Illuminated Initial, C15th | King David gazing up to the Heavens, historiated initial ‘D from a Choir Psalter on vellum, illuminated by Venturino Mercati, Italy (Milan or Siena), c. 1470

90 x 100mm, illuminated initial, cutting, tempera and burnished gold on vellum, initial ‘D’ — reverse with remains of 4 lines of text, the minims c. 15mm high, probably Psalm 25:2-3, ‘[ren]es meos / [et cor] meum / [quoniam misericord]ia tua / [ante oculos] meos est’, thus the initial ‘D’ is probably the normal psalter division at Ps.26: ‘Dominus illuminatio mea’ (‘The Lord is my Light’) — cut to the edges of the initial and trimmed at the left, some smudging of the background sky, and slight losses of the gold framing, the reverse with traces of paper backing with several pencil inscriptions, crossed-through

This elegant initial depicting King David was created by the Lombard illuminator Venturino Mercati, also known as Venturino da Milano. Venturino is understood to be one of the last representatives of the Flemish-Burgundian Gothic tradition of illumination in Italy. His style is distinct. His figures are created with delicate heads and features and small, often hooded eyes while fabrics are almost rendered two-dimensional with striking colours.

AN ELEGANT SIENNESE MINIATURE DEPICTING KING DAVID BY VENTURION MERCATI

Venturino's style shows the influences of leading Masters of the time, working on high-profile commissions, including the Master of the Vitae Imperatorum, Belbello da Pavia, Jacopo da Balsemo, and the Master of Ippolita Sforza. Our artist worked on commissions for distinguished patrons, including a copy of the Antiphonary of the Saints for Duke Ercole I d’Este. Seventeen of the miniatures in this codex can be attributed to him (Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, Lat., 453= alpha PI6).

This miniature originates from a Choir Psalter made for an Olivetan monastery based on the presence of numerous Olivetan monks and saints in the illuminations. Among others, Venturino illuminated service books for the Olivetan monastery of San Michele in Bosco, Bologna, before spending most of the 1470s illuminating books for the Monte Oliveto Maggiore, near Siena. The attribution was confirmed by Hans-Joachim Eberhardt, who dates the initial to before Venturino’s time in Tuscany. Another cutting of David, perhaps from the same Psalter, was sold in our rooms, 5 July 2011, lot 7, and a third cutting from the same group, but probably not from a Psalter, was 5 December 1995, lot 16.

PROVENANCE

1. Bound in 1838, with 36 other historiated initials, into a copy of J. Maddan and H. Shaw, Illuminated Ornaments Selected from Manuscripts, with a bookseller’s description stating that they were ‘cut out of service books (particularly that of Como) during the French invasion of Italy’.

2. John Lomax (1801-49) of Clayton Hall, Lancashire, with his bookplate and signature dated 1842.

3. W.O. Wade, with his bookplate.

4. C.W. Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), Worcester Sauce maker, collector of books and ceramics, and philanthropist; his sale in our rooms, 29 November 1990, lot 151, bought by:

5. A.G. Thomas (1911-92), who removed the cuttings, keeping only this one and one other; his sale in our rooms, 21 June 1993, lot 29.

6. Sotheby’s, London, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Sale, 5 July 2016, lot 23.

7. Acquired by present owner from the above sale.

Although the confirmed provenance begins in 1838, we can confidently trace its history further. It is one of a group of Lombard cuttings incorrectly attributed, in pencil inscriptions on their backs, to the cathedral at Como. Many of these were in the sale of W. Y. Ottley, sold in our rooms, 11 May 1838, perhaps part of one of the lots described as ‘David etc.’; many of the Ottley cuttings had, in turn, reached England through the famous sale of the Abbe Celotti at Christie’s, 26 May 1825, in which the present cutting was perhaps part of lot 8, or more likely 10.

SISTER LEAVES

Venturino participated in the Choral Books of the Olivetan monastery of S. Vittore in Milan (London, Sotheby's, 29 Nov. 1960, lot 151; 5 Dec. 1995, lot 16: ibid.). The miniatures that accompany the choral books of the Civic Museum of Bologna (mss. 554-559) have then been attributed to Venturino. Works in which Venturino adopts styles similar to those of the choral books donated by Carlo Pallavicino to the cathedral of Lodi (New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, Mss., 682, 684, 686, 687). Also attributed to him are seventeen of the miniatures in the Antiphonal of the Saints created for Ercole I d’Este (Modena, Biblioteca Estense universitari, Lat., 453= alpha PI6) and Chiusi, Museo della Cattedrale, MSS B, C, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M and N.

LITERATURE

Cerulli, Beatrice . "Venturino Mercati", in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 73, 2009.