Manuscripts

This finely painted, jewel-like manuscript in virtually perfect condition fits securely in a small but coherent group of manuscripts that come from a rare center in the Dauphiné, perhaps the town of Grenoble, and is associated by the Master of the Apocalypse of Aymar de Poitiers. This manuscript was custom-made for a member of the important La Baume family established in Savoy, whose arms appear in the manuscript and who perhaps held a special devotion to the Swedish mystic St. Bridget. The narrative borders surrounding the main miniatures and developing the story line, are full of charm.

ii (paper) + 153 + ii (modern parchment) + ii (paper) folios on parchment, missing one leaf with a miniature at the beginning of Terce of the Hours of the Virgin (before fol. 45), else complete (collation: i8, ii10, iii-v8, vi7 (of 8, lacking iii), vii8, viii10, ix-xviii8, xix6 (of 8, with last 2 leaves of quire cancelled)), catchwords for all quires, except for three quires (1, 2 and 18), text written in a formal gothic bookhand in brown ink on 18 long lines, ruled in red (written space: 59 x 81-85 mm), rubrics in red, text capitals touched in yellow, line-endings alternately in red and blue, decorated with brushed gold, one-line initials in burnished gold against blue or red grounds, two-line high initials in burnished gold against a ground of blue or red with white penwork decoration, except for ff. 143-152, where 2-line high initials are alternately in white and gray against a ground of brushed gold, or in brushed gold against a ground of red with gold penwork decoration, 5-line high initials below miniatures on ff. 42, 48 and 50 in brushed gold or silver (now oxidized) with infill of painted flowers, remainder of 5-line high initials in red or blue highlighted in white tracery decoration against burnished gold grounds with infill of colored ivy leaves, 2 HISTORIATED INITIALS, one accompanied by a decorative staff (f. 116), the other historiated initial echoed by A SMALL MINIATURE set of to the right and flanked with a panel border of colored acanthus leaves and flowers against a burnished gold ground with in the center a branch with belt and coat of arms (“azure a bend dancetty or”) (f. 144), 4 SMALL MINIATURES set in rectangular illuminated frames of flowers, fruits and colored ivy leaves on burnished gold grounds, 13 LARGE MINIATURES set in decorated rectangular frames alternately of colored acanthus leaves, naturalistic flowers and fruits or ivy leaves, including four accompanied with full illuminated historiated borders containing accessory scenes (ff. 28, 68, 76, 92), text a little rubbed in places, overall in good condition, miniatures brilliantly preserved. Bound in a late-nineteenth or early-twentieth imitation binding of blind-tooled brown morocco, back sewn on five thongs, inner pastedowns and recto of first flyleaves lined with maroon silk, edges gilt, manuscript placed in a red silk wraparound fitted in a dark red morocco slipcase.  Dimensions 152 by 113 mm.

Provenance

1. The calendar includes many unusual features:  Brigide (2 February), Arnulphus of Metz (18 July), Trophini, bishop of Arles (19 September), Conception of St. John the Baptist (25 September), Gall (17 October), Hugo (18 November), none of these in red.  There are two rare feasts.  The first is that of St. Peter, Archbishop of Tarentaise (12 September), who was born near Vienne in the Dauphiné, France, and eventually became the first abbot of Tamie in the Tarantaise Mountains between Geneva and Savoy.  The second is that of St. Tygris (in red, 25 June), the virgin who brought a relic of the finger of John the Baptist to Savoy and whose own relics are housed in Maurienne in the region.  There is also the Dedication of the Church of Saint John the Baptist on October 15 for the Cathedral of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne in the Savoy.  This destination likewise accounts for the rare feast of the Conception of St. John the Baptist. 

The arms that occur next to a miniature of St. Bridget in prayer and below a miniature of Bridget’s view of the Crucifixion at the beginning of the Fifteen O’s of St. Brigit, Azure a bend dancetty or, are evidently those of the La Baume family.  Originally from Bresse, this family was one of the most important families of Savoy.  They counted among their members a marshal and an admiral of Savoy, a tutor of the count of Savoy, a vice-King of Naples, and so forth.  The addition of the dancetty band to the shield was reserved for the branch of the La Baume family known as the Lords of Mont-Saint-Sorlin and Counts of Montrevel. 

Two individuals emerge as possible candidates for the patronage of the present manuscript:  Jean III de La Baume, Count of Montrevel (born 1440, died in 1491), a counsellor and chamberlain to the Duke of Burgundy, and then to Kings Louis XI and Charles VIII, or Guillaume de La Baume, Lord of Illeins (died 1490), a chamberlain to the Duke of Burgundy who later became Governor of Bresse for the Duke of Savoy.  Guillaume's arms were divided by a star, as demonstrated by two manuscripts he owned (Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, MSS 20-21). The full arms seen here may then belong to Jean III de La Baume, Count of Montrevel.

2. Private Collection, Europe.

Text

ff. 1-12v, Calendar (see above);

ff. 13-13v, Prayer, rubric, Salutacio devota ad gloriosam virginem mariam; incipit, “Ave celorum regina”;

ff. 14-17v, Extracts from the Gospels of John, Luke (f. 15), Matthew (f. 16v), and Mark (f. 18);

ff. 18-66v, Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, with Matins (f. 18), Lauds (f. 33), Prime (f. 42), [lacking Terce], Sext (f. 48), None (f. 50), Vespers (f. 53), Compline (f. 57);

f. 60-60v, Prayer, “Salve regina”;

ff. 60v-65v, Advent Office of the Virgin;

ff. 66-67v, Prayer to the Virgin, rubric, Sequitur salutacio devota ad virginem mariam; incipit, “Ave fuit prima salus / Qua vincitur hostis malus...";

ff. 67-70v, Hours of the Holy Cross;

ff. 71-75v, Hours of the Holy Spirit;

ff. 76-91v, Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany (begins f. 85v);

ff. 92-115, Office of the Dead, use of Rome;

ff. 116-119, Obsecro te for masculine use;

ff. 119v-120v, Seven Verses of Saint Bernard;

ff. 120v-121v, Seven Prayers of Saint Gregory or Five Prayers before the Cross (here only five, but none missing as indicated in the rubric), rubric, Quicunque orationes sequentes dixerit cotidie ante crucem domini nostri ihesu christi...; incipit, “O domine ihesu criste adore te in cruce pendentem”;

ff. 122-139, Miscellaneous prayers in Latin, ff. 122-129v, Prayers to Jesus Christ, beginning "O dulcissime domine ihesu christe..."; ff. 129v-131v, Prayers to the Virgin, beginning "Excellentissima gloriosissima atque sacratissima virgo..."; ff. 131v-139, Prayers to Jesus Christ, beginning "Domine ihesu christe fili dei...";

ff. 139-140v, Prayer for the Deceased, with papal indulgence for those who pronounce it, rubric, "Papa Iohannes duodecimus concessit omnibus transeuntibus..."; incipit, “Avete omnes anime Christi fideles...”;

ff. 140v-141, Prayers to the Body of Christ, rubric, "Sequitur oratio dicenda ad elevationem corporis christi";

ff. 141-142, Prayers for the elevation of the Body of Christ, rubric, "Cuilibet devote dicenti orationem sequentem ad elevationem corporis Christi...";

ff. 143-144, Gregory on the Five Wounds of Christ (Papal indulgences), rubric, "Sanctus Gregorius dum esset summus pontifex et missam celebraret... Incipit prima oratio"; incipit, “Ave dextera manus Christi...”;

ff. 144-152v, The 15 “O’s” of Saint Bridget, rubric placed after the text, "Rubrica oracionum sancte brigide. Hec sunt quindecim collecte sive orations illius preclarissime virginis beate brigide...";

Illustration

The subjects of the thirteen large miniatures are:

f. 18, Annunciation, with marginal scenes in architectural frames (reading from bottom left to top right) of the Annunciation to Joachim, the Meeting at the Golden Gate, the Birth of the Virgin, the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, the Holy Family, the Virgin spinning, and the Marriage of the Virgin;

f. 33, Visitation, with two angels attending the Virgin;

f. 42, Nativity;

f. 47v, Adoration of the Magi;

f. 50, Flight into Egypt;

f. 53, Presentation in the Temple;

f. 57v, Coronation of the Virgin;

f. 67, Crucifixion, with scenes in the margin from the bottom left to top right of the border of the Mocking of Christ, the Flagellation, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Nailing of Christ to the Cross; 

f. 71, Pentecost;

f. 76, King David Praying to God, with scenes in the margin from the bottom left to the top right of David playing his harp before Saul, David watching Bathsheba bathing, David giving orders to Uriah's captain, and Uriah slain (?);

f. 92, Burial Scene, with scenes in the margin from the bottom left to the top right of Job praying to God, Job visited by his friends, Job on his dung-hill scourged by devils, Job on his dung-hill taunted by his friends, and Job on his dung-hill mocked by his wife, who is dressed in the fashion of the 1480s;

f. 121, Pieta, including Mary Magdalene and John;

f. 142v, Mass of Saint Gregory;

The subjects of the small miniatures are:

f. 14, John on Patmos;

f. 15v, Evangelist Luke writing;

f. 16v, Evangelist Matthew writing;

f. 17, Evangelist Mark writing;

f. 116, Virgin and Child (historiated initial);

f. 144, Christ on the Cross (small miniature set off to the right) appears to St. Bridget in Prayer [Bridget's Vision of the Crucifixion] (historiated initial and small miniature).

We are grateful to Francois Avril for his previous observations regarding the present manuscript, which he has related to a group of single leaves and manuscripts illuminated in the Dauphiné, on the border of Savoy, perhaps in Grenoble in the 1480s, by the Master of the Apocalypse of Aymar de Poitiers (see Avril 2011, pp. 212-216).  The core of this group is formed by a series of single leaves from a once richly illuminated Book of Hours (e.g., Musée du Louvre M. 1083A-E and elsewhere), a Book of Hours now in Lyon, (Bibliothèque municipale, MS 579), a Psalter Hours (whereabouts unknown), and an Apocalypse in Glasgow (University Library, Hunter MS 398).  The Lyon Book of Hours bears the arms of the family Allemand (or Allaman) Lords of La Rochechinard in the Dauphiné.  The Psalter-Hours includes pastedowns of notarial acts concerning a person from the region of Grenoble, and there is, as well, a date of 1484.  The Glasgow Apocalypse, afte bears the arms of the renowned bibliophile Aymar of Poitiers, who became Grand Seneschal of Provence in 1484 and who had an important lineage in the Dauphiné, and after which the artist was named by François Avril.  These details help situate the group in Grenoble midway between Avignon and Lyons and date it to the mid 1480s.  The direct ties to the Savoy region in the calendar of the present manuscript suggest that the workshop supplied books for this neighboring region as well.

Jewel-like, densely saturated colors are one of the recognizable hallmarks of miniatures in this group, as are the marginal scenes that frame the large miniatures (compare especially to the Louvre single leaves, cited above).  Diminutive figures, their drapery generously highlighted with liquid gold, populate the finely delineated landscapes set against deep blue skies.  The faces are often painted with bright red lips.  Where the illuminators use ornamental instead of figural borders the carefully applied colors of the floral and foliate motifs appear almost enamel-like on the gold-painted surface of the parchment.

Literature

Published in:

Avril, F.  In Les Enluminures du Louvre, Moyen Âge et Renaissance, ed. F. Avril, N. Reynaud, and D. Cordellier, Paris, 2011, pp. 212-216, cited p. 216.

Further literature:

Bagliani, A. P., ed.  Les Manuscrits enluminés des comtes et ducs de Savoie, intro. E. Castelnuovo. Turin, Umberto Allemandi, 1990 (see esp. S. Edmunds, pp. 193-230).

De Hamel, C.  Gilding the Lilly: A Hundred Medieval and Illuminated Manuscripts in the Lilly Library, Bloomington, 2010, no. 84, pp. 184-185.

Thorp, Nigel.  The Glory of the Page:  Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from Glasgow University Library, London, 1987.

BOH 246