Richly illuminated Visitation leaf from a deluxe Parisian Book of Hours with unusual borders.

216 x 140 mm, single leaf, unfoliated, single column, ruled for thirty lines, with text remaining on both sides (recto: eight lines; verso: twenty-four lines), written in a Gothic bâtarde script in dark brown ink, rubrics in red, numerous one-line illuminated initials in liquid gold on alternating blue, green, and burgundy grounds with gold ornament, line fillers in matching colors embellished with liquid gold. Recto with one four-line initial in blue with white penwork on a burgundy ground, filled with scrolling gold vine ornament, verso with a three-quarter panel border of scrolling acanthus and floral motifs set within gold quatrefoils, the lower margin containing a miniature landscape with short, rounded trees and a bird feeding an insect to its young in a nest, recto with a large miniature depicting the Visitation of the Virgin and Saint Elizabeth, set within an arched architectural tabernacle frame with columns, figural capitals, and acanthus ornament. Mounted in a double-sided frame allowing viewing of recto and verso, overall framed dimensions: 533 × 584 mm. Very minor rubbing and wear to the margins, but the illumination remains vivid and the text crisp, overall in excellent condition.

This splendid leaf was originally part of a lavishly illuminated Book of Hours produced in Paris around 1500 by the workshop of the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse. The large miniature of the Visitation marks the opening of Lauds in the Hours of the Virgin, while the verso preserves the conclusion of Matins. The parent manuscript was undoubtedly a sumptuous commission, with comparable full-page or large miniatures almost certainly marking the openings of the other Hours of the Virgin, as well as additional images introducing other major devotional sequences. The elaborate marginal illumination, including a naturalistic vignette of a bird feeding its young, possibly an allusion to maternal devotion, further showcases the luxury of the original volume.

The style of the miniature compares closely with works attributed to the workshop of the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse, particularly in its painterly handling, elongated and emotionally expressive figures, and extensive use of liquid gold highlights. It is especially close to two manuscripts associated with the workshop: a Book of Hours now in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Bibliothèque Jacques Prévert, MS 6) and another preserved at Oxford (Bodleian Library, MS Rawl. liturg. e. 6). Characteristic features include softly modeled figures contained by firm contours, foliage built up through light strokes and dabs of pigment over darker grounds, and atmospheric landscapes created with loose, almost translucent washes. The Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, named after the illuminated copy of Jean de Roye’s chronicle now in Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Clairambault 481), was one of the leading Parisian illuminators active around 1500. His elegant style combines Parisian refinement with influences from the Loire Valley, especially the work of Jean Poyer of Tours, while his compositions and workshop practices are closely connected with those of Jean Pichore. By the turn of the sixteenth century, the artist was well established among elite patrons, producing manuscripts for members of the royal court and high nobility. Among his celebrated commissions were works for Philippa of Guelders, Duchess of Lorraine, including the second volume of Ludolph of Saxony’s Vita Christi (Günther 2022, cat. 26) and the frontispiece of Margaret of Austria’s Changement de fortune en toute prospérité (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2624), among many others.

The present leaf represents a fine example of illumination from the workshop of the Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse and provides further evidence of the collaborative nature of this Parisian atelier and the range of artistic hands active within the workshop at the turn of the sixteenth century.

The text containing the explicit of Matins (In te Domine speravi, non confundar in aeternum…) and the incipit of Lauds (Deus in adiutorium meum intende…) from the Hours of the Virgin.

Provenance
(1) Probably produced for an elite patron connected with the French court, the milieu in which the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse and his workshop found many of their most important clients.

(2) Private Collection, United States.

Parent manuscript and sister leaves
Presently unknown.

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: John Plummer, The Last Flowering: French Painting in Manuscripts, 1420–1530, from American Collections, New York and London, 1982; François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440–1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 274–77; Janet Backhouse, and Yves Giraud, Pierre Sala: Petit Livre d’Amour, Stowe MS 955, British Library, London: Kommentar, Commentaire, Commentary, Lucerne, 1994; Mary Beth Winn, Anthoine Vérard, Parisian Publisher, 1485–1512: Prologues, Poems, and Presentations, Geneva, 1997; Caroline Zöhl, Jean Pichore: Buchmaler, Graphiker und Verleger in Paris um 1500, Turnhout, 2005; Jörn Günther, The Art of Medieval Books, Basel, 2022, cat 26.

We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Elliot Adam for consultation on this entry.