St. Benedict holding a book containing his monastic rule and a rod of discipline, a large historiated initial on a leaf from an Antiphonary, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Italy (Florence), c.1480]

single leaf, 545mm. by 380mm., with a large historiated initial ‘V’ (opening "Vir dei Benedictus mundi gloriam despexit et reliquit …", the introit for the feast of St. Benedict), in blue, pink and ochre and an inner segment in yellow, with fleshy acanthus in blue, pink and green on a burnished gold ground, extending into the outer margin, terminating in flower heads and surrounded by gold bezants, enclosing the three-quarter length figure of St. Benedict dressed in a white tunic with a hood, holding a book containing his rule and a rod of discipline, against a red ground with yellow tracery work, text and music on five 4-line red staves (one stave only with three ruled lines), rastrum 40mm., the recto with 14 lines of text in a gothic bookhand and an elaborate rubric in red with blue and red pen-flourishing, including a human head, with yellow washes, vellum cockled and stained, illumination slightly rubbed in places, in good condition, framed

The present leaf can be linked stylistically to the circle of Mariano del Buono (1433/34-1504). He was a Florentine artist who was active in the second half of the fifteenth century, and was one of the most influential illuminators of his time. His work shows the participation of many collaborators, and while this leaf here is not by him it may well be the product of one of these collaborating artists. This appealing historiated initial is complemented by the large and fine calligraphic script, notably in the vast and florid red rubric which fills nearly half of the preceding page.