Illuminated leaf from the Breviary of Lionello d’Este, in Latin [Italy (Ferrara), between 1441 and 1448]

single leaf, 255x200mm, vellum, 2 columns, 30 lines, 165x125mm, with five illuminated initials and four vertical borders at the beginning of lessons V-IX of the feast of St Francis (4 Oct.), with a vertical crease not affecting the legibility of the text or decoration, in a double-sided frame

The parent manuscript of this leaf is often called the Llangattock Breviary because it belonged to the Barons Llangattock, and it was in their sale at Christie's, 8 December 1958, lot 190, where it was bought by Goodspeed’s of Boston, who broke it up by 1959; it is now scattered in collections around the world, but a virtual reunification is currently underway on the 'Broken Books' website (brokenbooks.omeka.net). Leaves have been sold in our rooms several times, most recently on 7 July 2015, lot 26.

From the same manuscript as lot 57. The leaf which immediately preceded this one in the parent volume is now in the Louvre, Paris (see F. Toniolo in Les enluminures du Louvre, 2011, no.45). The most comprehensive recent study of the Breviary is F. Toniolo, ‘Il lungo viaggio del Breviario di Lionello d'Este tra le due sponde dell'Atlantico’, in Medioevo: arte e storia, 2008, pp.564-77.