A Stunning Rare Illuminated Book Of Hours, $13,583 Per Hour

By Stephen J. Gertz

Shepherds' Proclamation.

On May 21  2012, Ketterer Kunst Auktions - Hamburg is offering the De Gros-Carondelet Book of Hours. It is estimated to sell for €299,000 ($326,250).

Presentation in the Temple.

Produced on very fine and delicate vellum, this manuscript was initially designed for the Burgundian court secretary Jean III de Gros (1434-1484) c. 1480,  and, some twenty years later, passed into the ownership of the Burgundian chancellor Jean I Carondelet and his family.

John on Patmos.

The book features twenty-two full-page miniatures with surrounding borders comprised of various leaves, flowers, fruits, birds, etc. and with three-line initials in colors, with six small miniatures as well as numerous two- and one-line white-heightened initials in gray blue against a gilt-heightened red brown background, and line fillers of similar design.

The revival of Lazarus.

Of the highest quality, this illuminated Book of Hours  manuscript is of the utmost nobility and provenance, and at the same time a primary source  and historical document from the inner circle of the Burgundian court’s last period.

The evangelist Mark.

Magnificently preserved, the manuscript exhibits unique development from an originally Flemish to a later French style.

Corpus Christi procession.

It was originally illuminated by Simon Marmion, the Dresden prayer book master, and other painters. After it changed ownership and moved to France, which may have been, in part, politically motivated, the miniatures as well as the borders were entirely reworked and modernized by an unknown but gifted French book painter, which led to its fascinating synthesis of Flemish and French stylistic elements.

Madonna and child.

“The apparently complete ‘redecoration’ of the illuminations just a few years after the commissioned manuscript was actually made is so unique that it causes one to speculate whether it was simply motivated by aesthetic reasons or if perhaps treason of the previous owner may have been the actual reason. Whatever the reason, as far as I am concerned, this work is unique considering the aspect of the illuminations.“ (Dr. Bardo Brinkmann, of Basle).

Souls in Purgatory.

Jean de Gros III (1434-1484) began his royal court service an early age and was soon named secretary. He became a ducal audiencer in 1467, and gained further office under Charles the Bold. He had financial administration duties, and was treasurer of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He owned a splendid house in Bruges.

Initial decorations.

Jean Carondelet (1428-1502), Seigneur de Champvans et de Solre, was in the service of the Burgundian dukes, Philip the Good and Chrarles the Bold; the fortunes of the Carondelets were closely tied to the Budundian Netherlands. He was President of the Great Council of Mechelen 1473-1477, and Burgundian chancellor 1480-1496.

The manuscript is in a contemporary Flemish calf binding over blind-tooled wooden boards, each board with eight stamps in blind separated by friezes.

The word for Book of Hours in German is Stundenbuch; the book will leave you stunned in awe.

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[De Gros - Carondelet]. Book of Hours. Flanders c. 1480, Burgundy c. 1485-1500. Illuminated manuscript on vellum with 16 text, 17 calendar lines. 348 ff. 22 illuminated miniatures, 6 small miniatures, initials throughout. Flemish Bastarda in black ink, rubrics (obviously) in red.

Provenance: Not in the relevant literature. In the possession of the family of Georg Hasenclever (1855-1934), father of expressionistic writer Walter Hasenclever, since the late 19th century.

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Going Medieval on Halloween

By Cokie Anderson

Skeleton did not receive the "Death Be Not Proud" memo

It began just after the Fourth of July. Okay, Labor Day, but it seemed earlier. Orange and black bedecking every store, plastic jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, witches, and spiders everywhere you look, and candy. Bags and bags of expensive, delicious, bad-for-you candy that you were urged to “stock up on” (i.e., eat yourself) in time for America’s second favorite holiday, Halloween. Ghosties, ghoulies, and long-legged beasties are on the prowl. The goblin’s going to get you if you don’t watch out. All of these are traditional images of death, decay, and the eternal punishment that awaits the wicked. However, the only decay most modern celebrants are concerned about is tooth decay from the aforementioned candy. What’s scarier than a ghost? Your 10-year-old daughter dressed as Lady Gaga, that’s what.

Exercise all you want-- someday you'll die and look like this anyway

In ages past, people were also obsessed with images of skeletons and death, but not in a party kind of way. Unless a funeral is your idea of a party. (If you’re Irish or from the South, as I am, that may be so. Y’all just play along here, okay?)

In Medieval times, death was a daily companion. Women had a shorter average lifespan in those years because so many died in childbirth or from postpartum infections. Strep throat was often fatal. That cold could turn into pneumonia. And many, many children died every year from diseases for which vaccines now exist. Add to that the constant wars, the famine that resulted from a bad harvest, the plagues that wiped out a huge percentage of the population, and it must have seemed like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were on a permanent rampage.

"Nice service. I wonder if there'll be cake after."

Consequently, the Medieval Christian was urged to constantly contemplate their own mortality, and to consider what awaited them after death. The Book of Hours was the primary vehicle for personal devotion in those days--at least for those who could afford them. These prayer books contained set prayers, psalms, and readings to be observed throughout the day (the “Offices”), as well as psalms, special prayers to the Virgin Mary and the saints, and always The Office of the Dead, prayers to be said for the souls of the departed. It could be used at any time, but was especially to be observed on All Souls’ Day (November 2).

In the beautiful illuminated books of hours created in the Medieval era, most offices were accompanied by a small painting, called a miniature, on a religious subject. Most of these were scenes from the life of the Virgin, and were set in biblical times (though matters of costume might reflect recent fashions).

"Harry, would you be careful? We don't want to drop him in front of the mourners. Bad for business."

The miniature for the Office of the Dead was often a scene all too familiar to Medieval audiences: a funeral or burial. From a modern vantage point, they are interesting in that they represent depictions of ordinary life in Medieval times. Sometimes, it’s a nice, dignified funeral--a clutch of clergy, candles, a nice crowd of hired mourners (de rigueur at your better class of funeral), and the coffin draped in a discreet pall. Other scenes were more brutally frank: a couple of gravediggers wrestling a shrouded body into its final resting place.

Covering all the bases

If the artist were really ambitious, we might see a combination of favorite Office of the Dead themes: the funeral, the burial, the prancing skeleton, and Job, the faithful man afflicted by God, lying on his dung heap covered with boils. Now, you kids go to your room, look at that, and think about what you’ve done!

More subtle, yet I should think more effective for their intended purpose, are those miniatures that show someone eating, drinking, and making merry, but forgetting they will die, as in the interpretation of the parable of the rich man (Dives) and the beggar Lazarus, below.

Live it up today, burn tomorrow

Dives is shown opulently attired, enjoying a feast in his richly appointed home in the company of a beautiful woman. All the riches and pleasures of this world are his. The beggar Lazarus, covered in sores, pleads at the door for a few crumbs for the table, only to be shooed away by a horrified servant. Below, however, we see the eternal suffering that waits for Dives after death: he is chained, naked, writhing in flames, and further tormented by the vision he sees above him--Lazarus in heaven, accompanied by Abraham. The patriarch informs Dives that he had his rewards on earth, where Lazarus suffered greatly; now, Lazarus will have his reward in heaven, while Dives suffers. Forever. Bwahahahahaha!!!!

And let that be a lesson to those who would be stingy with the Halloween candy.

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All images of Medieval illuminated manuscripts from Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books & Manuscripts.

15th Century Woman's Heart (And Soul) Won With Extravagant Book

Books have been given as tokens of love for centuries, even before the invention of printing. Illuminated books of hours like the one pictured above were precious objects commissioned from highly skilled artists and were often given as a wedding gift. This book of hours was created in the middle of the 15th century, and the fineness of its execution indicates that it was created by a top flight atelier. It was a great treasure from the time it was created, and has survived in near-perfect condition to this day because it has always been treated with great reverence.

There are hints that this particular book of hours was created especially for a beloved woman. The sequence of prayers to individual saints, called suffrages, here is unusual in that the female saints precede the males: texts in the codex for Mary Magdalene, St. Catherine, St. Anne, St. Susanna, and St. Margaret come before those for St. Christopher, All Saints, and St. Sebastian. This sequence (and the fact that the "Obsecro te" and the suffrage to St. Christopher are in the feminine form) suggest that the first owner of the manuscript was a woman.

Most books of hours have miniatures depicting significant events in the life of the Virgin Mary: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the temple, and her Coronation as Queen of Heaven. Other frequent subjects are the Crucifixion, Pentecost, some portrayal of a funeral to remind the devout of their mortality, and perhaps King David composing the Psalms. A books of hours commissioned for an individual might include a miniature of the owner's patron or name saint. This Book of Hours is unusual in that it contains the quite rare Suffrage to St. Susanna; not only is the text of this Suffrage present, but the person who commissioned the manuscript has chosen Susanna's story as the subject matter for one of the book's six large miniatures.

The scene, shown above, depicts the central moment in the Apocryphal Book of Daniel, showing the saintly woman being defended by the young Daniel against two elders who had falsely accused her of adultery after trying to seduce her. Depictions of the story of Susanna are quite rare--her story in in the Apocrypha, and she was not one of the female saints especially venerated in Medieval times, as Saints Margaret, Catherine, and Barbara were. The only likely reason for including the tale of this beautiful and virtuous wife is that the woman for whom is was intended was named Susanna or Suzanne.

The next token of love, created some 400 years later, was a 25th anniversary gift. In the mid-19th century, Parisian publishers issued a number of elaborately presented religious works with illustrations from several hands . . . Curmer's 'Les Saints Évangiles' [the Gospels] is the most attractive of the lot." (Ray) The present copy also has added lovely illuminations, a charming original watercolor, and an exquisite binding by one of the top Parisian binders, Leon Gruel.

The most unusual binding is done in a Neo-Gothic style, its dark green silk velvet covers mounted with delicately and elaborately carved boxwood frames after designs by Martin Riester. The front cover is adorned with the recipient's monogram, and the edges of the leaves are elaborately gauffered in a red and gold design.

According to the handsomely designed presentation page at the front, this beautiful object was assembled at the order of C. J. T. Tiby, and given to his "dear wife," Anaïs Duret Tiby on 2 June 1855, as a "Souvenir of 25 years of Happiness." In the accompanying watercolor of the wedding ceremony (shown below), which took place at midnight a quarter century earlier, we see a shy bride in white and a tall officer in uniform standing before a candlelit altar, surrounded by their families.

Mme. Tiby must have been a shining example of the perfect wife, as described in the Book of Proverbs and recalled in the presentation, for her husband certainly would have committed to a liberal expenditure in commissioning this painstakingly crafted edition of the Gospels.

Like the thoughtful wife described in last week's post, M. Tiby and the husband of the Medieval Suzanne chose not a piece of jewelry, which can be worn and displayed, to honor their beloved, but a book, which in addition to being an object of great beauty to be enjoyed (and yes, displayed) is also something with which one engages intellectually and emotionally--a feast for the mind and the heart, as well as for the eyes.

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Images courtesy of Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts.