Beschreibung:

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST SEBASTIAN, historiated initial 'A' on a leaf from the Sanctorale of an illuminated Antiphonal on vellum [Tournai, c.1400-1410]. A striking leaf from the winter portion of an Antiphonal illuminated by an artist working in Tournai in the ambit of Jean Semont. 497 x 320mm. Historiated initial 'A' opening 'Absterget deus omnem lacrimam', 11 lines of text and music on a 4-line stave, reverse with 5 decorated penwork initials in red or blue (some marginal dampstaining, a few tiny losses to the gold). Provenance : (1) This leaf comes from an Antiphonal made in Tournai c.1400-1410 for a Benedictine convent, as shown by the nun kneeling by the Annunciation in a sister-leaf sold at Christie's, 21 November 2012, lot 16, probably in a French-speaking area, as indicated by the fact that the names of six of the saints on other leaves are written in French in the margin, presumably as a guide to the illuminator. (2) By the late 15th century the manuscript was apparently in a Dutch-speaking area, as indicated by a rubric in Dutch added to another surviving leaf. (3)The 24 known leaves from the manuscript were together in an album when sold at Sotheby's, 11 July 1966, lot 213; the 15 leaves with significant decoration (four of which sold at Christie's in 2012, lots 16-19 — lots 16 and 19 now nos 26a and 26b in P. Kidd, The McCarthy Collection , 2019, pp.130-33 — nine with small initials of saints and one with a decorated initial) were nos 1-15 in Catalogue 179, Philip C. Duschnes, New York, 1966. (2) This leaf offered in BEL, Illuminations , 1996-1997, no 27. The decoration is typical of Tournai: the striking bar borders, the bold initials with delicately pounced gold and the beaded flourishing are all parallelled in manuscripts illuminated by Jean Semont, active in Tournai from c.1385 until his death in 1414. The historiated initials, however, reveal a distinct and more talented artistic personality. Compared to Semont, our artist has a more detailed and painterly technique, carefully modelling the faces and drapery of his elegant figures to a more expressive and three-dimensional effect, reinforced by his greater mastery of perspective. In this he emulates the innovations associated with Early Netherlandish painters in oil. Tournai was central to the extraordinary artistic developments evident in the work of Robert Campin (identfied with the Master of Flémalle), documented in Tournai from 1406 until his death in 1444, his pupil Rogier van der Weyden born in Tournai in 1399/1400, and the Van Eycks. The exceptionally thorough iconoclasm in Tournai in the 16th century means that little is known of the artistic context of Campin's mature achievements or Van der Weyden's youth. Tournai manuscript illumination is, therefore, increasingly appreciated for its importance for the history of art as well as for its inherent qualities. When known only from the reproductions of 1966, these leaves were deemed essential for understanding the artistic milieu of Tournai around 1400, see Dominique Vanwijnsberghe "Moult bons et notables" L'enluminure tournaisienne à l'époque de Robert Campin (1380-1430) , Leuven 2007, pp.194-199, 272, 284, 352 (cat. XXVI).