Beschreibung:

MANUSCRIPT] Border excised from a leaf on vellum, with the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella, illuminated in gold and colors . Likely Juan de Carrion or his workshop, circa 1470-1480. 4 3/4 x 15 1/4 inches (22 x 39 cm); with the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella retained by two gryphons at center, a sheaf of arrows and a yoke (devices associated with the royal arms, usually assumed to represent the royal initials 'F' flecha and 'I' iugo), a putto clutching a shield on the left, all on a vinework border with two birds, various flowers and acanthus; the verso blank. Some rubbing (as usual), stitched repair at right. A cutting from the extraordinary Gradual of Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504), the joint rulers of Spain and the patrons of Columbus. The manuscript was presented by Ferdinand and Isabella to the Dominican convent of Santo Tomás Aquino, in Ãvila, in Old Castile. This was founded in 1478 and is still in existence. Ferdinand and Isabella endowed the convent and paid for the construction of its chapel, built between 1482 and 1493. Their only son, Prince Juan, is buried there, as was the first Grand Inquisitor, Tomás de Torquemada (d.1498). This royal Gradual, one of the grandest of all Spanish manuscripts, was on view and in use for almost 400 years, but in the 19th century it came into the hands of Manuel Rico y Sinobias, who cut away miniatures and leaves, dismembering and dispersing it. Portions are in many major institutional holdings, including the Museo Arqueológico in Madrid, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Pierpont Morgan Library and elsewhere. Bordona Spanish Illumination 1930, p. 61, describes the manuscript's remains as "one of the most sumptuous and artistic series of choir-books in all Spain"; he tentatively ascribed them to the royal illuminator Juan de Carrion. C