[ENLUMINURE]. Leaf from a book of hours - Lot 9

[ENLUMINURE]. Leaf from a book of hours Historiated S initial, Pietà (Virgin and Christ; St. John the Evangelist), attributable to a Flemish artist follower of Guillaume Vrelant (Philippe de Mazerolles?). In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment. Belgium, Bruges, circa 1460-1470. Dimensions : 220 x 150 mm Good condition. This leaf is taken from a fairly large Book of Hours. It contains prayers, including "Ave caro Christi...", followed by "Stabat mater dolorosa". The Stabat mater prayer is introduced by a historiated initial S, drawn in dark pink with white highlights on a burnished gold background, depicting a Pietà, also in the presence of St. John the Evangelist. On the recto, liturgical Gothic script, 18 lines of text, incipit, "[...] esto nobis pregustatum mortis..."; prayer, "Ave caro Christi..."; prayer, "Stabat mater dolorosa"; three-sided illuminated border, blue and gold acanthus leaves, flowers, golden bezants on reserved background; large historiated initial S (6 lines high), line ends decorated in blue and gold. Verso, liturgical Gothic script, 18 lines of text, continuation of the Stabat mater prayer, initials painted in blue and burnished gold, with filigree decoration in red or dark blue ink. This Book of Hours was dismembered at an unknown date, but it should be possible to trace more sister leaves. We have identified a leaf from the same Book of Hours, with a historiated initial depicting Christ before Pontius Pilate, described by Forum Auctions (London, November 19, 2020, lot 211). This leaf is attributed to the workshop of Guillaume Vrelant by Forum Auctions. Guillaume Vrelant headed a flourishing workshop in Bruges from 1454 to 1481. The same hand also appears to have painted a Nativity (attributed to Guillaume Vrelant or his workshop), in which we recognize the same treatment of the Virgin, notably her blue dress with small gold dots (Christie's, London, January 22, 2006, Collection of the Late Michael Collishaw, lot 168). Rather than Vrelant, we may recognize in the present historiated initial an artist contemporary with Guillaume Vrelant, namely Philippe de Mazerolles, an artist first attested in Paris in 1454, but established in Flanders and Bruges in the 1460s, where he was a member of the Bruges Guild of Illuminators in 1469. Philippe de Mazerolles (d. 1479) collaborated with Guillaume Vrelant to paint the "Black Book of Hours" of Charles the Bold (see bifeuillet, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Dept. des arts graphiques, MI 1091; Les Enluminures du Louvre, Paris, 2011, pp. 294-299). For more information on Philippe de Mazerolles [sometimes called Maître du Froissart de Philippe de Commynes or Master of the Harley Froissart], please consult the notice devoted to him in Miniatures flamandes, Paris, 2011, pp. 331-337. Bruges was an important city for the production of illuminated manuscripts and books of hours, supplying many regions of Europe. It is possible that this leaf belonged to a manuscript destined for export to England, but this cannot be deduced from the only surviving leaf (suggested by an early fiche). On the phenomenon of manuscripts painted in Bruges for export to Europe, including England, see the work of N.J.Rogers, "Patrons and Purchasers: Evidence for the Original Owners of Books of Hours Produced in the Low Countries for the English Market", Als ich can. Liber Amicorum in Memory of Professor Maurits Smeyers, ed. B.Cardon, J.van der Stock and D.Vanwijnsberghe, Leuven, 2002, 2 vols. II, pp. 1165-1181; A. Bergeron-Foote, "Entre Flandre, Angleterre et Italie, un livre d'Heures résolument européen dans les Collections spéciales de la Bibliothèque des Arts de l'UQAM", in Memini. Travaux et documents, 2011 (15), pp. 23-38.