Beschreibung:

ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, historiated initial V, and a large letter O with roses, on two leaves from two Antiphonals.
ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, historiated initial V, and a large letter O with roses, on two leaves from two Antiphonals. [Toledo, c.1500]860 x 524mm. St John the Evangelist, with his attributes of snake-filled chalice and palm, stands within a loggia in the opening letter with foliate staves in brown and yellow on a blue ground for the Antiphon for lauds of his office, Valde honorandus , on the verso of what was folio 67 in an enormous Antiphonal. A border of acanthus stems winding round bâtons on a ground of brown patterned with yellow dots in red framing extends into upper and outer margins, on recto and verso five lines written in black ink in a gothic bookhand below five five-lined staves ruled in red with music of a square notation, rubrics in red (cut into text at inner edge, paint losses from initial). The figure of St John is very South Netherlandish in form, reflecting the popularity of Netherlandish art and artists in Castille. Isabella the Catholic had both Juan de Flandes (John of Flanders) and the Bruges-trained Michiel Sittow in her employ, exemplifying a taste that was neither new nor restricted to the upper echelons of society. The sharp definition and abrupt tonal transitions suggest that this was the work of a Castillian illuminator; the border decoration suggests Toledo and it it is likely that the leaf came from a volume in the same church as the following item. See lot 21 for a related leaf. with 875 x 590mm. The initial O with foliate staves of brown and yellow on a ground of tan stippled with yellow contains pink roses, emblematic of the Virgin and the rosary devotion, which equated the beads with a garland of roses. It opens O mors ero mors tua the antiphon for lauds for Holy Saturday and was folio 62 in an enormous Temporal Antiphonal volume that probably preceded the volume from which leaves in lots 19 and 21 were cut. Like them this has five lines of text written in black ink in a gothic bookhand below five-lined staves ruled in red with music of a square notation, rubrics in red; unlike them the large initials here consist of black interlace detailed with pink, yellow and blue, three small on the recto and one small and two very large and intricate on the verso. The side border with acanthus entwined around a fictive gold bar and gold disks is reminiscent of the decoration in lot 19 and the Ascension leaves in lot 21. As argued there, these leaves probably come from a set of Antiphonal volumes made for a Toledan rosary confraternity c.1500 (stained, roughly cut to inner edge). (2)