A newly discovered Masterpiece by the Master of Mary of Guelders – Paris or Utrecht, 1400-1410
Book of Hours. Horae B. M. V. Use of Rome, with Parisian Saints.
Illuminated manuscript on vellum in Latin and French, in Gothic script (=textura).
Paris and/or Gelderland, c. 1400-1410.
A Parisian painter and the Master of Mary of Guelders, the latter possibly from the Maelwel (= Malouel) family. 14 large miniatures on a chequered background: 12 full-page by the first Master of Mary of Guelders; two large miniatures with 4 lines of text, by the Parisian Master.
183 parchment leaves: complete. Irregular collation (due to 18th century binding), but nothing missing, neither text nor images.
A few insignificant stains to the first and last leaves, but generally in a fine state of preservation.
Octavo (175 x 120 mm). Modern binding with 19th century mauve velvet, one clasp.
This manuscript is sensational in every respect: it has been completely unknown to scholarship until now, but it is a major very early work by one of the greatest artists of the Netherlands around 1400 and at the same time a fascinating example of collaboration with Paris. It is complete and, after 620 years, in an amazingly fresh state of preservation, with the images even immaculate. In short, it is one of those wonders that the world of manuscripts virtually has ceased to offer.
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Book of Hours by the Master of Mary of Guelders. Paris or Utrecht, 1400-1410.
The Miniatures (not arranged in the normal order, due to the 18th century provincial binding)
13v: Annunciation to the shepherds ;
19: Annunciation to the Virgin Mary;
39v: Nativity;
44v: Visitation;
49v: Adoration of the Magi;
54v: Presentation in the temple;
58v: Flight into Egypt;
66v: Coronation of the Virgin ;
85: Crucifixion;
88v: Pentecost;
92v: Christ in judgement;
111v: The Virgin with Child;
116v: ‘Deesis’ = Christ with the Virgin and St John;
120v: Mass for the dead.
Adoration of the Magi in the Cockerell-Beck Book of Hours, sold at the Beck sale in 1997.
The two Masters
The painter of the twelve full-page miniatures appears to be the first Master of the Book of Hours of Mary of Guelders (State Library, Berlin) and may have come from the famous Maelwel (Malouel) family: Jean Malouel was the uncle of the Limbourg brothers and court painter to Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy. His miniatures are sublime masterpieces, finer and more elaborate even than those in the famous Cockerell-Beck Book of Hours, which was sold at the Beck auction in 1997 for £1,002,500 (= 2.5m Swiss francs). This manuscript, moreover, is smaller (130mm high), less well preserved and incomplete, lacking at least five miniatures.
The second artist – a Parisian? – did two important miniatures: the Annunciation, which is very beautiful but seems to be missing ‘the last layer’; and the Crucifixion, which is very daring, with a unique (and unheard-of!) representation: the Virgin is seen completely from behind.
Provenance
Traces of rather faded 17th and 18th century owner's notes, on fol. 1a: ‘Blanche de viollet’; f. 159 Breton armorial: ermines throughout (15th century). The binding is modern: the old one from the 18th century was totally dilapidated when we bought this manuscript. The miniatures are immaculate, as already mentioned, it seems that the Annunciation is not quite finished, lacking the last layer of colour or varnish – which is very revealing, by the way.
Literature
This manuscript is completely unknown to scholarship. A detailed description in German, English or French can be provided.
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