A deluxe and extensively illuminated carta ejecutoria de hidalguía issued for Domingo de las Muelas in 1608

325 x 230 mm. 149 parchment leaves, complete, foliation occasionally surviving the rest trimmed away, 34 lines written in letra de privilegios, justification: 240 x 130 mm, upper margins with three repeated calligraphic penwork devices in black ink, scribal rúbricas in the lower margins, 42 large initials of 8-10 lines, in gold on red grounds and embellished with elaborate gold penwork flourishes, 5 richly painted full-page miniatures depicting devotional, dynastic, and heraldic subjects, executed in a vibrant palette of blue, red, pink, green, purple, and ochre and extensively heightened with gold and silver, each surrounded by an elaborate border of scrolling acanthus, stylized foliage, grotesques, masks, and fantastic figures against gold grounds, incorporating sacred monograms and ornamental cartouches, several miniatures with inscriptions in gold capitals on red grounds forming royal titulature. (Mild rubbing, soiling, and staining throughout, some wear to the miniatures, particularly in the margins, with minor losses to pigment). Contemporary Spanish fan binding of dark brown calf over pasteboards, the covers elaborately tooled throughout in gold with multiple concentric frames of scrolling foliate, scalloped, and geometric rolls, enclosing a complex compartmentalized design of interlocking rectangular, lozenge-shaped, and triangular panels filled with repeated small tools and radiating fan-shaped cornerpieces, the central compartment with a radiating IHS monogram within an oval medallion, spine with five raised bands, the compartments densely gilt with foliate and geometric ornament, page edges gilt and gauffered, decorated with repeated rosette motifs in red and dark blue, long leather ties at the fore-edge and head and tail (some rubbing and losses to the gilding, with wear at the joints, corners, and raised bands); folding case

Provenance:

1) Domingo de las Muelas, a resident of Culebras, Cuenca, whose claim to hereditary hidalguía was confirmed by the Real Chancillería of Granada in the present Real Provisión ejecutoria dated 9 January 1608. His suit formed part of a broader cluster of contemporary hidalguía proceedings involving members of the de las Muelas family in the Cuenca region. The present ejecutoria was subsequently presented at Caravaca, Murcia, in 1617, presumably to establish and enforce the privileges recognized by the 1608 judgment.

2) With a typed twentieth-century dealer’s description inserted among the front matter, together with a dealer’s slip for a second item of inventory, Constitution Fédérative des États-Unis Mexicains, Paris, 1825, both preserved in a clear plastic sleeve. Slipcase with a label and dealer number “263.”

3) Private American collection.

Contents: ff. 1-2v, Frontmatter; ff. 3-147, record of litigation concerning the claim of Domingo de las Muelas to hereditary hidalguía, asserting his family’s longstanding possession of the status, rights, and privileges of hidalgos, and concluding with the successful recognition of his claim; ff. 147v-148, contemporary additions recording the presentation and enforcement of the ejecutoria, including proceedings at Caravaca in 1617; f. 149, blank.

Illumination: f. 1v, the Crucifixion, with the Virgin, Saint John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene; f. 2, Virgin standing on a crescent moon, surrounded by symbols of the Litany of Loreto, with donor portraits of Diego and his wife; f. 2v, Saint Anne Trinity, accompanied by a donor portrait of Diego; f. 3, Saint George in battle; f. 3v, Saints Anthony and Francis, accompanied by the donor’s coat of arms; f. 126, Saint Francis with stigmata.

This deluxe presentation copy of a carta ejecutoria de hidalguía was commissioned by Domingo de las Muelas, a resident of Culebras, to record the recognition of his noble status following litigation before the Real Chancillería de Granada, the final executory judgment being issued on 9 January 1608. Such proceedings allowed claimants to establish their status as hidalgos and thereby secure the fiscal exemptions and other privileges attendant upon the minor nobility. While the Chancery retained the official record of the proceedings, successful litigants could commission deluxe copies of the resulting ejecutoria for their own possession and use. Despite their often sumptuous appearance, these documents continued to serve as instruments in legal and administrative proceedings to prove noble status. The present manuscript appears to have served precisely this function in 1617, when it was presented in connection with legal proceedings at Caravaca, as recorded in supplemental documentation on ff. 147v-148.

The illuminations appear to be by the same hand as those in the Carta ejecutoria issued at Granada on 14 April 1606 for Juan de Mena Gutiérrez (University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center, LJS 21). The relationship is particularly striking in the Crucifixion, which closely repeats the composition of the Penn miniature in the disposition and postures of the figures, the modeling of faces and draperies, and the distinctive striated treatment of the sky. Equally compelling are the similarities in the surrounding borders, which combine Renaissance grotesque ornament with more traditional foliate manuscript decoration and employ closely related ornamental patterns and the same brilliant palette. These correspondences strongly suggest production within the same workshop and quite possibly by the same illuminator.

We thank Peter Bovenmyer for his consultation on this entry.