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“Ego frater Augustinus (...) promitto (...) perpetuam continentiam (...)”. Ms. vows of chastity,
poverty and obedience by an Augustinian monk. Inscribed in a nice handcol. border of flowers,
leaves and burning hearts.
~ With 12 splendid large miniatures and 35 smaller ones ~
859 [Book of Hours - Flanders]
-
Horae
, Use of Rome. [Flanders (most probably Ghent), c. 1480-
1490], Latin illuminated manuscript on vellum, c. 19 x 13,5 cm, vellum over wood, a rubricated leaf
of an early liturgical music manuscript (14th c.), flat spine, a.e.g.; in morocco box with gilt titled flat
spine, 169 ff. (perhaps 1 miniature lacking between ff. 92-93; mod. pencil foliation), 17 ll. (writing
area c. 11,3 x 7 cm), written in brown ink in a textualis. Very large margins. In excellent state of
preservation.
Cfr. ill.
€ 100000/120000
Beautiful Book of Hours, perhaps related to the Master of the Ariana 1 (Geneva) on account
of the painted faces, with Ghent border decoration and miniatures in very fine landscapes
. To
the best of our knowledge, has never been on the market before.
Text:
Calendar (ff. 1r-12v) with
i.a. Eligius, Benedictus (in July), Egidius, Remigius and Bavo (1 October, in red), Machutus (15
November), Donatianus (14 October, in red), Martinus, Thomas Cantuariensis, and, later added,
“Anthoni”, Anna, Benedictus (in August); Hours of the Holy Cross (ff. 14r-20v); Hours of the Holy
Spirit (ff. 22r-25v); Mass of the Holy Virgin (ff. 27r-31v); beginning of the Gospel of John (32r-35v);
Hours of the Virgin and Salve Regina (ff. 38r-97v): “Oracio de domina nostra” (ff. 98r-101r, 2
ll. erased on f. 101r); “Oracio de sanctis” (ff. 101v-108r); Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany
(ff. 111r-129r); Office of the Dead and Prayers (ff. 131r-169r), i.a. prayers to Bavo and Livinus
(Ghent), Adrianus (Geraardsbergen), Judocus; blanks: 13r, 21r, 26r, 36v-37r, 53v-54r, 65r, 70r, 74r,
80r, 85r, 92v-93r, 108v-110r, 129v-130r.
Decoration
: rubricated throughout; nice initials with penwork. The
24 border decorations, on
a very nice warmly coloured background
, with acanthus leaves, contain small vegetative and
animate motifs, including apes, squirrels, butterflies, snails, birds, flowers and fruit
– typical of the
Flemish School
.
Illumination
:
12 full-page miniatures in full borders
(borders continued on facing page).
Subjects: Crucifixion (13v) within a landscape and with religious buildings in the background,
Pentecost (21v) under a porch, Holy Family in a garden (26v), Annunciation (f. 37v) with books
on a shelf, and, in the margin, a
female patron (?) praying with a Book of Hours
, Visitation (54v),
Nativity (65v), Annunciation to Shepherds (70v), Adoration of the Magi (75v), Presentation at the
Temple (80v), Massacre of the Innocents (85v), by a different artist (?), and with a facing banderole
“sotons de port” (???), David Penitent (110v), in a beautiful landscape; The Three Living and The
Three Dead (130v) with in margin banderoles with “Penser y doy” and “Helas penser y doy”, and
in facing border “nul ne set leure”. -
35 smaller miniatures
:
24 calendar illustrations with Zodiac
signs and the month’s professions, a Pietà, and 10 saints
: John the Baptist, Adrian, Judocus,
Nicholas, Francis, Catharine, Barbara, Mary Magdalene, Margaret, Elizabeth of Hungary.
Provenance
: unidentified arms on f. 37v “d’azur au croissant d’argent, accompagné de trois étoiles
d’or, au lambel de sinople; d’argent au chevron de gueules, accompagné de trois étoiles du même”;
with device “CONS…DA” on a woodcutter’s saw in the margin; on 26 October addition to Calendar
“obijt henricus zoete A° 1590” (a Henricus Zoete was official receiver of the City of Ghent in 1578).
860 [Book of Hours - France]
-
Fragment of a Book of Hours or prayerbook
, in French and Latin.
[France, 15th c.], vellum, c. 17 x 12 cm, 6 ff., written in black/brown ink in ruled writing area, c. 9
x 6 cm. In good condition.
€ 200/300
Text
: ff. 1r-4v “les vij. requestes”, in French; ff. 4v-5v “ymne du benoit saint esprit”, in Latin