[ENLUMINATION]. Initial "B" historiated. Three... - Lot 3 - Ader

Lot 3
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Result : 2 816EUR
[ENLUMINATION]. Initial "B" historiated. Three... - Lot 3 - Ader
[ENLUMINATION]. Initial "B" historiated. Three angels and the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah [or Abraham, Sarah and the three angels] . In Latin, illuminated leaf on parchment. Complete leaf, recto-verso; square music notated on four-line staves drawn in red ink; rounded gothic script, first word with cadential letters with calligraphic decoration (in red and black); initials in red with filigree decoration; historiated initial inscribed in an ornate initial with colored acanthus leaf decoration on a burnished gold background, illuminated decoration extending into the margin with colored acanthus leaves and small discs in burnished gold. Some rubbing and missing of the pictorial surface, otherwise good condition. Spain, Castile (?), mid 15th century. This illumination depicts an unusual scene in an antiphonary, that of Abraham and Sarah's hospitality to three angels, following their appearance at the oaks of Mambre . It illustrates the chant (introit) for the Sunday of the Feast of the Trinity, the first Sunday after Pentecost: "Benedicta sit sancta trinitas atque indivisa unitas...". [Blessed be the Holy Trinity and its indivisible unity...]. It is interesting to note that the illuminator chose to depict an Old Testament scene that prefigures the Trinity, with the three angels welcomed by Abraham and Sarah, rather than a more classical scene representing the Trinity. This scene takes up the passage from Genesis 18:1-14: "At the oaks of Mamre the Lord appeared to Abraham, who was sitting at the entrance to the tent. It was the hottest hour of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the entrance of the tent and bowed to the ground. He said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, do not pass by without stopping by your servant. Let them bring you some water, and you wash your feet and lie down under this tree. I'll get you some food, and you'll get your strength back before you go any further, since you've passed by your servant!". They replied, "Do as you say." Abraham hurried to Sarah's tent and said, "Take three large measures of fine flour quickly, knead the dough and make cakes. Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a fat, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He took the cottage cheese, the milk, and the calf that had been prepared, and laid it before them, and stood by them under the tree while they ate...". Following this visit, Abraham is told that he will be a father, despite Sara's advanced age: they will beget Isaac. The style of this historiated initial is certainly reminiscent of an Italianate workmanship, but details suggest that it is rather an Iberian work, very influenced by Italian production and aesthetics, but also turned to Flemish painting, which it adapted in Spain. One thinks of the illuminations made earlier in the century for the choir books attributed to the Spanish artist named Master of Burgo de Osma (Chapter of Soria).
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