Beschreibung:

The Martainville Master, The Master of Robert Gaguin and others (active late 15th - first half 16th century) The 'A and L' Hours, use of Rome, in French and Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum [Paris, c.1490] A grand, deluxe production for a wealthy and influential patron whose initials appear throughout, illuminated by two of the dominant Parisian illuminators of the turn of the 15th century: the Martainville Master and the Master of Robert Gaguin. 164 x 105mm. ii + 91 + ii, collation: 16, 25 (of 10?, lacking at least 4 leaves), 3-46, 52, 68, 7-86, 912+2, 10-116, 128, 1312, modern foliation in pencil followed here, 30 lines, ruled space: 120 x 50mm, illuminated initials and line-fillers throughout, one small, 7 full-page and 16 large miniatures within architectural borders with side-panels and bas-de-page scenes, 24 miniatures of the signs of the zodiac and the occupations of the month in the Calendar, the suffrages with miniatures of the saints in the borders, each page with richly decorated full-borders incorporating architectural motifs, geometric patterns, foliate sprays, pictorial scenes and drolleries, most bearing the repeated initials ‘A’ and ‘L’ in liquid gold and the motto ‘A forsa, ex forso’, ff.78 and 79v with the banderoles ‘Qui bien mire, bien voit, qui bien ce voit, bien ce co[nnoit]’ and ‘Espouer en Dieu’ [sic] (Gospel extracts misbound, with Luke coming before Matthew, lacking likely 4 leaves of which probably 3 with miniatures including the Gospel of Mark, the beginning of Obsecro te and end of O intemerata, and the opening of the Hours of the Virgin). 19th-century French red straight-grain morocco gilt, blue silk linings (spine a little rubbed). Blue slip-case and green quarter-morocco box, gilt title on spine. Content: Calendar ff.1-6v; Gospel extracts, Obsecro te and O intemerata ff.7-11v; Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome, ff.12-43v: matins f.12, lauds f.20, prime f.26, terce f.28, sext f.30; none f.32, vespers f.34, compline f.37v; Hours of the Cross ff.44-46v; Hours of the Holy Spirit ff.47-49; Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany ff.50v-59; Office of the Dead, use of Rome ff.60-80v; suffrages ff.82-86v; Prayer of St Augustine ff.87-90; Prayer to the Virgin f.90; Seven prayers of St Gregory ff.90v-91. Illumination: This lavishly decorated manuscript shows how illuminators were inspired by the dense embellishments of printed Hours to extend the format and content of their manuscript pages. This cross-fertilisation between manuscript and printed hours was facilitated at the turn of the 16th century by a select group of artists who both illuminated manuscripts and designed cuts for printed books. The miniatures in this extravagant and highly individual Book of Hours are by at least three – if not four – distinct illuminators. The principal programme of illumination fits into the extensively decorated Hours associated with the Master of Martainville 183, an artist named from a Book of Hours in the Bibliothèque municipale in Rouen, greatly indebted to Jean Pichore and Jean Bourdichon who played a major role in the production of a small group of Parisian manuscripts that are decorated with richly historiated borders at the turn of 16th century. The miniatures by this ‘Pichoresque’ hand related to the Martainville Master are executed with a greater refinement and sensitivity than other works attributed to the Master, like the Martainville Hours themselves, the ‘Libro de Horas de Carlo V’ (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Vitr. 24.3), a Books of Hours in San Marino (Huntington Library HM 1250) and one in London (British Library, Harley 2936), which are peopled by clumsier, more crudely modelled figures (see C. Zöhl, Jean Pichore Buchmaler, Graphiker und Verlegerin Paris um 1500, 2004, especially pp.46-7). There are close similarities, in terms of the intricate ornament of the borders and rich colours and skilful detailing of the miniatures, to a Book of Hours in Vienna, ÖNB cod.1927, where the same physical ty