[ENLUMINURE] - Lot 12

[ENLUMINURE] Folio from a book of hours, beginning of the Gospel Pericopes. In Latin, brown ink, gouache and burnished gold on parchment. Saint John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos and his symbol, the eagle. France, Troyes, circa 1460. Some rubbing to the burnished gold nimbus, but overall good condition. Sheet size: 140x187mm Recto: Curved miniature surrounded by illuminated borders with colored acanthus decoration, vine leaves and gilded besants, floral motifs and birds on reserved background; curved miniature surrounded by illuminated borders with colored acanthus decoration, vine leaves and gilded besants, floral motifs and birds on reserved background, large initial in blue with white highlights on gold background and colored vines, 5 lines of text, gothic script; text on recto: beginning of the Evangelical Pericopes, with heading: Inicium sancti evangelii secundum Iohannem gloria tibi domine. Verso: 15 lines of text, Gothic script, illuminated border in outer margin, gilded vine leaves and besants, foliage, colored flowers; burnished gold initials (1 to 2 lines high) on pink and blue backgrounds with white highlights; endpapers in the same style. Verso text: continuation of the beginning of the Gospel according to Saint John. This leaf is taken from the same Book of Hours as a Crucifixion (see lot 13). This beautiful miniature is attributable to a Trojan artist known as the "Master of the Troyes Missal", a prolific artist who has been identified since the work of François Avril (1993 and 2007). The Maître du Missel de Troyes is credited with decorating a magnificent missal for Troyes, copied by scribe Jean Coquet around 1460 (Paris, BnF, lat 865A; see Avril and Reynaud, 1993, no. 97, pp. 182-183). It is notably characterized by the treatment of lunar faces with highly shaded complexions, deep, dark blue starry skies, illuminated by broad-beamed zenithal light. We admire the realistic details, the modelling of flesh and the treatment of trees and bright green vegetation. Also typical of this artist are the fine treatment of rocky massifs and the mostly nocturnal scenes, with a taste for starry skies, as in the present miniature. A small group of manuscripts by this same artist are known, including Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 117, Missel de Saint-Jean-au-Marché; Paris, BnF, lat. 11972-11974, Postilles de Nicolas de Lyre; Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 3897, Heures à l'usage de Troyes, acquired by the Médiathèque de Troyes (Christie's, November 19, 2003, lot 22) (see Avril et Reynaud, 1993, pp. 181-184, with a more extensive list of manuscripts by the Master of the Troyes Missal: Paris, BnF, latin 10471, latin 13273; Marseille, BM, MS. 112; Nancy, BM, MS. 36; Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, 2007, p. 78 and pp. 126-134; see also the list provided by Plummer, 1982, p. 60, no. 79). Although the Master of the Troyes Missal was indeed active in Troyes in Champagne, he also worked for patrons and sponsors in the Franche-Comté region. It appears that the artist spent periods of time, and even a second part of his career, in Franche-Comté (Besançon?), where he seems to have worked for Comtois patrons such as Charles de Neuchâtel, Archbishop of Besançon (see his superb Missel, Auckland, Auckland City Librairies, Special Collections, Med. MSS G). Another Book of Hours is preserved in New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M 28. On the Missal Master of Troyes, see the notes devoted to him in Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, Très riches heures de Champagne. L'enluminure en Champagne à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris, 2007, cat. 21A, 21 B and 22; see also Avril and Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peinture 1440-1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 182-184.