An expressive cutting of the soldier saint Maurice by a painter known for celebrated royal commissions including the Gradual of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany.
 
96 × 111 mm. Single cutting with a historiated initial ‘V’, painted in blue and ornamented with white geometric patterns and penwork embellishments on a gold ground, initial encloses an image of a saint in full armor on horseback, bearing a banner emblazoned with a cross and riding through a landscape, verso shows remnants of four-line musical red staves. The cutting is generally well-preserved, with vibrant colors and glistening gold. Minor rubbing is evident on some high points, consistent with use in a Choir Book. The reverse is largely obscured by a pastedown from a previous frame mount.
 
This historiated initial of Saint Maurice comes from the Sanctorale of a large Choir Book and may have formed the incipit for the responsory Viri sancti gloriosum sanguinem fuderunt pro Domino Jesu Christo—a chant that opened the Office of Saint Maurice and his companions (September 22). Rubrics or marginal notes are not extant on the fragment. Saint Maurice, a Roman legion commander martyred for his faith, was a popular military patron saint, especially in France and Paris, where he was venerated as a model of Christian knighthood and steadfast loyalty under persecution. Here, he is appropriately shown as an armored knight holding the red and white banner of his legion, symbolizing his valor and martyrdom.

The Master of Philippa of Guelders (sometimes written Philippe)—to whom this cutting is attributed—was a prolific illuminator active in the Duchy of Lorraine and Paris at the turn of the sixteenth century. Identified and named by John Plummer after a Grande Vie de Jésus Christ created for Duchess Philippa of Guelders (Lyon, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 5125), this artist completed numerous high-profile commissions for both ducal and royal patrons. His style shows the influence of Jean Colombe and the Master of Spencer 6, yet retains distinct hallmarks: densely packed compositions, short, stocky figure proportions, and facial features rendered with a single thin stroke for brows and lids, as well as combed hair accented with gold highlights. His palette is striking, marked by a liberal use of strong blues and golds, deep maroons, and greens. In addition to ducal projects in Lorraine, the Master of Philippa of Guelders contributed to major royal commissions in Paris and northern France at the turn of the century, including the famed Choir Book of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany (now dispersed). The present cutting’s refined figure style and vibrant palette closely parallel illuminations from that manuscript, firmly situating it within the corpus of this artist’s work.
 
Provenance
(1) Unidentified parent manuscript, likely a large-format Antiphonal or Gradual produced for a monastic or court chapel in Lorraine or northern France, c. 1500.

(2) Dr. Scott Schwartz, New York.

Sister leaves
Presently unidentified, but it is not impossible that the present cutting comes from the dismantled royal Choir Book; only a better examination of the text on the verso and a fuller comparison with the extant leaves and cuttings could confirm this hypothesis.

LITERATURE
Unpublished; related literature: John Plummer, The Last Flowering: French Painting in Manuscripts, 1420–1530. New York, 1982, pp. 69–71; François Avril and Nicole Reynaud. Les manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440–1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 278–281; Claudia Rabel, “La production enluminée à la cour de Lorraine sous René II et Antoine,” in Le mécénat de René II, duc de Lorraine, ed. Pierre Sesmat, Nancy, 1993, pp. 125–141.

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

The Collection of Dr. Scott Schwartz