CIRCLE OF CORNELIA VAN WULFSCHKERCKE (Bruges, active from c. 1495, died 1540)
Rosariaum, in Dutch, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Southern Netherlands, Bruges? c. 1510-1520]

Made for a Benedictine nun almost certainly in the circle of the female artist Cornelia Wulfschkercke.

ii (vellum) + 38 + ii (vellum) leaves, foliated in a modern red ink in lower right margin with older foliation sequence partially visible in top right, [collation: i2+1, ii6, iii2, iv2, v2, vi2, vii2, viii4, ix2, x2, xi6, xii4, xiii 2 xiv2], ruled in brown ink in one column of fourteen lines (justification: 59 × 45 mm), written in a black textualis quadrata script, rubrics in red with ticked capitals, one and two-line capitals in red and blue ink, TWO FULL PAGE MINIATURES in beveled orange frames marking major divisions of text. Original binding restored by Denis Gouey in blind-tooled red calfskin over wooden boards, with endbands subdued under leather, modern sewing supports and repair guards applied to many folios, faint but visible panel design on cover, surviving brass catchplate and clasps on foredge, water staining throughout the manuscript, particularly in the later folios where the script is affected, the miniatures are well preserved and free of damage, vellum somewhat stiff, with noticeable cockling and areas of staining and discoloration, else in fair condition. Dimensions 90 mm × 62 mm.

Provenance
(1) Made for a Benedictine nun who is pictured kneeling before Christ on f 17.v.

(2) Eighteenth-century English ownership inscription on first flyleaf, possibly “W. Burnet.”

(3) German dealer inscription on second flyleaf, “38 Blt. Fland(?).”

(4) Sam Fogg, London, purchased 27 June 1995.

(5) Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York, his bookplate and catalog number “MS 57” on front pastedown.

Text
f. 2–17: Rosary of Our Lady (Hier begint onser liever vrouwen cransken); ff. 18–19: Prayer to the Nine Angels (Tot ninen heilighen engelen een devoet ghebet); ff. 19–20: Prayer to Saint Michael (Totten prince der enghelen sunte Mychael een devote oratie); ff. 21–22: A Prayer to Saint Anne (Een sunte Anna ghebet); ff. 22v–24, Litanies; ff. 25–32; Meditation of the Soul (Hier spreect die siele oft si uut paradys gheleit ware); f. 32, Adoration of the Holy Cross (rubric damaged); ff. 34v–37, A Prayer to the Holy Name of Jesus (een ghebet totten ghebenebiden hoefde on liefs heren); ff. 37–39, Prayer to the Wounds of Christ (rubric damaged).

Illumination
This petite and fascinating Rosarium exemplifies the currents of affective devotion that flourished in the Low Countries during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, particularly those associated with the rosary, which emphasized interior prayer, contemplation, and direct devotional engagement. Before the familiar cycle of the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary became fully standardized, rosary manuscripts such as the present Rosarium contained a more fluid collection of prayers, meditations, and devotional exercises. Although the present manuscript has previously been associated with the Beguine tradition, both textual and visual evidence suggest instead that it was produced for a Benedictine owner. The female supplicant shown kneeling in prayer on f. 17v, who is almost certainly the manuscript’s commissioner, does not wear the modest grey or white colors of the Beguine community. Rather, her formal habit, black in color, suggests affiliation with a Benedictine house. This identification is supported by the evidence of the Litany of Saints, where Saint Benedict receives an exceptionally prominent position, appearing immediately after the three archangels and Saints Peter and Paul and before Saint John the Baptist. Such an elevated placement within the hierarchy of the Litany is highly unusual and strongly suggests Benedictine use. Further evidence is provided by the inclusion of Saint Odo (f. 23), almost certainly identifiable as Odo of Cluny (c. 878–942), the second abbot of Cluny and one of the most influential figures of Benedictine monastic reform.

James Marrow has suggested that the two miniatures may be associated with the artistic circle of Cornelia Wulfschkercke and the Carmelite convent of Sion in Bruges. Founded in 1487, the convent developed an important manuscript workshop during the opening decades of the sixteenth century. Cornelia Wulfschkercke, a Carmelite nun who began illuminating manuscripts around 1505 under the guidance of Grietkin Scheppers, became its most prominent artist. As demonstrated by Alain Arnould (1998) and Anne Margreet As-Vijvers (2013), Wulfschkercke produced a substantial body of liturgical and devotional manuscripts both for internal use within the convent, documented by a convent inventory of 1537, and for external patrons, including Books of Hours and Prayerbooks intended for private devotion. Her workshop also appears to have collaborated with artists associated with the Masters of Raphael de Mercatellis. As a newly established religious house, Sion relied in part on manuscript production as a source of income, supplying devotional works not only for its own community but also for other religious institutions and private patrons. As-Vijvers notes, for example, that in 1512 and 1513 the convent rented a stall in the Bruges market arcade (the Pandt), where luxury goods, including manuscripts, were offered for sale. Van Wulfschkercke and her workshop are also known to have produced commissions for Benedictine institutions, including the Abbey of Saint Bavo in Ghent. Thus, the present commission of a Rosarium from a Benedictine nun would not have been unusual.

Although simpler than the more elaborate manuscripts attributed to Wulfschkercke, which frequently include extensive historiated borders and elaborate strewn-flower decoration, the present manuscript nevertheless preserves several features characteristic of her style. This is particularly evident in the opening miniature of the Rosary. The oval faces of the Virgin and Christ Child, delicately modeled with pale pink flesh tones heightened with grey and white, their small refined features, and the treatment of drapery with deep linear folds accented in gold all find parallels in works associated with Cornelia’s hand. These characteristics contrast with the second donor miniature, which appears to have been executed by another artist working in a more conventional Bruges style. Both miniatures appear to belong to the manuscript’s original decorative program. The donor image is painted directly on the verso of a text leaf, and both miniatures share the same simple framing device composed of a red border enriched with gold highlights. While a firm attribution remains difficult, the manuscript may plausibly be associated with the environment of the convent of Sion and its workshop.

The subjects of the two full-page miniatures are f. 1v, The Virgin and Child depicted within a radiant mandorla and enclosed by a rosary border; f. 17v, A kneeling female donor, habited as a Benedictine, holding the sacred heart(?) in prayer before Christ in a radiant mandorla with an angel (Saint Michael?) standing as a protective intercessor.

LITERATURE
Unpublished; Related literature: Alain Arnould, De la production de miniatures de Cornelia van Wulfschkercke au couvent des carmélites de Sion à Bruges, Brussels, 1998; Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers, “Weaving Mary’s Chaplet: The Representation of the Rosary in Late Medieval Flemish Manuscript Illumination,” in Weaving, Veiling, and Dressing: Textiles and their Metaphors in the Late Middle Ages, eds. Kathryn M. Rudy and Barbara Baert, Turnhout, 2007, pp. 39–78; Anne Margreet W. As-Vijvers, “Manuscript Production in a Carmelite Convent: The Case of Cornelia van Wulfschkercke,” in Books of Hours Reconsidered, eds. Sandra Hindman and James H. Marrow, Turnhout, 2013, pp. 279–96 and 519–520;
"Cornelia van Wulfschkercke". RKD Research Portal. Retrieved 11 June 2026.

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

Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz.

This lot is located in Chicago.

CIRCLE OF CORNELIA VAN WULFSCHKERCKE (Bruges, active from c. 1495, died 1540) Rosariaum, in Dutch, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Southern Netherlands, Bruges? c. 1510-1520]

CIRCLE OF CORNELIA VAN WULFSCHKERCKE (Bruges, active from c. 1495, died 1540)
Rosariaum, in Dutch, illuminated manuscript on parchment [Southern Netherlands, Bruges? c. 1510-1520]