LIGHTING Initial "P" historiated. St. Clare of... Lot 6

[LIGHTING] Initial "P" historiated. St. Clare of Assisi Fragment from an antiphonary or a gradual? Tempera, gouache, ink and burnished gold on parchment Italy, Bologna, c. 1430-1440 Anonymous Bolognese miniaturist (in the style of Cristoforo Cortese) Dimensions: H. 98 x L. 88 mmOn a gold background, the initial "P" is a pinkish beige . On a blue background with white ornamental motifs, St. Clare of Assisi, in prayer, looks into the distance. A disciple of St. Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi lived in the 13th century and was the founder of the order of the Poor Ladies (Poor Clares). The traditional iconography represents her in the dress of the Franciscan nuns, with the three-knotted rope. In the 15th century she sometimes wore a striped penitent's cloak, which is the case in this initial. This intense shade of blue combined with pinkish beige and brown ochre contributes to the elegance of this miniature. It may have belonged to an antiphonal or gradual commissioned by a Franciscan convent, certainly feminine. This historiated initial appears painted in a Bolognese environment. The linearism that agitates the contours and gives the folds a racy appearance, enhanced by the black and white chromatic play, a greyish complexion, may in fact recall the manners of Cristoforo Cortese, and in particular the miniatures of the Libellus de Supplemento (Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna, ms. 1574) that he would have made around 1420, before his stay in Bologna around 1430. In addition to the influence of Cortese's manner, the present St. Clare can also be related to the Master of the Orsini Missal (Vatican Library, Archives of St. Peter, B66) active in Bologna around 1420. Text: in Latin, Gothic liturgical writing . On the back, a musical staff of four lines drawn in red and some letters "[...] um". Associated page: to be compared cer