The Finding of the Holy Cross, illuminated miniature from a manuscript Gradual on vellum

a cutting, 145 mm. by 104 mm., the central portion of a historiated initial 'N' (probably the introit "Nos autem gloriari oportet" for the Mass for the Finding of the Cross, 3 May), Saint Helen falling to her knees in the foreground and clasping her hands in prayer as she recognises the Cross held up for her by two men with white beards, other men and women crowding round, coloured hills behind and golden rays pouring down from Heaven through a cloudy blue sky, all within a highly burnished gold initial with coloured leafy surround, verso with parts of 2 lines of music on 4-line red stave and of text in a rounded gothic hand, very slight wear at edges, in moulded wooden frame

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.
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From the collection of William Young Ottley (1771-1836); his sale in these rooms, 11 May 1838, lot 38 ("One – The Holy Women and others at the Foot of the Cross", 8 shillings to Thomas Rodd, d. 1849).  Subsequently in the collections of Robert S. Holford (1808-1892) and Sir George Holford (1860-1926; R. H. Benson, The Holford Collection, Dorchester House, Oxford, 1927, p. 3, no. 27 b and plate XXVI, as Sienese); Holford sale in these rooms, 12 July 1927, lot 16, with two others (the following lot, and an initial of a priest reading which was re-sold by Eric Korner in these rooms, 7 December 1953, lot 24).

This is one of the finest miniatures by the Master of the Murano Gradual, from the Murano Gradual itself, illuminated for the Camaldolese monastery of San Michele on the island of Murano in the lagoon of Venice, which was plundered by Napoleonic troops.  Many cuttings were in the Ottley sale of 1838, recording Murano as their origin.  A Gradual from Murano in very similar style is in Berlin (Kupferstichkabinett MS 78 F.1).  The miniatures are sometimes attributed to the peripatetic artist Belbello da Pavia (fl. c. 1430 – c.1473), painter of the Visconti Hours, or to a close follower, but most scholars now prefer 'Master of the Murano Gradual'.  Opinions on the date of the Murano cuttings vary from the early fifteenth century to after 1461; the most recent dating (see below) suggests c. 1420.  "Among the Murano Master's salient features are the monumental, voluminous, tubular fabrics, the haloes with floral patterns ... and the plasticity of the faces,  whose bone-structure appears as if sculpted above the parchment surface, and whose eyes with their strong white highlights, sparkle against their dark sun-blushed complexion.  It is the expression of the faces ... tense, questioning, grave and sometimes even fierce ... that constitutes the Murano Master's hallmark" (Panayotova, Medieval Imagination, p. 109).

The Golden Legend tells that Saint Helen was the daughter of King Clohel of Britain.  She was the mother of Constantine, who sent her to Jerusalem to search for the Cross itself.  The Jews refused to help, until Helen threatened starvation to an extremely old scholar named Judas, who took her to a place where the earth shook and cast up the Cross.  Judas was converted and became Quiriacus, bishop of Jerusalem.

Recent publications on the Master of the Murano Gradual include E. Kirsch in Medieval & Renaissance Miniatures from the National Gallery of Art, ed. C. Nordenfalk, 1975, pp. 70-74, no. 21; T. Kren and K. Barstowe, Italian Illuminated Manuscripts in the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005, p. xvi and 63; S. Panayotova in The Cambridge Illuminations, ed. P. Binski and S. Panayotova, 2005, pp. 150-52, no. 60, and in The Medieval Imagination, ed. B. Stocks and N. Morgan, Melbourne, 2008, pp. 108-9, no. 35.