St. James the Great, historiated initial on a cutting from an illuminated manuscript choirbook on vellum [Lombardy, second quarter of the fifteenth century]

a cutting, 66mm. by 62mm., with an initial 'P' in light-brown with soft tones of the same and white penwork picking out rows of circles and scrolling vinework, on highly burnished gold grounds, enclosing a finely detailed portrait of the saint with a pounced gold halo, holding his pilgrim's staff and a gilt-edged book on blue grounds with scrolling white penwork terminating in flowers, verso with remnants of one line of text "de-i" with music on a 4-line stave, tiny areas of flaking from drapery and gold crackled, else stunning condition

This miniature is attributed to the Olivetan Master (Gerolamo da Milano), and its soft green-toned facial features with downcast eyes and a furrowed brow captures the deep level of emotional expression which is the hallmark of his work. He was confused with the Master of the Vitae Imperatorum until Alison Stones identified his independent hand in 1969 ('An Italian Miniature in the Gambier-Parry Collection' in The Burlington Magazine CXI). He names himself and records that he was a member of the Olivetan order in an initial from Milan dated 1439 (now in the Cini Foundation, Venice). He is documented from 1429 to 1449. 27 works by him are recorded, of which 23 are single leaves or cuttings (Bollati, The Olivetan Gradual, 2008, pp. 34-38).