Book of Hours (for use in Rome). In Latin... - Lot 17 - Giquello

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Lot n° 17
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Estimation :
120000 - 150000 EUR
Book of Hours (for use in Rome). In Latin... - Lot 17 - Giquello
Book of Hours (for use in Rome). In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment. France, Paris and Rouen, ca. 1495-1500. With 56 miniatures, including 13 large miniatures and 43 small miniatures by Rouen artists (Robert Boyvin and Jean Serpin) and two Parisian artists, the Master of Robert Gaguin (active in Paris in the last quarter of the 15th century until around 1500) and the Master of the Parisian Entries (active in Paris from 1500 to 1520) [note that two small miniatures are probably painted by the Master of Etienne Poncher]. 116 ff, preceded and followed by a parchment endpaper, without miniature intended for compliments of the Hours of the Virgin [collation: i6, ii6, iii8, iv8, v8, vi8, vii8, viii8, ix6, x8, xi8, xii8, xiii9 (8+1, leaf inserted between ff. 82 and 83; perceptible advertisement), xiv7 (8-1, one leaf missing between ff. 98-99), xv11 (12-1, lacking i, probably a cancelled blank sheet: this quire is copied by a different hand), xvi7 (8-1, lacking viii, certainly a blank sheet)], some horizontal advertisements, calligraphic bastard writing (two modules, one smaller writing), second hand for a quire (ff. 99-109v), text in one column, up to 20 lines per page, ruled in pale red ink (justification: 70 x 95 mm), some passages underlined in red, headings in dark red, endpapers in dark red with liquid gold decoration, initials in dark red (some on blue background) with liquid gold decoration (1- to 2-lines high), some initials painted in blue or mauve with white highlights on gold background with floral motifs (2- to 3-lines high), compartmentalized straight borders on all pages, with two-coloured acanthus leaf decoration, flowers, fruits and small dots in gold, the same borders on four sides of the pages with miniatures except for leaves 22 and 67 with miniatures set in architectural frames in gold with sculptures at the foot in niches, and except for leaves 38 and 80 which have more elaborate borders (Jean Serpin) with flowers au naturel, animals and grotesques on gold backgrounds, with 13 BIG MINIATURES (two compositions (ff. 22 and 67) contain auxiliary scenes at the bottom of the page, which explains the erroneous count of 45 small miniatures on the verso of the first endpaper) and 43 SMALL MINIATURES (24 of which are on the calendar). Hard parchment binding (19th century), smooth spine, decorated with gilt fleurons and fillets, triple framing on the boards of gilt fillets with central gilt iron, gilt edges. Good general condition: let us point out a few stains on the parchment but only in the margins. Miniatures in very good condition. Some rubbing to the binding, stain on the lower cover. Dimensions : 120 x 165 mm. Manuscript with an important cycle of 56 miniatures, a collaborative work between Rouen and Paris, a testimony of the exchanges between the two cities at the end of the 15th century. This manuscript is a collaborative work, between artists from two cities, namely Rouen and Paris : it appears that the manuscript was started in Rouen, then "finished" or "completed" in a quasi-contemporary way in Paris. Most of the manuscript is painted by a Rouen artist, whose identity is known to us, Robert Boyvin (active in Rouen from 1486 to circa 1520 (or later in the 1530s?)). We also note the hand of a second artist, a "vignette maker", i.e. one who specialized in border decoration, Jean Serpin (also active in Rouen around 1500-1520). These Norman artists were therefore responsible for the bulk of the present Hours, notably all the large miniatures for the Gospel pericope according to St John, the Hours of the Virgin, the Penitential Psalms and the Office of the Dead (with the exception of the Dream of Canon Arnoul (fol. 110) and the Great Trinity (fol. 99v) at the beginning of the Suffrages. This highly original book of hours must be seen in the context of the relations between the cities of Rouen and Paris, with, on the one hand, the illuminators in the service of Cardinal d'Amboise - notably Robert Boyvin and Jean Serpin - and, on the other hand, the Parisian artists in the line of the Master of Robert Gaguin, heir to the Master of Jacques de Besançon, and the Master of the Parisian entries in association with the Master of Etienne Poncher. Robert Boyvin is an artist - called "historieur" in the accounts - whose personality and importance for the history of illuminated manuscripts have recently been brought to light (E. Adam, "Retour sur l'oeuvre de Robert Boyvin, enlumineur à Rouen vers 1500", in Peindre à Rouen au XVIe siècle, dir. F. Elsig, 2017, pp. 101-119; see also the pioneering work of Isabelle Delaunay). Robert Boyvin was trained in Rouen, and seems to have been inspired by the models and compositions of earlier Rouen artists, notably the Master of the Echevinage of Rouen. Installed "at the fourth stall on the side of the archbishop's palace in
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