HORAE AD USUM ROMARUM. Late fifteenth century manuscript (C,2490) on vellum of eighty-seven leaves, seventeen of which are blank, decorated with eighteen illuminations, ten of which are mid-page; in-8 old red velvet, a little worn (one cover detached), in a tan chagrin slipcase with on the first cover in a cartouche Horae ad usum romanorum. With its certificate of free circulation. Manuscript executed around 1485 for Duke René II of LORRAINE and Philippe de GUELDRE his wife. Superb book of Hours attributable for the decoration to Georges TRUBERT and intended for the duke of LORRAINE Rene II and his wife. It is composed of a calendar, the Gospels and the usual prayers and psalms, most of them dedicated to the Virgin Mary. However, all the interest lies in its decoration of an extraordinary beauty of execution, transforming the illuminations into real paintings, equaling, even surpassing the painters of the time. It begins with six small miniatures representing the evangelists accompanied by their emblems: the angel for Matthew, the lion for Mark, the bull for Luke and the eagle for John, a Virgin and Child and a portrait of the Virgin. There follow ten illuminations - paintings of extreme realism and great freshness: The Annunciation, with a large border of pearls and roses. The Visitation with the number P.R. in the border (initials of the two spouses). The Pentecost, with rich border of cameos, pearls, precious stones and number R.E. The Annunciation to the shepherds, with flowery border. The Nativity, with a border of the arms of the Duke of Lorraine surmounted by a helmet and the motto Preny to the Duke, with pansies, precious stones and the number R.E. The Adoration of the Magi, with a border of pearls and precious stones in lozenges (the faces undoubtedly represent relatives of the Duke). The Presentation in the Temple or circumcision with flowered border. The Flight into Egypt with floral border. The Coronation of the Virgin between God and Christ, surmounted by the holy Spirit. Job on his dunghill with a noble personage at his side (probably the Duke) with a border of pansies, skull and bones, followed by two small miniatures in grisaille and cameo: Holy Mass and Descent from the Cross. Each page of the text is decorated with numerous gilded letters on colored backgrounds; a few defects including small soiling and a small tear to a leaf, two leaves and two miniatures seem to be missing, small missing to an illumination in the sky. The Duke of Lorraine was the patron of several artists including Georges TRUBERT. Georges TRUBERT was a French painter and illuminator active between 1469 and 1508, in Anjou, Provence and Lorraine, at the court of King René and his grandson René II of Lorraine. He settled at his court in Nancy where he worked as an official painter until the end of the 15th century. His most accomplished manuscripts belong to his Lorraine period. His style consists of a wide palette of rare colors and acids (orange-reds, yellows, light and dark greens, lapis lazuli azure, slate blue, pale pink, intense mauve and dark garnet with gold cameo and grisaille. His characters are particular, with the eyes spread long stretched on the temples. The women with three-quarter faces, slightly printed, wear hair floating on their shoulders. The figures are in the foreground, halfway up the body in a reserved framing, a layout intended to bring the representation emotionally closer to the viewer and thus encourage meditation. He thus eliminates the anecdotal elements - decor, landscape, secondary characters - in favor of the intensity of the looks and the hands. The framing of the paintings is of a dizzying virtuosity. The artist was certainly trained in Paris, but the style is influenced by Barthélemy d'EYCK. Twelve manuscripts are attributed to him, all in public institutions. Our copy seems to be one of the few in private possession. One cannot therefore dream of a more beautiful copy representing the knowledge and virtuosity of the artist. It comes from the former collections of Henri de ROTHSCHILD and Raphaël ESMERIAN I n°5, 1972 with ex-libris