Spanish Forger, historiated initials with scenes from life of Christ, illuminated manuscripts on vellum [probably France, late nineteenth or early twentieth century]

two cuttings, both 157mm. by 140mm. (a) large initial 'A' in pink with white scrollwork, coloured foliage sprays at corners, apex and base, enclosing a 'Noli me tangere' scene with Mary Magdalene kneeling before Christ clothed only in his burial robes, before a river and a medieval walled city; (b) large initial 'R' enclosing Christ holding a banner with a St. George's cross, and standing before his tomb and a walled city, exposing his wounds to followers; both on crackled burnished gold grounds, and with 12 lines of script from a fifteenth-century liturgical volume of Spanish origin on verso, excellent condition

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."

These are appealing examples of this notorious forger's work, produced in the late nineteenth or very early twentieth centuries, and sold to private collectors and museums alike. Doubts about the age of his work emerged as early as 1914, were crystallised by Belle da Costa Greene in 1939, and the definitive work is now that of W. Voekle, The Spanish Forger, 1978 (with a substantial catalogue of examples, but excluding the present cuttings). The identity of the artist remains a mystery, but suspicion appears to fall ever closer to an associate of the Parisian publisher Firmin-Didot (cf. Manuscript Illumination in the Modern Age, 2001, pp.157-62). The first initial here is close to another Noli me tangere by the same artist (Voekle, M.2.2, fig.93), one of a series of initials added to a sixteenth-century Spanish Lectionary (now Yale, Beinecke MS.283). The forger removed the end portion of this Lectionary and used at least one of the leaves for another composition (L.85, fig.226). The initials here would both appear to be painted on other leaves of this Spanish manuscript, and were probably executed at the same time as the Yale volume.