David and Nathan, miniature from an illuminated Book of Hours, on vellum [Italy (Florence), c.1480]

single leaf, 125mm. by 92mm., large miniature with David and Nathan (for the beginning of the Penitential Psalms), with David enthroned, gesturing with both hands, his harp lying on the floor at his feet, the prophet in contemporary clothing standing before him, his right arm raised in rebuke, surrounded by a full border with floral scroll design including candelabra on a burnished gold ground enclosing a medallion of David in Prayer half submerged in water, recto blank, miniature slightly rubbed with small pigment losses, some retouching in places (certainly the background behind the prophet, perhaps also parts of the throne; most probably that of Caleb Wing in the nineteenth century: see below), the original leaf of very thin vellum pasted onto a leaf of stouter vellum, thin frame in brown and gold added around the border, framed

(1) From a book perhaps made for Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449-1492), the greatest ruler of Renaissance Florence and patron of the arts, whose court included Leonardo da Vinci: a miniature with the Annunciation from the same manuscript (illustrated in our catalogue, 11 July 1966, lot 199, and now in a private collection) includes the Medici arms overpainted in silver.

(2) Perhaps in the collection of John Boykett Jarman (d.1864), the goldsmith and jeweller, whose library was damaged by a flood in 1846 (note the slight water damage evident on the present leaf). He then employed the illuminator Caleb Wing to restore the miniatures, who went on to embellish some of them and make copies for Jarman, himself and others (see J.M. Backhouse in The British Museum Quarterly, XXXII, 1968, pp.76-92). A copy of the present miniature is to be found in one of Jarman's other manuscripts: a Book of Hours embellished with nineteenth-century facsimiles of miniatures, last sold in our rooms, 6 July 2000, lot 35, reappearing as Tenschert, Unterwegs zur Renaissance, 2011, no.24. The present miniature was sold together with six other sister leaves in our rooms, 11 July 1966, lots 199-205 (as lot 202, illustrated).

illumination

The style of the miniatures can be linked to that of Francesco d’Antonio del Chierico (1433-84) and his workshop (Garzelli, Miniatura del Rinascimento, 1985, pp. 100-170). Characteristic are sharp outlines, sober interiors and a cool colour scheme with occasionally bright colours such as yellow and pink. This Florentine artist worked for Cosimo, Piero and Lorenzo de’ Medici, as well as Federigo da Montefeltro and Ferdinand I of Naples. He was an associate of the renowned bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci, who helped him acquire patrons beyond Italy, such as Louis XI of France, and Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary.