The Crucifixion and God the Father Enthroned, two miniatures from an illuminated Missal, on vellum [northern France (Paris), c.1520-30]

two single leaves, 365mm. by 290mm., with two facing full-page miniatures by Jean Coene, opening the Canon of the Mass, on leaf 1 the Crucifixion, with Christ mourned by the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, the tearful Mary Magdalene kneeling at the bottom of the cross, in the background a city view and an atmospheric sky with glowing clouds, on leaf 2 God the Father enthroned in heaven, sitting on a magnificent Renaissance throne, surrounded by the symbols of the four Evangelists holding scrolls inscribed with their names, within full borders of coloured acanthus, flowers, strawberries, various birds and roundels with gold crosses on blue grounds at the centre of the lower borders, illumination with small pigment losses, clean with wide margins, the reverses blank

Charles Brinsley Marlay (1829-1912) of Cambridge who bequeathed the main part of his collection of 18 manuscripts and 240 illuminated cuttings to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge in 1912; gifted to Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury (1881-1963), British soldier and politician; thence to Rex Beaumont (1914-88), Howard-Bury's friend: inscription on reverse of frame.

illumination

Jean Coene signed a leaf with the Crucifixion from a Missal (Leuchtendes Mittelalter, Neue Folge 1, 1997, ill. on p.320). He worked in Paris for the French court under Louis XII (1498-1515) and François I^er (1515-47) and was one of the most successful artists for the high-ranking Parisian clientele in the early sixteenth century. He is also known as the Master of the Paris Entries (Delaunay in Art de l’enluminure, no.26, 2008, pp.52-61). Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Missals often include a full-page miniature with the Crucifixion facing the prayer Te igitur. The diptych-like opening with the Crucifixion and God the Father Enthroned indicates a prestigious commission of a large and richly illuminated Missal.