HARVESTING GRAPES, miniature from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [southern Netherlands, probably Bruges, c.1490] 105 x 75mm. Arch-topped miniature with three figures before a vine laden with grapes, one man tipping grapes into a basket carried on the back of another, a kneeling man to the right with his full basket on the ground beside him, the sign of the zodiac above, surrounded by a full-page strewn border with robins and flowerheads on a liquid gold ground, verso blank (outer margins reinforced on verso). This attractive leaf comes from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, and illustrates one of the occupations appropriate for September together with the zodiac sign of Libra. Full-page Calendar miniatures are extrememly uncommon and are generally associated with entirely exceptional and lavish manuscripts such as the Duke of Berry's Très Riches Heures and the Grimani Breviary; they provide a rare portrait of contemporary secular, rustic life. Here the characterful faces and typical dress of the peasant harvesters are combined with details picked out in gold to produce both a realistic and decorative scene. The robust coarse-featured figures show the influence of the Master of the Dresden Prayerbook, himself a specialist in Calendar illustration. The illuminator is likely to have had direct contact with the Master's workshop: other leaves from this Hours recently offered for sale include two scenes for March and August (these rooms, 2 June 1999, lot 15) that are based on Calendar scenes in the manuscript after which the Master of the Dresden Prayerbook is named (Sächs. Landesbibliothek Ms A311).
HARVESTING GRAPES, miniature from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [southern Netherlands, probably Bruges, c.1490] 105 x 75mm. Arch-topped miniature with three figures before a vine laden with grapes, one man tipping grapes into a basket carried on the back of another, a kneeling man to the right with his full basket on the ground beside him, the sign of the zodiac above, surrounded by a full-page strewn border with robins and flowerheads on a liquid gold ground, verso blank (outer margins reinforced on verso). This attractive leaf comes from the Calendar of a Book of Hours, and illustrates one of the occupations appropriate for September together with the zodiac sign of Libra. Full-page Calendar miniatures are extrememly uncommon and are generally associated with entirely exceptional and lavish manuscripts such as the Duke of Berry's Très Riches Heures and the Grimani Breviary; they provide a rare portrait of contemporary secular, rustic life. Here the characterful faces and typical dress of the peasant harvesters are combined with details picked out in gold to produce both a realistic and decorative scene. The robust coarse-featured figures show the influence of the Master of the Dresden Prayerbook, himself a specialist in Calendar illustration. The illuminator is likely to have had direct contact with the Master's workshop: other leaves from this Hours recently offered for sale include two scenes for March and August (these rooms, 2 June 1999, lot 15) that are based on Calendar scenes in the manuscript after which the Master of the Dresden Prayerbook is named (Sächs. Landesbibliothek Ms A311).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
