Attribué à Entourage du Maître de l'Échevinage... Lot n° 3

ENLUMINATED BOOK OF HOURS FOR THE USE OF ORLEANS Paris, ca. 1480 In Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment With historiated borders; 17 large miniatures by several artists including the Master of the Echevinage of Rouen (1), the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, perhaps in collaboration with other artists of his workshop (13) and the workshop of Master François, perhaps a close collaborator of François Barbier père (3) and numerous historiated borders, figured or decorated with funnies 171 ff, leaves numbered 1 to 170 with f. 20bis, preceded and followed by two paper guards, apparently complete (collation: i-ii6, iii-xxii8), gothic writing in brown ink (15 lines per page, justification: 98 x 105 mm), parchment ruled in pale red ink , headings in red, capitals highlighted in yellow, pink and blue line-ends highlighted in white and set with diamond or besant motifs in burnished gold, a few line-ends with floral motifs, single-line initials in gold on blue and pink backgrounds highlighted in white, larger blue or red initials with two or three lines of height gilded on a dark red or blue background decorated with gilded foliage or vegetal motifs, borders on all pages, colored acanthus leaves, birds, flowers, fruits and foliage on reserved backgrounds, most of the borders enriched with a figurative or historical decoration. Romantic 19th century binding, decorated with a plate, brown glazed calf, spine with 5 nerves, linings and endpapers of pink tabis, binding signed at the end of the spine : " Bound by P. Serre ". Good general condition, some chipped paintings and traces of humidity 190 x 135 mm (bound volume : H. 20 cm ; L. 14,5 cm ; Th. : 4 cm) Provenance Private collection, North of France This rare book of hours is for the unusual liturgical use of the diocese of Orleans (Hours of the Virgin, Office of the Dead). It was intended for a woman ("famula tua" in Obsecro te), who is depicted in prayer before the Virgin in the miniature on folio 111 with her husband as donor in the border. Its rich decoration was done by three different artists, one of whom, the Master of the Echevinage of Rouen, worked in Rouen, sometimes in close collaboration with artists from Paris and Tours. The miniatures painted by the Master of the Scandalous Chronicle are also marked by influences from the Loire, which highlights the great dynamism of cultural and artistic exchanges in the late Middle Ages. As for the borders populated with full-length figures, some decorated with a cycle of angels carrying the instruments of the Passion or a series of mourners show that our Parisian painters and illuminators had a fine knowledge of Burgundian art and in particular of the production of the Master of the Burgundian Prelates (angels, mourners), perhaps through the intermediary of the patron. Other borders, notably those that adorn the Office of the Dead, offer an interesting gallery of contemporary characters. Text (ff : leaves) ff. 1-12v : Universal calendar of Paris (January 3, feast of "Octave Saint Jehan" instead of Saint Genevieve; July 26, "Saint Anne" instead of Saint Marcel). Note however the feast of the "Delivrance d "Orliens" on May 9 (instead of the Translation of the relics of Saint Nicolas, celebrated this day outside Paris). The calendar follows the one noted by Erik Drigsdhal (http://manuscripts.org.uk/ chd.dk/cals/pariscal.html, last consulted on 23/10/2021). ff. 13-22v : Evangelical pericopes ff. 23-23v : blank page ff. 24-83v : Hours of the Virgin according to the use of Orleans, with Prime, antiphon : " Post partum " and capitula : " Felix namque " ; Nones, antiphon : " Pulcra es " and capitula : " Per te dei " ; ff. 84-93: Hours of the Cross f. 93v: blank folio ff. 94-100v: Hours of the Holy Spirit ff. 101-107v : Obsecro te, with feminine inflection "[...] et michi famula tua [...]" (f. 103v) and other prayers to the Virgin ff. 108-125v : Psalms of penance and litanies ff. 126-170v : Office of the dead according to the usage of Orleans, with the following nine lessons : 1) Credo quod ; 2) Qui Lazarum ; 3) Domine quando ; 4) Ne perdideris ; 5) Memento mei ; 6) Ne tradas ; 7) Heu michi ; 8) Peccantem me ; 9) Libera me. Conforms to the statement of Leroquais (Office des morts, n° 101). ff. 171-171v : blank page This book of hours ends with the Office of the Dead. It does not contain the suffrages, or prayers to the saints, as is also noted in other manuscripts such as, for example, the famous Berbisey Hours illuminated by the Master of the Burgundian Prelates at the end of the 15th century (Dijon, BM, ms. 3765, published in Art de l "Enluminure, n° 13, 2005). Illustration Our manuscript presents borders populated with full-length figures which complete a rich decoration composed of the illustration of the months of the calendar and 17 large miniatures, which introduce the great liturgical divisions of this book of hours