Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

A great example of abstract Romanesque illumination, now rare on the market, with an initial made of a curled dragon with the head of a bearded man.
 
110 x 62 mm. Partial leaf, trimmed to the outline of the initial "S", the reverse ruled in plummet for one column (of originally two) of 16 lines, written in black ink in an proto-gothic bookhand, first words of each line missing, ONE SIXTEEN-LINE INHABITED INITIAL in burnished gold on grey or blue wash ground, enclosed by a lapis blue border with white dot decoration (minor scratches in the gold leaf and black contour, pasted on card, else in excellent condition).
 
This partial leaf with an inhabited initial ‘S’ comes from a Life of St Leodegarof Autun. The partial text on the reverse reads “in tribus paruis epistolis … Inde turba.” The text has several phrases similar to a printed Vita (Ghesquiere 1787, pp. 89-90), but it appears not to be the same version as BHL 4852 (printed by Bianchi 1972, pp. 729ff.), which begins “Sanctus igitur Leodegarius celsa et nobili Francorum progenie ortus…”, and which would have explained the initial S. It is probably from a variant of the text, perhaps also beginning with “Sanctus.”

The initial stave is made up of a curled dragon’s body in burnished gold with the head of a bearded man in a pointed green hat, his cheeks depicted with red dots, the infill inhabited by a dragon-like creature with an orange body and blue wings, and below, a green monster with legs in orange, both creatures heightened in white on a grey or blue wash ground. A fine example of Romanesque illumination, this opening initial bears similarities with manuscripts produced in both France and England towards the end of the twelfth century. However, the bold, simplistic forms, strong outlines, and palette of orange, green and blues typify the style of illuminators working in central and eastern France (see Lyons, Bibliothèque municipale, MS 411, or W. Cahn, Romanesque Manuscripts, 1996, no. 149).

Provenance
(1) Graupe, Berlin, 1927, lot 13, presumably acquired by:

(2) Arnold J. Mettler (1867-1945) of St-Gall, by descent to his son:

(3) Arnold Mettler (1905-1996), sold by him at Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, 30 November 1948, lot 239, and acquired by:

(4) Cornelius J. Hauck (1893-1967), New York, sold at Christie’s New York, 27 June 2006, lot 92, and acquired by:

(5) Robert McCarthy, London, MS BM 1600.

LITERATURE
The present leaf has been described and published in: Paul Graupe Berlin, 12 December 1927, lot 13; Parke- Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, 29–30 November 1948, lot 239; Christie’s New York, 27 June 2006, lot 92; Peter Kidd, The McCarthy Collection, Vol. III, French Miniatures, London, 2018, no. 8, pp. 38 (with further literature).

We are grateful to Peter Kidd for permission to quote from his catalogue for this entry. Freeman’s | Hindman thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Elliott Adam for their assistance in preparing this sale.