Antiphoner containing the Common of the Saints, in Latin, manuscript on vellum

162 leaves (incorrectly numbered 161 but followed here), 588mm. by 434mm., complete, collation i-xix^{8, xx10, horizontal quire-signatures, written space 414mm. by 306mm., music on five four-line staves in red with text to accompany in black ink in a fine accomplished bookhand (most probably that of Fra Valentino of Villanova Sillaro), titles, verse numbers and incipits in red ink, paragraph marks in blue, numerous small initials in black ink in calligraphic script touched in pale green with elaborate black penwork infill and flourishes often outlining plants and animals, quire-signatures decorated in same, numerous larger initials (the height of the text and three quarters of the stave) in red or blue on grounds divided up by white-vine style decoration touched with red, yellow, green, purple and blue, and contained within penwork frames (that on fol. 74r overpainted, and that on 85r smudged, otherwise perfect),} five large initials in burnished gold enclosed within pink or blue foliate sprays on coloured ground heightened with intricate liquid-gold infill and flourishes (fols. 2r, 20r, 22r, 64r, 90r; that on 2r slightly smudged) seven large initials in coloured foliate designs on burnished gold ground  (fols. 18r, 21r, 62r, 137r, 139r, 158v, 160r), seven small historiated initials in coloured foliate designs with elaborate organic extensions into the margin, on burnished gold ground (fols. 39v, 66v, 67r, 86v, 89v, 107r, 128v, with some minor flaking to gold), eight large historiated initials composed of foliage, architectural pieces, masks and putti on burnished gold grounds (fols. 1r, 4v, 24v, 45v, 71r, 94r, 113r, 142v), the initial page with border decoration in foliate and architectural designs with bas-de-page containing a grassy landscape with hills and cities in the background, and in the middle of which are two putti holding a laurel wreath enclosing Golgotha (somewhat rubbed), some repairs to parchment along base of a few folios, otherwise on fine and thick vellum with wide and clean margins, in outstanding condition, nineteenth century tooled calf, in fitted case

This is evidently the single surviving volume of the twenty lost choirbooks illuminated by the Master 'B. F.' for the Olivetan monastery of SS. Angelo e Nicolò in Villanova Sillaro

provenance

1. Almost certainly commissioned by the Olivetan community of SS. Angelo e Nicolò of Villanova Sillaro, near Lodi, a few miles from Milan, written by the scribe Fra Valentino from the same community, in a three year period of work around the year 1483, and illuminated by the Master 'B. F.' in the early decades of the sixteenth century (probably 1500-10, and certainly pre-1536); most probably seized from there in 1799 by Napoleonic troops.

2. Sold in our rooms 3 June 1902, lot 237, for £48; and again 18 June 1903, lot 819, for £20, 5 shillings, to the London bookdealer Tregaskis.

3. Sidney Young (1843-1914), antiquarian, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and twice Master of the Worshipful Company of Barbers of London; his notes and signatures on flyleaves and interleaved (note that in pencil on last endleaf recording a joke by Tregaskis, that the Latin abbreviation EOE which stands last in this volume, stood for 'errors and omissions excepted') and by descent through his family.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

text

This monumental antiphonal contains the complete Common of the Saints and was produced for a monastery of the Olivetan order (founded 1313, and confined mostly to Italy): the bas-de-page of the initial page contains the armorial devices of the Olivetan order, and the monks present in the large historiated initials on fols. 71r, 45v, 24v and 94r wear the habits of that order.

The fact that the illumination is that of the Milanese Master B. F. and his workshop, and that the initials bear a striking resemblance to a number of initials identified as most probably cut from a series of choirbooks produced for the Olivetan monastery of SS. Angelo e Nicolò in Villanova Sillaro (see below), allows us to identify the scribe as the skilled and learned Fra Valentino of the same community. He is named in a chronicle of the monastery, probably written in the period 1578-83 by the abbot, which was lost for many years but recently discovered in the Milan State Archive (see G. M. Canova Miniature dell'Italia settentrionale nella Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 1978, p. 60), which also records that it took him three years (around the year 1483) to write all twenty volumes.

The illumination is clearly that of an artist known from a series of monograms as the Master 'B. F.', and compares well to other compositions of his, such as that for the church of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan (now Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E 10) and that for Agostino Ferrero, bishop of Vercelli, 1511-36 (now Milan, Ambrosian Library, MS. H 87; for a complete list of works ascribed to the artist see M. L. D'Ancona, Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations, 1970, 100-03). Moreover, the initials bear a striking resemblance in form and content to those cut-out initials from a series of choirbooks produced for the Olivetan monastery of  SS. Angelo e Nicolò in Villanova Sillaro, discussed by P. Toesca in 1930 (Monumenta e studi per la storia della miniatura italiana. I: La Collezione di Ulrico Hoepli, 1930, pp. 117-18). These initials appeared on the European market some time in the earliest decades of the nineteenth century: a number of them were sold in the Abate Celotti sale, Christie's 26 May 1825 (having already sold his books in our rooms; apparently consigning his cuttings to Christie's as they were more frequented by picture dealers) and the Ottley sale of 1838, and larger collections of them subsequently emerged in the Northwick sales in our rooms 16 November 1925 and 21 May 1928 (13 initials in total) and the Holford sale in our rooms 12 July 1927, lots 29-42 (23 fragments in total). The recorded initials are now Pierpont Morgan Library M.725; British Library, Addit. MSS 39636 (12 fragments in total) & 37955b, Berlin Kupferstichkabinett 626 & 1246; Wallace Collection, London, M.325-6, 333-5; Free Library of Philadelphia, M.72, 11a, M.28, 19, M.72, 116, M.72, 49-54; the Wildenstein Collection; and most recently the J. P. Getty Museum, MS. 56: ex. Ehlers Collection, Leipzig. The only pieces to survive in Italy remain in the possession of the monastery itself - through the intervention of a local priest who rescued a handful of initials and border-pieces from the local community. It seems likely that they were liberated from the monastery in 1799, when Napoleon led the French troops in Italy against the joint armies of Austria and Piedmont. Having forced Piedmont to surrender he gave chase to the retreating Austrian forces, meeting 3 battalions of their vanguard at Lodi. Napoleon ordered a risky full frontal assault on the fortified bridge, and succeeded - this famous success creating his belief in his own destiny. The Napoleonic troops used monastic buildings in Lodi itself as temporary barracks, and it seems likely that they may also have taken temporary possession of Villanova Sillaro's buildings, and perhaps more permanent possession of some of their treasures at this time.

Thus this manuscript is the only recorded volume of this celebrated set of choirbooks to survive intact and complete. Considering the size and weight of the present volume, it is easy to understand why troops on the march would have found it expedient to cut out the valuable initials from the books they had seized, and thus its survival is remarkable. It is most probably the only volume which did survive the eighteenth century, and perhaps we might speculate that it was carried off as private booty rather than saleable chattels by an officer of some wealth and importance. As such, it is of immense art-historical and codicological value, and is deserving of much future study.

illumination

The Master 'B. F.' was primarily active in Milan in the closing decades of the fifteenth century and the opening decades of the sixteenth. His High Renaissance style recalls that of Bramante's frescos in the Brera Museum in Milan which were executed in the 1480s, and shows clear influences of the school of Leonardo da Vinci, especially the work of Cesare da Sesto (1477-1523).

As only 17 of over 180 manuscripts and cuttings recorded by D'Ancona as attributed to the Master 'B. F.' bear the hidden monogram 'BF' or 'B', it is not surprising that it cannot be found on the initials in the present volume. The palette and style, however, clearly identify the work as that of the artist: his characteristic colour scheme is present, particularly in his use of a golden orange colour in the robes of his figures (as in the Wildenstein Collection cutting containing an initial C enclosing King David; see D'Ancona, pl. 24), which appears on figures in the initials on both fols. 1r and 4v of the present volume, and the bluish-green foliage in the background of the scenes which can be seen in the initials on fols. 4v, 24v and 45v of the present volume. Stylistic features confirm this impression, and many of the figures in the present volume can be paralleled in the other known works of the artist, with oval faces tilted at a 70º angle, rather glum expressions, a mass of flowing golden ringlets for hair (see in particular fol. 39v of the present volume), and hard broken folds in the drapery of their clothing.

The present initials do not only share general features with the known works of this artist, but also share close physical features with the initials cut from the lost choirbooks. In particular, comparison of the architectural background (pillars and a distinctive scalloped archway) in the initial on fol. 71r of the present volume with that of an initial B enclosing Olivetan monks knelt in prayer offered recently for sale by Les Enluminures, reveals a common pattern-book in use by the artist and his workshop. Moreover, the bodies of the initials in both their foliate and architectural components mirror those of the cut initials, and in size most of the present initials (both large and small) compare well to the majority of the cut initials (see for example lots 31-36 and 38-40 in the Holford sale which measure approximately 16.5-17cm. by 17-16cm and 7-8 by 7-8 cm. respectively).

Since Toesca's identification of the origin of the cuttings, debate has raged about the identity of this elusive artist. Suggestions have mainly focussed on possible extrapolations of the monogram 'BF', to read B(artholomeus) F(ecit),  interpreted as Bartolomeo Neroni, the brother-in-law of the Italian Mannerist painter Sodoma (1477-c. 1549); or the reversed initials of the artist known as Francesco da Lonate dicto Binasco, who was a jeweller and draughtsman, and worked in 1513 as engraver for the mint at Milan under Duke Massimiliano Sforza. The most recent suggestion is perhaps the most likely; Canova notes that the re-discovered chronicle of Villanova Sillaro names Fra Giovanni da Verona (c. 1457-1525), an artist otherwise known as sculptor, miniaturist and architect, as the illuminator of the volumes. While based on solid evidence, this offers no obvious explanation of the monogram; and perhaps it should be read as the mark of the workshop rather than the individual artist.

The subjects of the historiated initials are:

1. Folio 1r, large initial T enclosing full length portraits of SS. Peter and Paul with keys and sword respectively in a grassy landscape, mountains and a line-drawn winged putti as background, foliate extensions filling two borders, another border with similar foliage growing from a ornamental pot standing on a decorated cornerpiece, bas-de-page containing a grassy landscape with hills and cities in the background, and in the middle of which are two putti holding a laurel wreath enclosing Golgotha, somewhat rubbed, 160mm. by 155mm.

2. Folio 4v, large initial E enclosing full length portraits of Christ and the two travellers on the road to Emmaus, set in a grassy landscape, foliate extensions into margin, 165mm. by 150mm.

3. Folio 24v, large initial I enclosing full length portrait of a standing saint wearing the habit of an Olivetan monk, holding a book and a palm frond, set in a grassy landscape with line drawn angels in sky, foliate extensions in margin extend from a large dolphin with a putti sitting atop his head, 165mm. by 75mm.

4. Folio 39v, small initial Q enclosing half length portrait of a confessor, holding arrows and a palm frond, foliate extensions into margin, 85mm. by 80mm.

5. Folio 45v, large initial A enclosing full length portrait of a saint wearing the habit of an Olivetan monk holding a book, standing between two other saints with swords who hold palm fronds, set in a grassy landscape with mountains, a city and wide open sky in background, foliate extensions into margin, 170mm. by 160mm.

6. Folio 66v, small initial S enclosing half length portrait of a bishop in episcopal robes, mitre, holding a crosier and resting his other hand on a book, 90mm. by 90mm.

7. Folio 67r, small initial O enclosing half length portrait of a Doctor of the Church wearing Episcopal robes and the three-tiered papal crown, holding an open book, 80mm. by 75mm.

8. Folio 71r, large initial E enclosing full length portraits of a seated Pope holding a crosier and blessing with his other hand, surrounded by four standing Olivetan monks, all before an elaborate architectural interior with pillars and scalloped arches, foliate extensions into margin, 160mm. by 170mm.

9. Folio 86v, small initial E enclosing half length portrait of a bishop wearing episcopal robes and mitre, and holding a crosier and a book, 85mm. by 90mm.

10. Folio 89v, small initial Q enclosing half length portrait of a bishop wearing episcopal robes and mitre, and holding a crosier and blessing, 80mm. by 73mm.

10. Folio 94r, large initial E enclosing full length portrait of a standing saint wearing the habit of an Olivetan monk, holding a crosier and a book, set in a grassy landscape with wide open sky, foliate extensions into margin, 160mm. by 170mm.

11. Folio 107r, small initial D enclosing half length portrait of a saint wearing the habit of an Olivetan monk holding a book, 80mm. by 85mm.

12. Folio 113r, large initial V enclosing full length portrait of St. Catherine with a book, palm frond and her wheel, set in grassy landscape with mountains and wide open sky as background, some minor smudging to background, 165mm. by 170mm.

13. Folio 128v, small miniature H enclosing half length portrait of a Virgin holding a book and palm frond, 80mm. by 88mm.

14. Folio 142v, large miniature I enclosing full length portraits of a pope holding a censer with attendants with vessel for holy water, in procession through a church, followed by two cardinals and another attendant, interior architectural background of arches, and recess containing an altar and crucifix, 160mm. by 145mm.