Master of the Troyes Missal Leaflet from... - Lot 1 - Giquello

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Master of the Troyes Missal Leaflet from... - Lot 1 - Giquello
Master of the Troyes Missal Leaflet from a book of hours, beginning of the Gospel Pericopes, with the heading: Inicium sancti evangelii secundum Iohannem gloria tibi domine, brown ink, gouache and burnished gold on parchment Saint John the Evangelist on the island of Patmos and his symbol the eagle, curved miniature surrounded by illuminated borders with coloured acanthus decoration, vine leaves and golden besants, floral motifs and birds on a reserved background. France, Troyes, circa 1460. Leaf size: 140 x 187 mm (text on the back, continuation of the beginning of the Gospel according to Saint John). Some rubbing to the nimbus with burnished gold, but overall good condition. This beautiful miniature is attributable to a Trojan artist called "Master of the Missal of Troyes", a prolific artist, identified since the work of François Avril (1993 and 2007). The Master of the Troyes Missal is credited with the decoration of a magnificent missal for the use of Troyes copied by the scribe Jean Coquet around 1460 (Paris, BnF, lat 865A; see Avril and Reynaud, 1993, no. 97, pp. 182-183). It is characterized in particular by a treatment of lunar faces with very shaded complexions, starry skies with deep, dark blue, illuminated by a broad zenithal light. One can admire the realistic details, the modelling of the flesh and the treatment of the trees and vegetation of a bright green. Also typical of this artist is the beautiful treatment of the rocky massifs and the mostly nocturnal scenes with a taste for starry skies, as in the present miniature. A small group of manuscripts by this same artist is known, including Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 117, Missel de Saint-Jean-au-Marché; Paris, BnF, lat. 11972-11974, Postilles de Nicolas de Lyre; Troyes, Médiathèque, MS 3897, Heures à l'usage de Troyes, acquisition by the Médiathèque de Troyes (Christie's, 19 November 2003, lot 22) (see Avril and Reynaud, 1993, pp. 181-184, with a more extensive list of manuscripts by the hand of the Master of the Missal of Troyes: Paris, BnF, lat. 10471, lat. 13273; Marseille, BM, MS. 112; Nancy, BM, MS. 36; Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, 2007, p. 78 and pp. 126-134; see also the list provided by Plummer, 1982, p. 60, no. 79). If the Master of the Missal of Troyes was indeed active in Troyes in Champagne, he also worked for patrons and sponsors of the Franc-Comté region. It appears that the artist spent periods of time, and even a second part of his career, in Franche-Comté (Besançon?), where he seems to have worked for patrons from the Comtois region such as Charles de Neuchâtel, archbishop of Besançon (see his superb Missel, Auckland, Auckland City Librairies, Special Collections, Med. MSS G). Another book of hours kept in New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS M 28. On the Missal Master of Troyes, see the notes devoted to him in Avril, F., M. Hermant, F. Bibolet, Très riches heures de Champagne. L'enluminure en Champagne à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris, 2007, cat. 21A, 21 B and 22; see also Avril and Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peinture 1440-1520, Paris, 1993, pp. 182-184.
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