ENLUMINATION. ANTIPHONARY. Historiated initial... Lot 27

[ENLUMINATION]. [ANTIPHONARY]. Historiated initial D. Pentecost Illuminated border: architectural decor, interior of a church, balustrade, altar and baptismal font surrounded by pews. Leaf from an antiphonary. Recto : End of the octave of the Ascension. Verso : Vespers for the eve of Pentecost followed by matins for Pentecost. Music with square notation on staves with 4 lines. Tempera, gouache and liquid gold on parchment. Belgium, Ghent or Bruges, circa 1500-1510. Sheet size : 345 x 488 mm ; size of the historiated initial : 83 x 75 mm The parchment is a little wrinkled in places but in good condition. Note the parallels with a group of Pentecost scenes commented on by D. Vanwijnsberghe, including that of the Antiphonary of Oosteeklo (Flanders, 1498) [see Vanwijnsberghe, 2015, fig. 8]; that of the Gradual of Sion (temporal), Flanders, 1507 [see Vanwijnsberghe, 2015, fig. 9]; that of the Gradual of the Hospital of the Magdalen, Flanders, 1504 [see Vanwijnsberghe, 2015, fig. 10]. Comes from an antiphonary painted in Bruges with historiated initials and borders reminiscent of the art of the so-called Raphael de Mercatellis Masters. These artists formed a collective of anonymous miniaturists active around 1470-1510, probably in different workshops in Ghent and Bruges. They are named after their most notable patron Raphael de Mercatellis (1437-1508), the illegitimate son of Philip the Good of Burgundy who served as abbot of St. Bavo in Ghent and became the most important humanist bibliophile in the Netherlands. The workshop also executed famous commissions for many other illustrious clients such as the Missal of Jan van Broedere (died 1526), abbot and humanist scholar of Grammont Abbey (Geraardsbergen). Bibliography : As-Vijvers, A.-M., Re-Making the Margin..., Turnhout, 2013. - Derolez, A. The Library of Raphael de Mercatellis, Ghent, 1979. - Dogaer, G. Flemish miniature painting in the 15th and 16th centuries, Amsterdam, 1987, pp. 151-155. - Wijsman, H. Luxury Bound: Illustrated Manuscript Production and Noble and Princely Book Ownership in the Burgaudain Netherlands (1400-1550), Turnhout, 2010, pp. 282-283. - Vanwijnsberghe, D. " The Oosteeklo Antiphonary and its illuminator (Cornelia van Wulfschkercke?)," in CeROArt, June 2015.