Pope Gregory IX distributing the Decretals, large miniature cut from a manuscript of canon law illuminated on vellum

From the collection of Ian Woodner (1903-1990); his sale, Christie’s, 2 July 1991, lot 134, to Quaritch; now Boehlen Collection, MS. 1308, ES.

This is a gothic miniature of marvellous quality showing a complex scene in a fine gothic setting.  The pope is presumably Gregory IX whose five books of decretals were promulgated in 1234, in volumes with prefaces addressed to the universities of either Bologna or Paris.  The only other possibility is Boniface VIII who issued a supplement in 1298, called the Liber Sextus, but the presence of the kneeling Franciscan friar appears to be characteristic of the Gregorian imagery (cf. S. L’Engle, ‘Legal Iconography’, in Illuminating the Law, ed. S. L’Engle and R. Gibbs, 2001, pp.82-3).  These are good illustrations of medieval books in a courtly setting.  The narrative style and the facial types are very like those of Paris in the time of Honoré, and are especially close to the work of the Méliacin Master, the principal artist of the Burdett Psalter sold in these rooms, 23 June 1998, lot 50, and a favourite illuminator of the court (cf. also F. Avril in L’art au temps des rois maudits, Philippe le Bel et ses fils, 1285-1328, 1998, pp.266-72, nos.174-79).  However, the paler colouring is not especially Parisian, with soft browns and a Mediterranean orange, and the miniature belongs to a rarer southern French group of legal texts made under strong Parisian influence, perhaps in Toulouse (ibid., p.33, no.233).