifying a part of the mass; the text of each chapter consists of a short meditation and a brief prayer appropriate to the action of the priest described in the heading.
Provenance
J.J. De Bure, sale, Paris, 1853, no. 60 -- Paul Girardot de Préfonds, bookplate -- unidentified bookplate, three silver skeletons forming a ring on a black ground enclosing the initials H.S. (or H.G.).
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM AND PAPER, 80 leaves, plus 9 protective tissues bound in, collation not possible because of tight binding, 111 x 78mm. (4 3/8 x 3 1/8in.), each page within a gold frame, written in dark brown ink in an italic hand, titles and 2- or 1- line initials in roman script in gold, red or blue, 9 FULL-PAGE MINIATURES on inserted vellum leaves. Occasional slight foxing or soiling of margins.
BINDING
Nineteenth-century black sharksin, rebacked, each cover ornamented with small gold-colored nailheads forming a border, fleur-de-lys cornerpieces and a monogram of the letters A.L.M. surmounted by a crown, the same device repeated in the two pierced brass clasps, orange silk doublures, gilt edges, in a pink and black patterned silk pouch, in an olive morocco pull-off case by Gruel.
MINIATURES
John the Baptist (f. 6v).
David praying (f. 15v).
Annunciation to the shepherds (f. 18v).
Philip baptising the Ethiopian (f. 27v).
Israelites gathering manna (f. 40v).
Sacrifice of Isaac (f. 51v).
Christ on the road to Emmaus (f. 60v).
Israelites gathering manna (f. 68v).
Pentecost (f. 74v).
Five of the miniatures (ff. 15v, 18v, 27v, 40v, 60v) are signed by Étienne Compardel, who was active in Paris, c. 1670-1692. In addition to this manuscript he is credited with a Recueil d'oiseaux et d'animaux peints sur velin (sale, J.J. DeBure, Paris, 1853, no. 302) a manuscript with landscape paintings, Plans de forêts, bois et buissons...de l'Isle de France, Brie, Perche, Picardie et pays reconquis (cf. Thieme-Becker, 7, 1912), and the frontispiece of a manuscript Plans et figures geométriques des forets royales du department de Touraine, Anjou et Maine (Sotheby's Monaco, 28 February 1987, lot 372). Four miniatures in the present manuscript (ff. 6v, 51v, 68v, 74v) are not by Compardel, but were painted in a similar style by a less skillful hand.
TEXT
Each of 35 short chapters is headed by a phrase identifying a part of the mass; the text of each chapter consists of a short meditation and a brief prayer appropriate to the action of the priest described in the heading.
Provenance
J.J. De Bure, sale, Paris, 1853, no. 60 -- Paul Girardot de Préfonds, bookplate -- unidentified bookplate, three silver skeletons forming a ring on a black ground enclosing the initials H.S. (or H.G.).