Ian Ehling
Head of Department
Lot 3
PRAYERBOOK IN LATIN AND DUTCH. Illuminated manuscript on vellum Netherlands, between 1508 and 1519.
11 December 2020, 10:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$12,112.50 inc. premium
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PRAYERBOOK IN LATIN AND DUTCH.
Illuminated manuscript on vellum Netherlands, between 1508 and 1519.
140 x 90 mm. i (paper) + 108 vellum + i (paper) leaves. Collation: [1-138]; the first seven quires signed a-g1-4 in lower right corner of first four leaves (partially cropped). Modern penciled foliation in increments of 10 (11, 21, 31, etc.). 16 long lines written in black ink, ff. 3r-56r in French letter bâtarde, ff. 57v-106r in Dutch hybrida script. Quires 1-8 lightly ruled in red, vertical prickings often visible in lower margins; quires 9-13 no visible ruling. Written area: 85 x 55 mm. Rubrics in red; 2-line initials in gold on parti-colored grounds; 4 large illuminated initials, each accompanied by a three-quarter border of flowers, birds, and insects on gold or parti-colored grounds; a similar vignette in the lower margin of each page ff. 3v-58v, a large achievement of arms f. 2r (silver oxidized; slight offset to blank f. 1v), a small gilt tau cross on a blue ground, accompanied by three silver nails (f. 106r, the silver oxidized). Minor staining and loss to lower outer corners of ca. 15 leaves, with no loss to text or illumination, minor losses of pigment to ff. 2r, 106r. 16th century brown calf gilt-tooled center- and cornerpieces.
Content:
f. 2r: achievement of arms
ff. 3r-18v: the Passion according to St. Matthew; ff. 19r-31v: the Passion according to St. Mark; ff. 32r-45r: the Passion according to St Luke; ff. 45v-56r: the Passion according to St. John, all in Latin..
ff. 56v-106r: prayers in Dutch, including one Dat gebet vanden Keyser Maximilian (ff. 100v-104r).
This prayerbook combines two different parts: Latin texts from each of the four Gospels describing the passion of Christ, and an equally long section of prayers in Dutch. Although the two sections differ in language and in the degree of decoration, the Dutch part was clearly planned to accompany the first part and harmonize with it. The illumination, most of which accompanies the first part, is typical of the so-called Ghent-Bruges style commonly associated with manuscript devotional books produced in Flanders in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. This example is particularly notable in that the lower margin of each page includes a single vignette, whose subjects for the most part include flowers, birds, insects, animals, grotesques, and jewels, as well as sacred objects such as books, crosses, and rosaries. The armorial on f. 50v, five crosses in gold on a silver ground, is the coat of arms of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, also used by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and possibly a clue to the patron who commissioned this work. On f. 106r the tau cross is accompanied by invocations in Greek (using Latin letters), Latin, and Dutch. The compilation of the codex as it has come down to us can be dated by the inclusion of the prayer for Maximilian I, who reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519.
140 x 90 mm. i (paper) + 108 vellum + i (paper) leaves. Collation: [1-138]; the first seven quires signed a-g1-4 in lower right corner of first four leaves (partially cropped). Modern penciled foliation in increments of 10 (11, 21, 31, etc.). 16 long lines written in black ink, ff. 3r-56r in French letter bâtarde, ff. 57v-106r in Dutch hybrida script. Quires 1-8 lightly ruled in red, vertical prickings often visible in lower margins; quires 9-13 no visible ruling. Written area: 85 x 55 mm. Rubrics in red; 2-line initials in gold on parti-colored grounds; 4 large illuminated initials, each accompanied by a three-quarter border of flowers, birds, and insects on gold or parti-colored grounds; a similar vignette in the lower margin of each page ff. 3v-58v, a large achievement of arms f. 2r (silver oxidized; slight offset to blank f. 1v), a small gilt tau cross on a blue ground, accompanied by three silver nails (f. 106r, the silver oxidized). Minor staining and loss to lower outer corners of ca. 15 leaves, with no loss to text or illumination, minor losses of pigment to ff. 2r, 106r. 16th century brown calf gilt-tooled center- and cornerpieces.
Content:
f. 2r: achievement of arms
ff. 3r-18v: the Passion according to St. Matthew; ff. 19r-31v: the Passion according to St. Mark; ff. 32r-45r: the Passion according to St Luke; ff. 45v-56r: the Passion according to St. John, all in Latin..
ff. 56v-106r: prayers in Dutch, including one Dat gebet vanden Keyser Maximilian (ff. 100v-104r).
This prayerbook combines two different parts: Latin texts from each of the four Gospels describing the passion of Christ, and an equally long section of prayers in Dutch. Although the two sections differ in language and in the degree of decoration, the Dutch part was clearly planned to accompany the first part and harmonize with it. The illumination, most of which accompanies the first part, is typical of the so-called Ghent-Bruges style commonly associated with manuscript devotional books produced in Flanders in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. This example is particularly notable in that the lower margin of each page includes a single vignette, whose subjects for the most part include flowers, birds, insects, animals, grotesques, and jewels, as well as sacred objects such as books, crosses, and rosaries. The armorial on f. 50v, five crosses in gold on a silver ground, is the coat of arms of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, also used by the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, and possibly a clue to the patron who commissioned this work. On f. 106r the tau cross is accompanied by invocations in Greek (using Latin letters), Latin, and Dutch. The compilation of the codex as it has come down to us can be dated by the inclusion of the prayer for Maximilian I, who reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519.