St Luke as Artist and Evangelist, miniature on a leaf from the Breviary of Lionello d’Este, in Latin [Italy (Ferrara), between 1441 and 1448]

single leaf, 271x199mm, vellum, with a miniature for the feast of St Luke, 18 Oct., from near the end of the Sanctorale, 2 columns, 30 lines, 165x130mm, both sides with full-length bar borders, a small pigment loss in the lower right corner of the initial, traces of cuts in the text area above, otherwise in very fine condition, framed

From the same manuscript as lot 12 (today known as the Llangattock Breviary), for which see the provenance and bibliography. Especially interesting and unusual is the depiction of St Luke both in his apocryphal guise as an artist, holding in his right hand his icon of the Virgin and Child, and in his left hand his gospel, while the head of his Evangelist Symbol, the Ox, emerges from behind his stool. The miniature can confidently be attributed to GIORGIO D'ALEMAGNA, previously also known as the Master of the Missal of Borso d'Este, who is recorded in the accounts for the making of the Breviary. One can imagine that Giorgio took a special interest in the depiction of Luke, patron saint of artists.