Illuminated Manuscript Large Initial (7 results)

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Brightly painted initial "E" cut from a Spanish antiphonal (c. 1500) on parchment. Initial painted in gold & red on a beautifully decorated violet background framed in gold.A little flecking at border, otherwise fine. Initial is framed in a lovely gold frame with custom matting and UV protected glass. Frame Size: 10x12 inches (255x305 mm) Cutting: 3.75x4.5 inches (113x93 mm).

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Large initial "D" cut from a Spanish antiphonal (c. 1500) richly painted on parchment. Initial painted in shades of brown on a decorated purple background. Framed in a lovely gold frame with custom matting and UV protected glass. A few spots of flaking and a hint of rippling; colors strong and dark. Frame Size: 10x12 inches (255x305mm); Cutting: 3.5x5 inches (90x130mm).

Condition: Very Good. Measures roughly: 9cm x 10.5cm. Decorated initial 'A'. Cutting from an illuminated manuscript on vellum, in Latin. Possibly from a large antiphonal. (Spanish? circa 15th c.). Image upon request.

Illuminated with a large initial ?F? the height of two lines of text and music with extensions forming foliate borders, depicting the winged archangel Michael holding a staff and a pair of scales, the recto with two one-line initials alternately blue with red penwork or red with mauve penwork, and an 18th(?)-century folio number ?162? in red. Single leaf, c. 535 × 370 mm, ruled for five four-line red staves and square musical notation, and five lines of text written in rounded gothic textura script, with rubrics in red.   Text and illumination The initial introduces the text for the feast of St Michael: ?Factum est silentium in celo dum committeret bellum draco cum Michaele archangelo ?? (There was silence in heaven while the dragon waged war with the archangel Michael ?). The main feast-day of St Michael is 29 September; throughout the Middle Ages it was (and in some contexts still is) treated as one of the main divisions of the year into four parts: the oldest universities (Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, etc.) start their academic year with Michaelmas Term, as does the legal profession in the UK and Ireland.   St Michael is usually depicted in art in one of two guises: either battling a dragon (representing Satan), as described in Revelation 12:7?12; or else, as in the present example, with a pair of scales with which to weigh souls, to decide which would go to heaven and which to hell.    The style is close to that of to Giovanni di Antonio da Bologna, and our initial may be by him; see Massimo Medica in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: secoli IX?XVI, ed. by Milvia Bollati (Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004), pp. 283?85, with older bibliography. More recent is Maria Ferroni, ?Primi appunti per i corali quattrocenteschi di San Michele in Bosco a Bologna?, Rivista di storia della miniatura, 18 (2014), pp. 105?17, and Milvia Bollati, ?Noterella per Giovanni di Antonio da Bologna?, Arte a Bologna: Bollettino dei Musei Civici d?Arte Antica, 9?10, Studi in onore di Massimo Medica, ed. by Silvia Battistini and Mark Gregory D?Apuzzo (2024), pp. 330?33.     Condition: some flaking of ink, and some smudging of pigments, notably the red of Michael?s cloak, and some flaking of the gold surrounding the initial.

Illuminated initial ?U? depicting the Virgin Mary on her deathbed, with two candles in the foreground, the haloed heads of the apostles in the background, above whom Christ rises in a radiant mandorla holding her soul, represented as a swaddled infant. Single leaf, c. 580 x 395mm, ruled for five four-line staves ruled in red, with square musical notation, and five lines of text written in a fine rounded gothic textura script, one rubric in red, the recto with 17th(?)-century folio number ?176?.  Text and illumination: The rubric reads ?In laudib[us] et p[er] hor[um]. A[ntiphona]? (the antiphon for Lauds and [the following] hours) and the initial introduces the text ?Viri Galilei quid aspiciatis in celum ?? (Acts 1:11, ?Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven??).     According to medieval Eastern tradition, the Virgin Mary did not die, she fell asleep and was assumed (raised) to heaven, so the iconography of her final hour is usually called her ?Dormition? rather than death, but the corresponding feast-day in western Europe is usually called the ?Assumption? Surprisingly, the artist of the present leaf has made a mistake. This text does not belong to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, but the Ascension of Christ (when he ascended into heaven, forty days after the Resurrection).     The style of illumination is Venetian, heavily influenced by Byzantine art ? especially in the use of green to model the shadows of the figures? faces ? due to Venice?s role as the main trading port with Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople). Specifically the style is shared with a group of manuscripts produced in Venice in the 1360s?80s; they are attributed to Giustino di Gheradino da Forlì, whose name occurs in a Gradual dated 1365 made for the Scuola Grande di Sant Maria della Carità, Venice. It is not certain whether Giustino was the artist, however, or if the name perhaps refers to the scribe. Nonetheless, until the issue can be more thoroughly investigated, Giustino has been accepted as a name of convenience for the group. On the style and works attributed to Giustino see Susy Marcon, in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: secoli IX?XVI, ed. by Milvia Bollati (Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004), pp. 315?16, with further bibliography, and Andrew Chen, 'Giustino di Gherardino da Forlì and the Antiphoners of Pavia Cathedral', Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 59 (2017): 409?19.   Condition: Slight darkening at the extremities, slight rubbing to the gold, but generally in a fine state of preservation.

Illuminated with a large initial ?P? the height of two lines of text and music with a stem extending the full height of the text, depicting a half-length prophet, his head turned towards and viewer and with one hand raised towards heavenly rays, the recto with a one-line initial in blue with dense red penwork ornament and an 18th(?)-century folio number ?42? in red. Single leaf, c. 535 × 370 mm, ruled for five four-line red staves and square musical notation, and five lines of text written in rounded gothic textura script, with rubrics in red.    Text and illumination: The initial on the verso of the leaf introduces a passage from Tobit 3:15, set to music: ?Peto domine ut de vinculo improperii huius absolvas me ?? (I ask you Lord, in order that you absolve me from the fetter of this burden ?); the recto has the preceding antiphon ?Ne reminiscaris domine delicta mea vel parentum meorum ?? (Do not remember, Lord, my misdeeds or those of my parents ?), introduced by a rubric ?Sabbato .iiij. dominice mensis Septembris. Ad matutinas. Antiphona.? (i.e. the Matins antiphon for the Saturday of the 4th Sunday of September).  About half of the Church year has feasts that relate to the birth (Christmas) and death (Easter) of Jesus: from the beginning of Advent (four Sundays before Christmas), until Pentecost (seven Sundays after Easter). The rest of the year, from Pentecost until the following Advent, typically comprises twenty to twenty-four more weeks (depending on whether Easter in a particular year falls late or early); the liturgical texts for this period are known as the ?Summer histories?, and are drawn from the Old Testament books of Kings, Wisdom, Job, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra, and Maccabees. From late September the readings are from the Old Testament book of the prophet Tobit, as on the present leaf, which explains why he is depicted in the present initial.     The figure is depicted in an active stance, as if turning his head away from the bright rays that shine down from heaven, and raising one hand, either in surprise or to shield his eyes. His draperies are modelled with a fairly loose brushwork, contrasting with the precise delineation of his features, with the joints of his fingers and the creases in his forehead and around his eyes drawn with crisp black lines. The palette consists primarily of a pink modelled with white and grey for the flesh; green with darker green shadows and yellow highlights, and pale rose with white highlights for the draperies; and a block of bright orange for the headgear; all set off against a clear unmodulated bright blue background enlivened with intricate white ornament.     The style is close to that of to Giovanni di Antonio da Bologna, and our initial may be by him; see Massimo Medica in Dizionario biografico dei miniatori italiani: secoli IX?XVI, ed. by Milvia Bollati (Sylvestre Bonnard, 2004), pp. 283?85, with older bibliography. More recent is Maria Ferroni, ?Primi appunti per i corali quattrocenteschi di San Michele in Bosco a Bologna?, Rivista di storia della miniatura, 18 (2014), pp. 105?17, and Milvia Bollati, ?Noterella per Giovanni di Antonio da Bologna?, Arte a Bologna: Bollettino dei Musei Civici d?Arte Antica, 9?10, Studi in onore di Massimo Medica, ed. by Silvia Battistini and Mark Gregory D?Apuzzo (2024), pp. 330?33.   Condition: an expertly repaired tear in the upper margin (not affecting the text or decoration), a medieval repair to the irregular edge of the lower margin, some flaking and smudging of the ink, but the initial itself in remarkably good condition.

No Binding. Condition: Very Good. A manuscript leaf from a late 15th century illuminated Book of Hours, produced in France. The leaf in written in Latin, and in brown ink using a gothic script. There are four one-line initials against red and blue backgrounds, and a two-line Historiated Initial featuring an unknown figure. There is also an elaborate diagonal bar border with compressed acanthus leaves and other stylized foliage, accented with liquid gold. This leaf contains excerpts from Psalms 122 123, part of Sext from the Hours of the Virgin. This leaf bears the provenance of having been sold by Maggs Bros in 1962, later ending up in the Marvin L. Colker Collection, and finally a private California collection. Some companion leaves from the same manuscript were dispersed in the Maggs Brothers sale (1962), but their current locations are unknown. A sister leaf is illustrated (Plate II) in Lister s The Miniature Defined (Cambridge, 1963). Another leaf was also recently sold at Galerie Bassenge in Paris in Auktion 123, Lot, on 17 April 2024. This manuscript is written in a 15-line format. One illuminated manuscript on vellum, 12.8 x 10.7 cm This manuscript is in very good shape, with some of the text having faded, but the illumination remaining bright and shining.