Beschreibung:

Details
The Master of the Troyes Missal (active mid-15th century)
Mass of St Gregory, miniature from an illuminated manuscript Book of Hours on vellum [Troyes, c.1460s]
A richly evocative scene painted by the Master of the Troyes Missal, 'the most outstanding personality in Troyes illumination of the mid-15th century'.
195 x 140mm, single leaf, 16 lines, the recto with the end of the prayer ‘O intemerata’, the verso with the beginning of the Seven Prayers of St Gregory, ‘Domine Ihesu Christe adoro te in cruce pendentem […]’, four lines of text and a four-line foliate initial below a large arch-topped miniature depicting St Gregory kneeling before an altar, an acolyte holding a lighted taper and the hem of his chasuble, the altar with two open books, two candlesticks, and a chalice, behind which appears the vision of Christ in his tomb, surrounded by the Instruments of the Passion (dice, hammer, lance, sudarium, etc.), the whole surrounded by a full foliate border (the outer margins darkened, not affecting the text or decoration). Mounted and framed.
Provenance:
Sold anonymously as one of eight miniatures from the same Book of Hours (‘apparently from the same MS […] but by a different hand’) at Sotheby’s, 26 October 1948, lot 437, bought for £16 by Quaritch.
Illumination:
The Master of the Troyes Missal – named for a manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (lat. 865A) written by the scribe Jean Coquet around 1460 – is described by Francois Avril as ‘the most outstanding personality in Troyes illumination of the mid-15th century’ (ex. cat. Très riches heures de Champagne, 2007, p.126). Troyes was the principal centre of book production in the Champagne during the second half of the 15th century, a period in which the luxurious manuscripts emanating from the region made it a viable alternative to Paris for wealthy patrons, and the Master of the Troyes Missal was the most highly sought-after artist resident in that city. Widespread demand from amongst the pious laity for Books of Hours, the most popular devotional text of the Middle Ages, won the Master of the Troyes Missal many commissions; he produced manuscripts for patrons in the surrounding Champagne region and elsewhere in eastern France (for the Master and his work, see F. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, 1993, pp.180-184).
The elegantly attenuated figures with planar faces, the rich brocade tapestries, and the chequered green floors are hallmarks of the artist also found in a Book of Hours from the collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, sold at Christie's on 23 April 2021, lot 7.
Christie's would like to thank Gregory Clark for the attribution of this miniature.