St John on Patmos, miniature on a leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin [France, Champagne (Reims), c.1430-40]

single leaf, 165x119mm, vellum, with a miniature for the Gospel extract from St John, 15 lines, 89x70mm, border rubbed, some smudges also affecting the background to the left, tiny wormhole in lower border

The Très Riches Heures de Champagne exhibition and catalogue of 2007 opened with a magnificent Book of Hours of about 1440, made for Jacques Cauchon and Jeanne Bohais of Reims (later offered for sale at Christie’s, 7 July 2010, lot 34). François Avril noted that he then knew of no other manuscript by the Cauchon artist. Shortly after writing that text, however, Avril ascribed the present leaf to the Master of the Cauchon Hours (see G. Clark, ‘Walters 269 and Manuscript Illumination in Rheims’, Journal of the Walters Art Museum, 72, 2014, pp.15-33, esp.pp.16-17, note 23, fig.1). Only one other Book of Hours for Reims use, with two miniatures remaining, has come to light (Frankfurt, Museum für Kunst und Handwerk, MS Linel 24, see ibid., pp.16-17, note 24). The Cauchon Master is strikingly original, often using vivid colouring and dramatic shapes. Characteristic are his rocky outcrops that resemble the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.