Charming Florentine Book of Hours illuminated in the style of Francesco di Antonio del Chierico.

ii (paper + vellum) + 187 + ii (paper) leaves, foliated in a modern hand in pencil in lover right margin, 1–187, missing single leaf after f. 12, and several further leaves after ff. 181 and 187, else complete [collation: i12, ii8, iii10, iv10, v10, vi10, vii10, viii10, ix10, x10, xi10, xii10, xiii6, xiv10, xv10, xvi10, xvii10, xviii10, xix10] catchwords present throughout, ruled in brown ink in one column of 13 lines (justification: 65 mm × 44 mm), written in a littera rotunda script, rubrics in red, marginal inscriptions to ff. 139v, 148, and 157v, capitals in alternating red and blue ink, double-line lombard initials with filigree penwork and marginal bar extensions, SEVEN ILLUMINATED INITIALS on burnished gold ground, with bipartite red and blue infille heightened with white tracery, issuing a partial boarder of curling acanthus and stylized flowers in blue, green, and mauve with scattered gold bezants and pendant floral terminals, THREE HISTORIATED INITIALS of seven lines on burnished gold ground, set within a full border of scrolling acanthus leaves and stylized flowers in blue, green, and mauve, densely sprinkled with gold bezants, with circular medallions in lower margins enclosing figures. Nineteenth-century vellum binding over thin boards, unembellished and rounded at edges, on raised supports laced into boards, spine with black leather label gilt-tooled “OFFICIUM B. MARIE VIRGINIS” within geometric border, edges gilt, marbled endpapers, clean and well preserved, with minimal staining or discoloration, text faded or smudged in places, else in excellent condition. Dimensions 113 mm × 82 mm.

Provenance
(1) Created for a Florentine patron, as indicated by the inclusion of Saint Zenobius in the Litany; possibly intended for use within a religious community, suggested by a rubric in the Office of the Dead regulating prayers for the commemoration of deceased members of the community (f. 167v: “fratres et sorores”).

(2) Early ownership inscription (seventeenth century?): “Ex Joanne Thi(?) / (?)erio” on front flyleaf.

(3) Armorial bookplate of James Drummond (1816–1877), a Scottish history painter, antiquary, and book collector whose detailed visual reconstructions of historic Edinburgh established him as an important chronicler of Scotland’s architectural and cultural past. His career combined fine art, historical research, and curatorial service within Scotland’s major art institutions.

(4) Inscription “J. Lindsey” added to the rear flyleaf in a twentieth-century hand.

(5) Sotheyby’s, London, 12 July 1992, lot 73.

(6) Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York, his bookplate and catalog number “MS 47” on front pastedown.

Text
ff. 1–12, Calendar (Use of Rome); ff. 13–97v, Office of the Virgin (beginning imperfectly) (ff. 13–26, Matins; ff. 26v–42, Lauds; ff. 42v–47v, Prime; 47v–52, Terce 52v–56v, Sext; ff. 56v–60v, None; ff. 61v–70v, Vespers; ff. 70v–76, Compline; ff. 76v–87v, ferial cycle; ff. 87v–97v, seasonal variants); ff. 98–114v, Penitential Psalms; ff. 114v–127v, Litanies and Suffrages (Saint Zanobias, f. 117); ff. 128–181v, Office of the Dead (ending imperfectly); ff 182–189v, Hours of the Cross (ending imperfectly).

Illumination
This petite Book of Hours was almost certainly produced for a Florentine patron, as suggested by the inclusion of Saint Zenobius, first bishop and patron saint of Florence, in the Litany (f. 167v). Several leaves are now wanting, likely including full-page miniatures that originally formed facing openings with the surviving decorated folios. These losses correspond to major textual divisions, including the beginnings of the Hours of the Virgin, the Office of the Dead, and the Hours of the Cross. The illumination belongs broadly within the refined Florentine tradition of the later fifteenth century and especially recalls the artistic milieu of Francesco di Antonio del Chierico. The historiated initials, with compact yet animated figures set within luminous letterforms on burnished-gold grounds, may be compared with manuscripts such as the Morgan Library, MS M.361, where figures similarly press against, and at times seem to emerge from, the architectural confines of the initial. Particularly close is a group of historiated initials also preserved in the Morgan Library (MS W.26), painted by an associate of del Chierico. These share the same delicate manipulation of line and modeling, combining firm, calligraphic contours with softer, more painterly treatment of faces, flesh tones, and hair. The present manuscript thus reflects the continuing influence of del Chierico’s work on the practices of Florentine illumination in the last decades of the fifteenth century and its evolution among the next generation of painters.

The subjects of the three historiated initials are: f. 98, David with harp in initial ‘D,’ accompanied by a medallion showing the head of Golaith (for the Penitiential Psalsm); f. 128, a crowned skeleton holding a scythe in an initial ‘D,’ accompanied by a medallion showing Saint Jerome contemplating a skull (for Office of the Dead); f. 182, Saint Veronica holding the vernicle in an initial ‘D,’ accompanied by a medallion of Christ bearing the cross (for Hours of the Cross). 

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Mirella Levi D’Ancona, Miniatura e miniatori a Firenze dal XIV al XVI secolo, Florence, Leo S. Olschki, 1962; Annarosa Garzelli, Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440–1525: un primo censimento, 2 vols., Florence, Regione Toscana, 1985; Jonathan J. G. Alexander, ed., The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination 1450–1550, Munich and New York, Prestel, 1994; Ada Labriola, “Alcune proposte per Zanobi Strozzi e Francesco di Antonio del Chierico,” Paragone, n.s. 60 (2009), pp. 41–81.

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

Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz