Western Manuscripts and Miniatures

Made for a patron living in Bayeux, this complete manuscript offers an example of manuscript illumination from an intriguing artist working in the close circle of the influential Master of the Rouen Échevinage.

160 x 105 mm, ii (modern paper) + 120 + ii (modern paper), foliated in pencil in a modern hand in top outer corner, complete (collation: ii6, iii-xvi8), ruled in red for one column of 15 lines (written space: 95 x 65 mm), written in black ink in a late gothic bookhand, capitals touched with yellow, rubrics in red, one-line initials in liquid gold on alternately red, blue, and brown ground, highlighted with silver, line-fillers in same, two-line initials in same, four-line initials in blue on liquid gold and red ground, in-filled with colored flowers, with white tracery, accompanied with a one-sided floral border of acanthus sprouts, colored flowers, and vine leaves framed with red on two sides, FIVE LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURES, accompanied with a four-line illuminated initial of the same, and with a full compartmented border of flowers, acanthus sprouts, and hybrids, on alternately blank and liquid gold ground, framed with red (occasional fading, losses, and transfers of pigments in the borders of the miniatures, silver oxidized throughout, occasional stains, else in good condition). Bound in a twentieth-century blind-stamped light brown morocco over pasteboards, elegant floral tooling on the boards, spine with four raised bands with title piece “Horae” (excellent condition).

Provenance:
(1) This manuscript was most likely illuminated in Rouen for a patron living in Bayeux, as indicated by the liturgical use of the manuscript. This is further supported by the calendar, which mentions local feasts typical of Bayeux such as St. Ragnebertus, 16 May, Relics of Bayeux, 1 July, St. Exuperius, 14 July, St. Ravennus and Rasiphus, 23 July.
 
(2) Bought from “Leonardi” on 6 June 1921 by W. M. Fraser, as described by a twentieth-century note in English, pasted on the second paper flyleaf.
 
(3) Scott Schwartz, New York, his MS 9, according to his book label on the front pastedown.

Text
ff. 1-12, Calendar; ff. 19-66, Hours of the Virgin (use of Bayeux), with Lauds, f. 29v, Matins of the Cross, f. 40, Matins of the Holy Spirit, f. 41, Prime of the Virgin, f. 42v, Terce, f. 47v, Sext, f. 51v, None, f. 54v, Vespers, Compline; f. 66v, blank, ruled; ff. 67-79, Penitential Psalms; ff. 79-84, Litany; ff. 84v-118, Office of the Dead; ff. 118v-120, Suffrages, with St. James, St. Barbara, St. Nicholas, and St. Mary Magdalena.

Illumination
This complete manuscript is an intriguing case in late fifteenth-century manuscript illumination in Normandy. The five large miniatures stand out by the exquisite draftsmanship of the facial features of the figures, which succeeds in conveying a range of emotions to the viewer. The subtle modelling and shading of the flesh appear to be closely related to the faces painted by the Master of the Rouen Échevinage in several of his manuscripts. Compare, for example, the face of King David with the giant Nimrod in a volume of Jean de Coucy's Boucquechardière (Chantilly, Musée Condé, MS 728), or the faces in illuminations of this Book of Hours with those of Pierre Choisnet's Livre des trois âges, illuminated around 1480 (Paris, BnF, MS Smith-Lesouëf 70).

However, the five large miniatures do not rely on the common models used in this Rouen workshop. Moreover, the surprising absence of depth in the spatial setting of these characters creates a vivid contrast, which may suggest that the grounds had been prepared by a workshop assistant, with the master contributing only the faces. The latter was likely active in the close vicinity of the Master of the Rouen Échevinage, the leading and most influential illuminator active in Rouen in the second half of the fifteenth century.

In this context, this Book of Hours also stands out for its exceptional depiction of Death Rising from the Tomb at the beginning of the Office of the Dead. A transi emerges from a dark marble tomb, standing out with a frightening grimace, and opening his arm to introduce the beholder to the grave. Such images intended to urge the living to apply moral rectitude in their conduct, at the benefit of their own salvation. The striking theme was invented by Barthélemy d’Eyck for René of Anjou, but remained rare beyond the Loire Valley. While the original version is lost, it provided the model for its inclusion by the Master of Charles de France in a Book of Hours illuminated c. 1455-60 (Paris, BnF, MS nouv. acq. lat. 3191). In introducing this unusual theme in Rouen, the anonymous illuminator of the present manuscript might have relied on the benefits of an initial training in the Loire Valley, which may account for the softness of his modelling and his strange predilection for red hair.

The subjects of the miniatures are: f. 19, Annunciation; f. 40, Crucifixion; f. 41v, Nativity; f. 67, David in Prayer; f. 84v, Death Rising from the Tomb.
 
LITERATURE
Further literature, see: Claudia Rabel, “Artiste et clientèle à la fin du Moyen Âge: les manuscrits profanes du Maître de l’échevinage de Rouen,” Revue de l’Art 84 (1989), pp. 48-60; François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440-1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 169-172; Rose-Marie Ferré, “Le Roi Mort: un image édifiante de la mort de soi,” Splendeur de l’enluminure: le roi René et les livres, ed. M.-E. Gautier, Angers, 2009, pp. 190-197.

Freeman’s | Hindman thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Elliott Adam for their assistance in preparing this sale.