The Property of
THE HON. J. WILLIAM MIDDENDORF II
Lots 70-72 were purchased in Lucca in 1838 by the Scottish antiquary James Dennistoun (1803-1855) as part of a larger group of Tuscan manuscript cuttings that were said to come from the Charterhouse of Lucca, i.e. the Carthusian abbey of San Spirito. Although much of Dennistoun's collection was sold after his death (Christie's, 14 June 1855), an album of 105 manuscript cuttings passed to his granddaughter, Mrs. Henley-Henson, wife of the bishop of Durham (A.N.L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Mediaeval Miniatures, 1750-1850, Oxford, 1972, p. 158; John Pope-Hennessy, Learning to Look, New York, 1991, p. 29). In the 1930s she sold the album to Lord Clark, who dismembered portions of it in his lifetime. The remaining miniatures, including the present three, were sold after his death.
MARTINO DI BARTOLOMMEO, artist (?). Christ as the Light of the World, Large historiated initial "N" cut from an antiphonal on vellum. [Tuscany (Lucca?), c. 1400].
Details
MARTINO DI BARTOLOMMEO, artist (?). Christ as the Light of the World, Large historiated initial "N" cut from an antiphonal on vellum. [Tuscany (Lucca?), c. 1400].
217 x 163mm. (8 1/2 x 6 1/4 in.), cut squarely through text and foliate border surrounding the black frame of the initial, burnished gold ground with incised border pattern surrounding the initial in orange and yellow on blue ground with white penwork tracery, Christ depicted three-quarter length in a liquid gold robe, holding an open book with the inscription "Ego sum lux mundi via v[eritas]," below and left portions of a leafy border, on verso text in a large rounded gothic hand "Confite...populus...", square neumes on 4-line red staves, initial in red with blue penwork tracery; border cropped, three pinholes, slight rubbing and flaking, matted and framed.
This unfinished miniature appears to be the work of Martino di Bartolommeo (documented 1389-1434), a Siennese artist active in Lucca in the 1390s, where he illuminated the five surviving volumes of a gradual for the cathedral of Lucca (Siena, Palazzo Pubblico, Il gotica a Siena, Florence, 1982, pp. 308-310, no. 111; Clara Baracchini and Antonio Caleca, Il Duomo di Lucca, Lucca, 1973, figs. 786-815).
Provenance: Charterhouse of Lucca (?) -- James Dennistoun -- inherited by his granddaughter, Mrs. Henley-Henson -- purchased by Lord Clark of Saltwood (his sale, Sotheby's London, 3 July 1984, lot 94) -- J. William Middendorf II.
Laurence Kanter, Lehman Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, has kindly provided the attribution of this miniature.
217 x 163mm. (8 1/2 x 6 1/4 in.), cut squarely through text and foliate border surrounding the black frame of the initial, burnished gold ground with incised border pattern surrounding the initial in orange and yellow on blue ground with white penwork tracery, Christ depicted three-quarter length in a liquid gold robe, holding an open book with the inscription "Ego sum lux mundi via v[eritas]," below and left portions of a leafy border, on verso text in a large rounded gothic hand "Confite...populus...", square neumes on 4-line red staves, initial in red with blue penwork tracery; border cropped, three pinholes, slight rubbing and flaking, matted and framed.
This unfinished miniature appears to be the work of Martino di Bartolommeo (documented 1389-1434), a Siennese artist active in Lucca in the 1390s, where he illuminated the five surviving volumes of a gradual for the cathedral of Lucca (Siena, Palazzo Pubblico, Il gotica a Siena, Florence, 1982, pp. 308-310, no. 111; Clara Baracchini and Antonio Caleca, Il Duomo di Lucca, Lucca, 1973, figs. 786-815).
Provenance: Charterhouse of Lucca (?) -- James Dennistoun -- inherited by his granddaughter, Mrs. Henley-Henson -- purchased by Lord Clark of Saltwood (his sale, Sotheby's London, 3 July 1984, lot 94) -- J. William Middendorf II.
Laurence Kanter, Lehman Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, has kindly provided the attribution of this miniature.