St Mark Writing his Gospel, miniature from a Book of Hours, in Latin [France (Rouen), c.1430-40]

cutting, 100x80mm, vellum, miniature for the Gospel extract of St Mark, depicting St Mark seated writing the first words of his normal Gospel Extract in a book (‘In illo tempore. Recumbentibus …’), his symbol the winged lion holding a scroll in its mouth inscribed ‘S. Marcus’, cropped close to the edge of the miniature on three sides, and with part of a foliate border to the left, laid down and framed

 

The overall style of the miniature is derived from the Fastolf Master, who started his career in Paris by c.1420; by 1424 he moved to Rouen, which had fallen to the English in 1419 as part in the Hundred Years War, where he worked both for English and Norman patrons; and finally he moved to England by 1450, doubtless following English patronage (including that of Sir John Fastolf, for whom the illuminator is named), when they were expelled from the city in 1449. While in Rouen he had a number of assistants or competitors who worked in derivative styles, among them the Talbot Master and the Hoo Master; the present miniature is by one such follower. It combines a two-dimensional diaper background and furnishings rendered in simple perspective, with richly painterly and volumetric draperies, whose remarkable sophistication is at odds with the charmingly naive depiction of the lion.