From a deluxe Book of Hours, a complete calendar on creamy parchment written by a skilled scribe in gold leaf, red, and blue and decorated with gilt ivy-leaf borders and delicate foliate scrolls.
 
110 × 85 mm (with minor variations). Twelve leaves, ruled in red ink for a single column of sixteen lines, written in a fine gothic book hand in blue, red, gold, and black (justification: 58 × 42 mm), major feasts in gold, secondary in blue and red, one- and two-line initials in gold on colored grounds, all margins enriched with full borders of rinceaux and strewn flowers with gold bezants and ivy leaves. The saints listed and the color hierarchy confirm the Use of Paris, with notable Parisian feasts such as Saint Geneviève (3 Jan, in gold), Saint Denis (9 Oct, in gold), Saint Marcel of Paris (3 Nov), Saint Germain of Paris (28 May), Saints Opportune and other regional cults associated with Paris. Some losses to paint and gold in initials; staining and wear to margins and, in places, to the written space; else in good condition.
 
Calendars in fifteenth-century Books of Hours served both devotional and practical functions, allowing readers to track the liturgical year and mark personal commemorations alongside Church feast days. The use of gold to denote major feasts, particularly local Parisian saints, reflects a commission of notable luxury and expense, emphasizing the manuscript’s prestige and the elevated status of its original owner. Executed in Paris circa 1450–1470, these twelve calendar leaves were illuminated by a workshop in close proximity to the circle of the Master of Jean Rolin II (see lots 41 and 42 for leaves from the same manuscript).
 
Provenance
(1)Commissioned for a Parisian, possibly male, client with the Obsecro te (from sister leaf lot 41) in the masculine form.
 
(2) Early modern monogram, perhaps “A. de B,” inscribed on first leaf of calendar.
 
(3) Private Collection, California, USA.
 
Sister leaves
Sister leaves offered in lot nos. 41 and 42.
 
LITERATURE
Unpublished. For the Master of Jean Rolin II, see: François Avril and Nicole Reynaud, Les Manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440–1520, pp. 38–45; Jacqueline Schaefer, “Le Maître de Jean Rolin: Un atelier parisien vers 1450,” Revue de l’art 119 (1998), pp. 33–44; Eberhard König, Das Stundenbuch des Kardinals Jean Rolin, Munich, 2002.
 
We thank Senior Consultant Sandra Hindman and Peter Bovenmyer for their assistance in preparing this sale and Elliot Adam for consultation on this entry.