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Details
SAINT BARBARA, miniature on a cutting from a Lives of the Saints, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Spain, Castile, c.1270]
79 x 60mm. The saint in a blue-grey robe and holding a palm of martyrdom, standing beside a red tower against a blue background.
This miniature is one of a group that survive from an extensively illustrated copy of a text recently identified as an early version of the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Voragine: nine other miniatures and an initial were published by Robert Forrer (1866-1947) of Strasbourg (Unedierte Federzeichnungen, Miniaturen und Initialen, 1902, pp.15-16, pls vi-viii); four cuttings were included in Les Enluminures, catalogues 1 & 3, and one was recently acquired by the Musée de Cluny, Paris.
The strong, confident handling of this attractive illumination is very closely related to that of three Beatus manuscripts, especially the Beatus of San Andres de Arroyo (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, n.a.latin 2290: F. Avril et al, Manuscrits de la Péninsule Ibérique, 1982, pp.65-66, pls xxxv-vi), which is dated to the first quarter of the 13th century. This suggests that these miniatures are a continuation of this style that can be localised to Castile and dated soon after the composition of the earliest version of the Golden Legend around 1261.
[Spain, Castile, c.1270]
79 x 60mm. The saint in a blue-grey robe and holding a palm of martyrdom, standing beside a red tower against a blue background.
This miniature is one of a group that survive from an extensively illustrated copy of a text recently identified as an early version of the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Voragine: nine other miniatures and an initial were published by Robert Forrer (1866-1947) of Strasbourg (Unedierte Federzeichnungen, Miniaturen und Initialen, 1902, pp.15-16, pls vi-viii); four cuttings were included in Les Enluminures, catalogues 1 & 3, and one was recently acquired by the Musée de Cluny, Paris.
The strong, confident handling of this attractive illumination is very closely related to that of three Beatus manuscripts, especially the Beatus of San Andres de Arroyo (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, n.a.latin 2290: F. Avril et al, Manuscrits de la Péninsule Ibérique, 1982, pp.65-66, pls xxxv-vi), which is dated to the first quarter of the 13th century. This suggests that these miniatures are a continuation of this style that can be localised to Castile and dated soon after the composition of the earliest version of the Golden Legend around 1261.