Beschreibung:

BREVIARY, use of Rome, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [north-east Italy, third quarter 15th century] 225 x 158mm. 611ff: 1 8, 2-25 1 0, 26-29 1 2, 30-34 1 0, 35 9(of 10, x cancelled blank), 36-60 1 0, 61 6, COMPLETE, two columns of 30 lines written in black ink in a round gothic bookhand in black and red ink on four verticals and 31 horizontals ruled in brown ink, justification: 143 x 102mm, rubrics in red, text capitals touched yellow, one-line intials of red and blue throughout the Psalter, two-line initials alternately of red and blue with flourishing of lilac and red, each month of the Calendar opens with a large illuminated initial of colours and burnished gold with foliate sprays and scrolling tendrils with gold disks extending into the margin, eight three-line illuminated initials, NINE HISTORIATED INITIALS, of similar colours and forms to the Calendar initials, SIX PAGES WITH FULL-PAGE BORDERS INCORPORATING HISTORIATED ROUNDELS, VIGNETTES OR BAS-DE-PAGES AND ILLUMINATED OR LARGE HISTORIATED INITIALS (minor flaking to gold, silver ink oxidised on f.9). 19th-century panelled calf ruled and diced in blind and gold-tooled with a small, square, flower stamp, spine in six compartments, leaf-edges gilt and gauffered (joints carefully repaired). Brown cloth box. PROVENANCE: The style of the illumination points to the origin of the manuscript in the north-east of Italy. The Calendar includes in red the feasts of the Dedication of the Basilica of S. Salvatore (9 Nov.) and the Basilicas of Peter and Paul (18 Nov.). The presence among the more customary saints of the Litany of Sts Leontius and Carpophorus, who were venerated in Vicenza, and the unlikely combination of Sts Fusca and Illuminata, who were venerated in Ravenna, seem to confirm this north-eastern localisation. Yet the Bishops and Confessors of the Litany include the German-sounding saints Conrad (also in the Calendar and Sanctorale), Ulric and Erhard, and feasts added to the Calendar in 16th-century hands include various Germanic saints, among them Wolfgang, bishop of Ratisbon and Otmar abbot of St Gall. 19th-century bookplate of Nicholson, with his motto 'Ubi sol ibi lux', inside upper cover CONTENT: Calendar ff.2-7v; Ferial Psalter with Canticles, Litany and Hymns ff.9-117v; Offices for Feasts of the Temporale ff.119-353v; Offices for Feasts of the Sanctorale ff.356-568v; Common of Saints, followed by Benedictions and an abbreviated Office of the Dead ff.569-610v ILLUMINATION: The borders are painted in a attractive and colourful style where intense, saturated hues -- magenta, green, a rich blue and red -- are combined with a stylised simplification of figures and settings. these features are characteristic of some illumination from north-eastern Italy. The highly decorative effect is compounded by the framing of the borders with broad bands of burnished gold and the scrolling stems of the foliage being painted in liquid silver. The figures and scenes on the pages with full-page borders are as follows: f.9 four roundels at the corners, each containing a bust of a saint: historiated initial with a God creating heaven and earth f.119 four roundels at the corners, each containing a bust of a saint, a bas-de-page with an Apostle preaching, inspired by the Holy Spirit; historiated initial with St Paul f.164 two roundels with saints in the lower corners, and the Adoration of the Magi in the bas-de-page f.356 four roundels at the corners, each containing a bust of a saint, a naked angel in the lower border; historiated initial with a half-length martyr f.374 two roundels in the lower corners, each containing a bust of a saint, the martyrdom of St Sebastian in the bas-de-page , St Fabian with his Cardinals in the outer margin f.576 historiated initial with St John blessing, and a full-page border Eight historiated initials mark the divisions of the Psalms in the Ferial Psalter: ff.9v, 32, 40v, 47, 54, 63v, 87v and 97. A ninth historiated initial on f.237 co