Lot 11

St. Paul Preaching, historiated initial from an illuminated choirbook, manuscript on vellum [northern Italy (probably Verona), second half of the fourteenth century]

Estimate

10,000 - 15,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Vellum

a cutting, 155mm. by 134mm., with a large initial 'P' (perhaps opening the Postcommunion 'Perceptis domine ...' at Mass on the feast of St. Paul, 30 June), in hot red with intense shades of green, blue and purple acanthus-leaf sprays, gold bezants and a human face, enclosing a detailed half-length portrait of the saint, one hand raised in blessing, the other holding a book, all on blue ground with fine white tracery, leafy extensions into border with the upper half of a naked putto beneath the initial, very slight flaking from edge of saint's head, else excellent condition, laid down in card mount

Provenance

Provenance: from the album of cuttings assembled by the Scottish antiquary, James Dennistoun (1803-55); bought c.1930 from Dennistoun's granddaughter by Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-1983), Lord Clark of Saltwood, director of the National Gallery; his sale in our rooms, 3 July 1984, lot 100, item 2.

Catalogue Note

This miniature is closely related to and might be a fragment of a series of choir books produced by Turone di Maxio and his workshop in the late 1360s for the Cathedral of Verona. The artist was of Lombard origin, but worked mostly in Verona in the period c.1350-90, where his bulky Lombardic style transformed Veronese painting. The saint's features are finely executed, but what is most eye-catching is the brightness and energy of the palette, and the richness of the blue ground and the crystalline purple-pink of the body of the initial are lifted and emphasised by the large area of burnished gold in the centre of the initial.