2 - BOOK OF HOURS FOR USE IN PARIS

BOOK OF HOURS FOR USE IN PARIS In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, Paris, circa 1460 With 14 large arched miniatures, attributable to the Master of Jean Rolin (active in Paris from circa 1440/1445 to 1465) 207 ff. (modern foliation 205, one unnumbered leaf between ff. 73–74 and 97–98), preceded and followed by a parchment endleaf; gaps between ff. 128–129 and ff. 135–136 [collation: i6, ii6, iii8, iv8, v8, vi8, vii8, viii8, ix8, x8, xi8, xii8, xiii8, xiv8, xv8, xvi8, xvii5 (of 8?), xviii8), xix8, xx8, xxi8, xxii8, xxiii4, xxiii10, xxiv8, xxv8, xxvi6 (of 8, missing vii and viii, no text missing, with the last two leaves certainly being blank ruled leaves)], Gothic script in brown ink, text in a single column, with 16 lines per page, ruled in pale red ink (text block dimensions: 111 x 67 mm), headings in red, line ends in pink and blue with white highlights and small discs in burnished gold, initials in burnished gold on blue or pink backgrounds with white highlights (1 line high), initials (2 to 4 lines high) in pink or blue on gold backgrounds with colored scrollwork and vine leaves, illuminated borders on reserved backgrounds on all pages (outer borders) and sometimes on three sides, blue and gold acanthus decoration, flowers and foliage, vine leaves and small burnished-gold discs, scrollwork; the same borders framing the miniatures, large ornate moldings on three sides around the large miniatures; with 14 large arched-format miniatures. Mid-16th-century binding, fawn calfskin, gilded decoration featuring arabesques, fillets, fleurons, leaves, trefoil motifs, palmettes, and highlights in white, black, and green wax, a motif of three intertwined crescents repeated four times on each cover, a small gilded stamp with two concentric circles repeated four times on the covers, a spine with five cloisonné raised bands, a gilded fillet on the raised bands, gilded arabesques (azure or dotted) and a cartouche with black highlights in the spaces between the ribs, a green wax border framing the spaces between the ribs, the top and bottom edges of the spine featuring hatched and twisted motifs, gilded edges. Modern hinged slipcase, gilt lettering on the spine: “Horae B.V.M. Diane de Poitiers. Saec. XV.” Dimensions of the leaves: 194 x 130 mm; dimensions of the binding: 202 x 145 mm A VERY BEAUTIFUL MANUSCRIPT ATTRIBUTED TO THE MASTER OF JEAN ROLIN, ENCLOSED IN A MAGNIFICENT DECORATED WAX-PAINTED BINDING FROM THE MID-17TH CENTURY. This manuscript, previously undescribed and unknown within the corpus of works attributed to the Master, offers a particularly remarkable example of his art. Despite a few flaws (see below), the large miniatures are truly beautiful. Representative of the finest Parisian works from the third quarter of the 15th century, they are well worth comparing to the known works of the Master of Jean Rolin and his successor, the talented Master François (François Le Barbier the Elder). The identity of the original patron remains unknown to this day: a feminine form of the prayer “Obsecro te” suggests that it may have been a woman. The binding covering this precious manuscript may have been made in Italy, perhaps in Venice, in the mid-16th century. It is distinguished by the exceptional quality of its rich and very elegant gilded decoration, perfectly balanced and composed of arabesques and volutes ending in foliage accented with green and blue-gray wax. The presence, repeated four times on each cover, of a gilded motif featuring three intertwined crescents—an emblem used, among others, by Diane de Poitiers—may have led some in the past to attribute the manuscript’s provenance to Henry II’s famous mistress, although it is not possible today to draw such a conclusion, particularly in the absence of a coat of arms or any handwritten inscription. Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1959