[Scriptoris] Fwd: [SCA_S&I] An amazing miniature book for sale

Tue Jun 14 09:11:08 PDT 2011

Zoom in on those images. Some inspiration to be found there for sure.

Duncan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Randy Asplund <Randyasplund at comcast.net>
Date: Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Subject: [SCA_S&I] An amazing miniature book for sale
To: Scribes <scribes at antir.sca.org>
Cc: SCA_Scribes_and_Illumination at yahoogroups.com, MK Scrbes <
MK-SCRIBES at yahoogroups.com>

All you need is a little over 3 million dollars, or you can look at it close
up on the Christies web page here:

It is the Imhof Prayer Book, illuminated around 1511 by the most esteemed
Dutch illuminator Simon Bening.

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectId=5460641

Lot Description

THE IMHOF PRAYERBOOK, illuminated by SIMON BENING, in Latin and Dutch,
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM

Antwerp [and Ghent] 1511
90 x 62mm. v + 329 + viii leaves, modern pencil foliation 1-342 followed
here: 17 (of 8, i cancelled blank), 28, 34+8, 4-108, 1110, 12-138, 14-156,
169(i a singleton with miniature), 17-308, 319(i a singleton with
miniature), 328, 337(of 8, final blank cancelled), 34-358, 369(iii a
singleton with miniature), 37-398, 406, 418, likely lacking a bifolium with
text between gatherings 36 and 37; 13 lines of an elegant calligraphic
lettre bâtarde with cadels and decorative flourishes, between 14 horizontals
and two verticals ruled in pink, justification: 41 x 36mm, rubrics in red,
one- and two-line initials of liquid gold against grounds alternately red or
blue, TEN MINIATURES FOUR LINES HIGH of Instruments of the Passion, FIVE
MINIATURES TWO LINES HIGH of the Wounds of Christ, TWELVE CALENDAR PANEL
BORDERS WITH ZODIAC SIGNS IN ROUNDELS with naturalistic flowers strewn on
liquid gold grounds, EIGHT SMALL MINIATURES WITH FULL-PAGE BORDERS, some
with bas-de-page scenes and others with strewn flowers, insects or birds,
one with illusionistic jewels, ELEVEN FULL-PAGE MINIATURES WITH FACING
FULL-PAGE BORDERS with bas-de-page scenes, scatter borders with flowers,
fruit and branches on gold or coloured grounds some including trompe l'oeil
insects, FIVE FURTHER FULL-PAGE BORDERS of similar types, edges gilt and
gauffered, old tasselled bookmarker (a few spots, a little marginal
darkening and occasional minimal rubbing, insects on ff.73 and 272 very
slightly cropped). CONTEMPORARY RED VELVET OVER WOODEN BOARDS with elaborate
German silver clasp, the foliate pierced mounts probably contemporary and
the hinged clasp later (edges of velvet rubbed, headbands c.1900). Red
solander box.

A JEWEL OF ILLUMINATION -- THE EARLIEST DATED WORK OF SIMON BENING
PROVENANCE:

1. Hans V Imhof (1461-1522): The colophon on f.334v records the writing and
completion of the manuscript in Antwerp in 1511. It has been generally
accepted that the effaced coat of arms on f.25, discernible if viewed from
the reverse against strong light, belongs to the Imhof, one of the patrician
families of Nuremberg. The presence of the Suffrage to St Sebald, patron
saint of Nuremberg and the name saint of the church where the family had
their burial chapel is consistent with this. The importance given to John
the Baptist and John the Evangelist, both the subjects of miniatures and
devotions, suggest that the original owner was named Johannes or Hans. The
Imhof family had amassed immense wealth from the spice trade and had offices
throughout Europe, including Antwerp where the manuscript was written, and
for many years until his death in 1522 the firm was headed by the merchant
and banker Hans V. The family provided important and discriminating patrons
of art in their own city and none more so than Hans who was a friend of
Albrecht Dürer, the sculptor Adam Kraft and the humanist Willibald
Pirckheimer. It is likely that the manuscript was commissioned by him.
2. Herman Hendrick Beels, van Heemstede (1827-1916) and by descent until
sold Sotheby's, 21 June 1988, lot 107.

CONTENT:

Calendar ff.6-21; Computistical tables and roundels ff.21v-23v (ff.22 and 23
bound-in upside-down); Extract from the Gospel of St John ff.25-26v; Passion
according to St John ff.28-42v; Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.45-72v;
Prayers to Christ and the Virgin opening with the indulgenced prayer on the
name of Jesus ff.73-80v; Fifteen Oes and further prayers ff.82-98v; Prayers
on the Passion and other prayers, in Dutch ff.100-120v; Prayer on the
Resurrection and other prayers ff.122-126v; Verses of St Gregory and other
prayers, in Dutch ff.128-175; Prayers opening with a prayer for Christmas
ff.177-193v; Prayers to Christ and the Virgin opening with Salve Sancta
Facies and including the Sorrows of the Virgin, prayers to be said during
Mass and St Gregory's prayer on the wounds of Christ ff.194-247v; Prayers to
the Virgin opening with one to be said before an image of the Virgin to gain
11,000 years indulgence, in Dutch ff.249-289v; Prayers to the Virgin opening
with a prayer on her Sorrows and continuing with Stabat Mater in Dutch (the
latter with rubrics in Latin, and lacking the final 9 verses) ff.291-296v;
Prayers to St John the Baptist, in Dutch ff.298-301v; Prayers to St Francis,
in Dutch ff.303-304v; Prayers to St Michael, other saints and All Saints, in
Dutch ff.305-326v; Suffrages to saints, in Latin ff.327-334; colophon
f.334v. Contact the Department for further detail.

The colophon reads 'Scriptus et finitus est liber iste in opido mercuriali
Hantwerpia Anno 1511'. The question was raised in Illuminating the
Renaissance, eds T. Kren and S. McKendrick, 2003, p.449 whether the
manuscript may have been written by Petrus Alamire, a scribe active in
Antwerp in 1511 but originally from Nuremberg and whose family name was
Imhof.

ILLUMINATION:

In his lifetime Bening was described as 'the greatest master in the art of
illumination in all of Europe' and he has retained that position among
modern critics: 'the art of no other Flemish illuminator so fully epitomises
the triumph of Flemish manuscript painting ... and its enduring eminence as
a court art' (T. Kren in Illuminating the Renaissance, p.446, and for this
manuscript, cat. no 139, pp.448-449, with further bibliography). This
exquisite little volume fully justifies and explains this claim: it is
painted with the greatest delicacy and finesse.

Simon was born around 1483, probably in Ghent, the son of the illuminator
Sanders Bening and Kathelijn van der Goes, perhaps the sister or niece of
the great painter Hugo. His family was also connected to Rogier van der
Weyden: he could hardly have been born into circumstances more favourable
for his artistic development. His career was long, prosperous and prolific,
working for princely patrons in Spain, Portugal and Germany as well as in
his homeland, and his achievements were celebrated by Guicciardini and
Vasari as well as by his compatriots. Simon lived until 1561 and two
self-portraits dated 1558 attest to his enduring artistic activity and
ability.

Personal prayerbooks small enough to be carried around and kept close by
their owners seem to have been a speciality of Bening and the Imhof
Prayerbook is a superlative example. Although it is his earliest dated work,
he was a fully mature and developed artist when he painted it and the
features that are characteristic of his finest miniatures for the next
half-century are already present. The carefully characterised figures, often
set in extensive and detailed landscapes or evocative night settings are
portrayed with a sensitivity to mood and atmosphere unsurpassed in his work.
He makes no concession to scale: these miniatures are a virtuoso
performance; framed in simple illusionistic mouldings, they are presented as
though they are tiny panel paintings.
The text pages that face the full-page miniatures bring one back into the
world of manuscript decoration and have borders characteristic of Flemish
manuscripts from the end of the 15th century: yet these too are remarkable
and of extremely high quality, equalling the miniatures they face in
refinement of execution and echoing their palette. They seem to be the work
of Bening himself (Kren, op. cit., p.449.)

It was a consistent feature of Bening's work that he made use of workshop
patterns that had first been exploited back in the 1470s, and were often
found in manuscripts associated with the Master of the First Prayerbook of
Maximilian: this continuity is part of the argument for identifying the
anonymous Master with Simon's father Alexander, or Sanders, Bening. One
striking and exact example in the present prayerbook is the Stigmatisation
of St Francis - the figures exactly replicating those of the older artist in
the Rothschild Prayerbook, that summa of Flemish manuscript illumination
(sold Christie's, 8 July 1999, lot 402 for £8,250,252) to which Simon had
contributed just a few years earlier. Whereas Simon was just one contributor
to that manuscript the present book is almost entirely by his hand. Only the
miniature of the Baptism of Christ is by another illuminator, an artist
named after his work in another great manuscript where his work is found
alongside that of Bening, the Master of the David Scenes in the Grimani
Breviary.

It is no wonder that the scholar who first published the manuscript was
moved to title his article 'Work of art or jewel?' G.I. Lieftinck,
'Kunstwerk of Juweel? Het Gebedboek van de Heer C.H. Beels te Hilversum',
Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, VIII, 1957, pp.1-28).

The subjects of the full-page miniatures, and their facing full-page borders
are as follows:
ff.24v-25 St John on Patmos, facing a camaïeu d'or sculptural border
ff.27v-28 Agony in the Garden, facing strewn flowers and a housefly
ff.81v-82 Betrayal and Arrest of Christ, facing strewn acanthus, flowers and
owls
ff.99v-100 Crucifixion, facing scattered roses and insects
ff.121v-122 Resurrection of Christ, facing fruit and flowers
ff.127v-128 Mass of St. Gregory, facing strewn flowers and flowers in a blue
and white pot
ff.176v-177 Nativity, with the shepherds, facing a landscape border with
dancing peasants
ff.248v-249 Assumption of the Virgin, facing scattered violets and
butterflies and a snail
ff.290v-291 Sorrows of the Virgin, facing strewn flowers and a snail
ff.297v-298 Baptism of Christ, facing a landscape border with a tree-house
and ?St Antony Abbot with an angel
ff.302v-303 Stigmatisation of St Francis, facing a border with flowers and
acanthus on a banded ground

The subjects of the small miniatures with full borders are as follows: f.43
David kneeling in prayer before his palace, the border with putti, swags and
a carved gem
f.73 Christ Child holding a dove, the border with flowers, a blue and white
ewer and a fly
f.194 Christ, head and shoulders, the border showing a gothic interior with
two children whipping tops
f.327 Half-length figures of Sts Peter and Paul, the border with acanthus
and flowers and a climbing monkey
f.328 St Sebald in half-length holding a model of his church, the border
with strewn flowers
f.329 St Lawrence in half-length, the border with gothic architecture and a
woman pushing a wheelbarrow with a tree planted in a basket
f.330 St Katherine in half-length, a landscape border with a tree-house and
the spies returning from Canaan carrying a giant bunch of grapes
f.331v St Anne reading with the Virgin and Child, the border showing
enameled and gemstone jewels

The four-line miniatures of the Instruments of the Passion are between
ff.100v and 105, and the two-line miniatures of the Wounds of Christ are on
f.239r and v.

There are full-page borders accompanying illuminated initials on ff.154v,
168, 272, 295 and 305.

RanthulfR

  Randy Asplund
www.RandyAsplund.com
Maker of Medieval books and
Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
(734) 663-0954
2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103

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