Scenes from the Life of Christ, single leaf, in French, from an illuminated manuscript on vellum

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

4 miniatures together, (1) John the Baptist baptising Christ, who stands waist-deep in the River Jordan, before an angel who holds Christ's clothes, on red diaper ground with brown, blue and white penwork, (2) Christ attending the marriage at Cana, standing in company behind a table laden with food, gesturing at two servants, one of whom carries a water vessel to the table, blue tessellated ground with darker blue, white and red penwork, (3) Christ on a donkey with dog running beside and followers behind him, being welcomed into Jerusalem, one figure lays his cloak down in Christ's path, another hails him from a tree, yet another waves a palm branch from the walls of the city (here represented as a medieval walled city with tower and portcullis), blue ground with elaborate scrolling red penwork (4) The Last Supper, Christ sits at table surrounded by his disciples, in the upper story of a brick-built building, brown background with elaborate spiralling 'tongued' pattern in lighter shade; all formed into a single composite miniature 184mm. by 139mm., figures drawn in a vigorous theatrical style, coloured in wash and heightened with both liquid and burnished gold, the miniatures in the upper level beneath six pointed gothic crocketed canopies, those on the lower level beneath two crocketed arches, interstices between the miniatures filled with blue and pink areas with white penwork to trace out brickwork, all enclosed by compartmented border of pink and blue with white tracery and gold frame terminating at each corner and in the middle of each frame in gold-leaved foliage sprays, set in complete leaf, 290mm. by 203mm., with 5 lines of explanatory text below the miniatures, and 19 lines down the side, in dark brown ink in a gothic bookhand, with 2-line initials, caption numbers ('x-xiii') and line fillers in alternate red or blue with contrasting penwork, some slight rubbing to one of Christ's followers in scene 3, and a little smudging to a single line filler, otherwise in excellent condition, verso blank, in card folder

Catalogue Note

From the same manuscript as the previous lot.