Beschreibung:

ASCENSION OF CHRIST, beside an initial 'I', cut from an illuminated choirbook on vellum [Milan, c.1450] A striking example of Milanese illumination of the mid-15th century, with Christ rising to heaven in an unusually animated heroic profile pose. 122 x 107mm. (Very light rubbing to burnished gold). Laid down on modern vellum and mounted. Provenance : William Young Ottley (1771-1836); this was possibly lot 23 in the Ottley Sale, Sotheby's, London, 16 May 1838 – Robert Stayner Holford (1808-1892), see R.H. Benson, The Holford Collection , Dorchester House, 1927, I, pp.2, 7, pl.III – Sir George Holford (1860-1926): lot 8 to Tancred Borenius (1885-1948) at the Holford Sale, Sotheby's, London, 12 July 1927. The composition was originated by the Master of the Vitae Imperatorum , active in Milan c.1430-1450, in the larger area offered by an initial 'P' (Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, n.1963.33). For the present initial, an associated illuminator has achieved a greater immediacy by cutting the watching figures to accommodate them beside the letter 'I': A. Melograni, ‘Miniature inedite del Quattrocento lombardo nelle collezioni americane', Storia dell'Arte , 1994, pp.283-302, figs 5 and 6. The light, rosy treatment of the fleshtones harks back to Tomasino da Vimercate (fl. 1390-1415), while the undulating draperies are part of the stylistic vocabulary of Michelino da Besozzo (1370-1455). A Pentecost in an initial ‘V’ offered at Christie’s was likely by the same artist, see Script and Illumination: Leaves from Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts , 29 November – 8 December 2016, lot 28.