Libro D'ore All'uso di Tours

relativa al Maestro di Claudia di Francia.Soggetti delle miniature:1. Folio 27r: Annunciazione, 146 x 103 mm (miniatura interna 83 x 63 mm). 2. Folio 38r: Visita di Maria a Elisabetta, 148 x 98 mm (miniatura interna 84 x 62 mm).3. Folio 48r: sola bordura; margine inferiore: 48 x 102 mm; margine esterno: 110 x 10 mm. 4. Folio 49v: Discesa dello Spirito Santo, 83 x 63 mm. 5. Folio 50v: Natività, 83 x 64 mm. 6. Folio 56v: Annunciazioni ai pastori, 82 x 63 mm. 7. Folio 60v: Adorazione dei Magi, 85 x 64 mm. 8. Folio 64v: Circoncisione di Gesù, 85 x 64 mm. 9. Folio 68v: Fuga in Egitto, 84 x 64 mm. 10. Folio 75r: Incoronazione della Vergine, 85 x 63 mm. 11. Folio 79r: re David e l'angelo con le tre frecce, simbolo delle tre punizioni, 84 x 66 mm. 12. Folio 96v: resurrezione di Lazzaro, 85 x 62 mm. Note:*Il sito Mandragora.bnf.fr riproduce per intero le Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne (Latin 9474), il sito gallica.bnf.fr le Heures de Charles VIII (Latin 1370).Bibliografia:Roger S. Wieck, Miracles in Miniature: The Art of the Master of Claude de France (Morgan Library, 2014)F. Avril, N. Reynaud, D, Cordellier, Les Enluminures du Louvre: Moyen Age et Renaissance (Louvre-Hazan, 2012)Si ringrazia Roger S. Wieck, curatore e responsabile del dipartimento di manoscritti medioevali e rinascimentali della Morgan Library di New York per aver attribuito le tre bordure al Maestro di Claudia di Francia.Text on one column of 16 lines, written in dark brown ink in a lettre bâtarde, with the names of the sections and a few saints in the Calendar in red ink. Numerous initials one to 2-lines high, painted in gold on blue or red grounds, numerous one-line decorative bands in gold on red grounds. ELEVEN FULL-PAGE MINIATURES with characters in a neutral colour with shadings and with white lead highlights, their complexion with details in pink, on blue backgrounds and with halos and rays of light in gold, and THREE LARGE FLORAL BORDERS IN COLOUR (white, red, green, blue, yellow, pink and crimson) on gold grounds, containing butterflies, caterpillars, a dragonfly, a fly and a ladybird. Presumably contemporary arms illuminated in colour on f. 26v. (In the miniature of the Annunciation the handwriting on the verso of the leaf can be seen through the vellum, particularly in correspondence with the characters; this also happens in a couple of other miniatures, but in a less evident way; two borders have small scratchings at their corners). End of the 19th century French binding signed "Fauconnier", red morocco richly decorated in gilt and with metal clasps, marbled endpapers, gilt edges, silk bookmark. Slipcase lined with red fabric. The codex is loose from its binding, which has a couple of minor faults inside, but is perfect outside. UNUSUAL AND EXQUISITE BOOK OF HOURS ILLUMINATED IN THE STYLE OF JEAN BOURDICHON AND BY THE MASTER OF CLAUDE OF FRANCEPROVENANCE: The manuscript was written and illuminated in Tours for the use of that town, as the incipits of the various sections demonstrate. As a further proof, the Calendar lists in red ink the translation of the body of Saint Martin, bishop of Tours, on 4 July and 11 November, and also lists Saint Gregory of Tours (7 November) and Saint Gatian of Tours (18 December). They all appear in the Litany as well. Unidentified arms, presumably contemporary, illuminated on f. 26v, enclosed within a wreath decorated with red ribbons.TEXT: Calendar, ff. 1-12v; Passion narrative according to John, ff. 13r-23r; Gospel extracts, ff. 23v-25r; 2 pages with invocations in French, ff. 25v-26r; Hours of the Virgin, use of Tours, ff. 27r-78v, interspersed with the Hours of the Holy Spirit (ff. 49v-56r); Penitential Psalms, ff. 79r-90r; Litany, ff. 90v-96r; Office of the Dead, use of Tours, ff. 96v-123v.ILLUMINATION: The illumination is the work of two artists, both followers of Jean Bourdichon. One of them has been identified as the Master of Claude de France.Jean Bourdichon (ca. 1457 – 1521) was active in Tours between ca. 1480 and the year of his death. During this 40-year career, he was a celebrated court painter and illuminator for four French kings: Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis I. His masterpiece, the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany of 1508, now held at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Ms. Lat. 9474*), is one of the most famous French illuminated manuscripts and it also the only work that has been certainly attributed to him. Bourdichon was the pupil of Jean Fouquet (ca. 1420 – 1481) and of the Master of the Munich Boccaccio, from whom he takes several stylistic elements. As an illuminator, he favours gold and blue and in his devotional images he portrays characters with their eyes mercifully turned to the sky. Both features appear in the present book of hours, where the blue of the grounds and the gold of halos and ray of lights are the main colours along with the neutral hue of the characters. Two of them have their eyes mercifully turned to the sky: the shepherd on the right in the miniature on f. 56v and King David on f. 79r. In particular, the face of the shepherd looks very similar to that of a character portrayed on f. 61v of the Hours of Charles VIII held at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Ms. Lat. 1370*), attributed to Bourdichon. This manuscript also shares with the present book of hours an unusual and fascinating feature: the characters are drawn on vellum with fine shadings and with white lead highlights so that they have a neutral hue and look like marble statues. The neutral hue is revived with pale touches in pink that embellish lips, cheeks and sometimes the hands of the characters.Faces, eyes, lips, draperies are executed with extraordinary precision and lightness, typical of a refined artist who was also capable of rendering his characters’ expressiveness, such as the amiability that permeates the Visitation and the gentleness that always emanate from the visage of the Virgin Mary. The miniatures that represent the Adoration of the Magi and the Coronation of the Virgin are particularly beautiful. In the latter, the Virgin shines with fine gilt rays. These also surround the angel who hovers on King David, who wears a finely chiselled armour. The first two miniatures – the Annunciation (f. 27r) and the Visitation (f. 38r) – are framed with floral borders in colour that were almost certainly painted by the Master of Claude of France, together with a third border on f. 48r. The work of this artist, who is chiefly known for the two tiny prayer books that he made for Queen Claude (1499 – 1524), first wife of Francis I, is enchanting and rare. He was an apprentice of Bourdichon from circa 1498 to 1508, and then he was active in Tours until circa 1520. The realistic style of the borders, which portray flowers and insects with botanical precision, is reminiscent of pages in the already mentioned Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany by Bourdichon, where, on f. 54v and f. 27v, can be found the strawberry plant and the speedwell that here appear in the first border, on f. 22r and f. 42v the snowdrop and peach flowers of the second border, and on f. 27r the rose shoot of the third border. Two butterflies, two caterpillars, a fly, a ladybird and a dragonfly are also beautifully portrayed. The peach flowers, which have been identified as such even though they have pointed leaves, also appear on f. 37r of the manuscript illuminated by the Master of Claude of France between 1510 and 1515, kept at the Houghton Library at Harvard University (MS Typ 252). According to Roger S. Wieck, author of the monograph Miracles in Miniature: The Art of the Master of Claude de France, the three borders in the present book of hours are apparently unknown to the bibliography on the Master of Claude of France. Subjects of the miniatures:1. Folio 27r: The Annunciation, 146 x 103 mm (inside miniature 83 x 63 mm). 2. Folio 38r: The Visitation, 148 x 98 mm (inside miniature 84 x 62 mm).3. Folio 48r: border only; bottom margin: 48 x 102 mm; external margin: 110 x 10 mm. 4. Folio 49v: Pentecost, 83 x 63 mm. 5. Folio 50v: The Nativity, 83 x 64 mm. 6. Folio 56v: The Annunciation to the Shepherds, 82 x 63 mm. 7. Folio 60v: The Adoration of the Magi, 85 x 64 mm. 8. Folio 64v: The Circumcision of Jesus, 85 x 64 mm. 9. Folio 68v: The Flight into Egypt, 84 x 64 mm. 10. Folio 75r: The Coronation of the Virgin, 85 x 63 mm. 11. Folio 79r: King David and the angel with the three arrows, symbol of the three punishments, 84 x 66 mm. 12. Folio 96v: Resurrection of Lazarus, 85 x 62 mm. Notes:*The website mandragora.bnf.fr reproduces the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany (Latin 9474) in its entirety, the website gallica.bnf.fr the Hours of Charles VIII (Latin 1370).We are gratefull to Roger S. Wieck, Curator and Department Head of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at The Morgan Library of New York for attributing the three borders to the Master of Claude of France. Bibliography:Roger S. Wieck, Miracles in Miniature: The Art of the Master of Claude de France (Morgan Library, 2014)F. Avril, N. Reynaud, D, Cordellier, Les Enluminures du Louvre : Moyen Age et Renaissance (Louvre-Hazan, 2012)