Book of Hours, Use of Rome, in Latin and French [France (Langres or Troyes), c.1480]

c.182x125mm, vellum, iii+105+iii leaves, lacking the Penitential Psalms, collation: i-ii6, iii8, iv4, v2, vi-x8, xi10, xii-xiv8, xv6-1 (last blank cancelled), 17 lines, 90x55mm, 24 HISTORIATED BORDERS INCLUDING 72 CALENDAR SCENES, 12 FULL-PAGE MINIATURES in architectural frames, 7 SMALL MINIATURES, illuminated initials and line-fillers, two-line initials accompanied by VERY FINE DECORATED PANEL BORDERS, a cutting from the lower border of a lost miniature (probably for the Penitential Psalms) stuck to the blank recto of f.21, two panel borders from text pages stuck to blank borders on verso of antepenultimate and penultimate leaves, vellum occasionally stained, f.13 becoming detached, the mantle of the Virgin smudged on f.55v, occasionally slight rubbing and small pigment losses, 19th-century gilt vellum binding with central clasp 

THIS BOOK OF HOURS IS A NEWLY DISCOVERED WORK OF GREAT ORIGINALITY BY THE MASTER OF THE MISSAL OF TRAVAILLOT, WHO IS KNOWN ONLY FROM TWO OTHER MANUSCRIPTS

PROVENANCE

(1) The manuscript appears to have been made for someone with a particular veneration for St Denis who opens the suffrages with a full-page miniature (f.21v). (2) In the possession of a European family for at least three generations.  

TEXT AND ILLUMINATION

Calendar in French, with entries alternately in red or blue, and with major feasts in gold (f.1r); Gospel extracts (f.14r); the prayer Salve Regina (f.20r); suffrages to Sts Denis (f.22r), Martin (f.22v), Stephen (f.23r), Fiacre (f.23v), John the Baptist (f.24r), Anthony (f.24v), Catherine (f.25r), Mary Magdalene (f.25v); the Hours of the Virgin with Matins (f.27r), Lauds (f.44v), Prime (f.55v), Terce (f.59v), Sext (f.62v), None (f.65v), Vespers (f.68v), Compline (f.73v); the Office of the Dead (f.77r).

The Calendar is decorated with three scenes on each page where a central subject is flanked above and below by two related ones: (1) Jan.: f.1r, Feasting by a fire, with servants carrying food and drink; (2) f.1v, Aquarius; a man warming his feet and a woman warming her privates at fires; (3) Feb.: f.2r, Feasting by a fire, with servants cutting wood and tying up bundles of faggots; (4) f.2v, Pisces; a man carrying faggots, and a woman warming her naked backside at a fire; (5) March: f.3r, Pruning vines, assisted by another man and a woman; (6) f.3v, Aries; a man collecting eggs(?) from a nest and watching birds in a tree; (7) April: f.4r, A man with bunches of flowers, and men cutting sprigs from trees; (8) f.4v, Taurus; women collecting flowers; (9) May: f.5r, Hunting with hound and a falcon, a huntsman blowing a horn, another with a captured deer; (10) f.5v, Gemini; a shepherd and shepherdess, and a man with sprigs; (11) f.6r, June: Mowing grass, with a man drying it and a woman transporting it on a mule; (12) f.6v, Cancer; with a man collecting fruit and a woman spinning next to a herd of animals; (13) f.7r, July: Reaping, with a woman spinning next to a windmill and a man carrying a sheaf; (14) 7v, Leo; a man carrying fruit in a sack, and a couple filling a sack; (15) f.8r, August: Threshing, with men transporting wheat and winnowing; (16) f.8v, Virgo; a male and female in the woods eating large fruit, and a man digging; (17) f.9r, Sept: Treading grapes in a vat, with a man and woman picking grapes; (18) f.9v, Libra; with animals stealing grapes from a vine, and a woman picking grapes; (19) f.10r, Oct.: Sowing, with men chopping wood and ploughing; (20) f.10v, Scorpio, with a woman spinning and a man picking fruit(?); (21) f.11r, Nov.: Pannage, with a woman feeding pigs and a man herding a pig; (22) f.11v, Sagittarius; a herdsman by a fire, a man with a mule; (23) f.12r, Dec.: A man about to stun a pig, one cutting its throat, a third carrying the carcass on a mule. (24) f.12v, Capricorn; with a boy riding a strange animal and a man spearing a wild boar.

The subjects of the full-page miniatures are: (1) f.13v, St John on Patmos; (2) f.21v, St Denis; (3) f.26v, Virgin and Child; (4) f.27r, Annunciation; (5) f.44v, Visitation; (6) f.55v, Nativity; (7) f.59v, Annunciation to the Shepherds; (8) f.62v, Adoration of the Magi; (9) f.65v, Presentation in the Temple; (10) f.68v, Flight into Egypt; (11) f.73v, Coronation of the Virgin; (12) f.77r, Job on the Dung heap.

The subjects of the small miniatures are: (1) f.15r, St Luke; (2) f.16v, St Matthew; (3) f.18v, St Mark; (4) f.22v, St Martin; (5) f.23v, St Fiacre; (6) f.24v, St Anthony; (7) f.25v, St Mary Magdalene.

STYLE

The MASTER OF THE MISSAL OF TRAVAILLOT is named after a Missal for the Use of Langres that includes the coat of arms of the Travaillot family; it was donated to the Cathedral of Langres by the Canon Jean Travaillot (d.1484), a Chaplain of Philip the Good (Langres, BM, MS 2, see F. Avril in Très riches heures de Champagne, Troyes, 2007, pp.166-67). The artist was also responsible for a Book of Hours for the Use of Troyes that belonged to William Foyle, his sale at Christie's, 11 July 2000, lot 51. The artist's style is very original, contrasting pale flesh tones with muted colours. Most characteristic is the way he highlights high sitting cheekbones by adding touches of soft pink underneath. He also favours dramatic colour effects, such as heavy skies filled with dark grey clouds or the many coloured borders with light shimmering decoration painted lightly on dark red, green, and blue grounds.