(Bible in Latin) | Illuminated manuscript fragment on vellum, Northern France, c. 1240

(Bible in Latin)

Illuminated manuscript fragment on vellum, Northern France, ca. 1240

13 consecutive leaves (153 x 102 mm), bound. Written in small dark brown gothic bookhand in two columns of 44 lines, ruled, 17 initials painted in shades of red, white, black, and blue, the majority of which with gold leaf, many with charming drolleries, with running titles in red and blue and countless one-line initials as well as pilcrows; margins slightly darkened and occasionally showing minor marks of usage, a few short tears to edges. Modern half vellum over marbled paper-covered boards, blackletter sticker title to upper board, red manuscript symbol to spine; lightly rubbed, sticker label lifting slightly.

A attractive 13th-century example of Parisian manuscript illumination, likely accomplished by the renowned Gautier Lebaube Atelier, including the complete Books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.

These beautiful leaves were likely created by the renowned Gautier Lebaube Atelier, active around 1240 in Paris. The atelier was named by Robert Branner after its leading illuminator, whose name survives on a full-page miniature showing a Tree of Consanguinity (formerly Glazier collection ms. 37, now Morgan Library). Below the kings’ feet a scroll unfolds bearing the words “GAUTIER.LEBAUBE.FIT.LABRE” (Gautier Lebaube made this tree). 

Under the reign of King Louis VIII and Queen Blanche of Castile, Parisian manuscript illumination experienced a Golden Age in which the Lebaube Atelier, and particularly its master, was a rising star. The artist and his atelier worked for high profile patrons including King Louis VIII and established themselves as one of the leading workshops of their time, producing stylistically cohesive and attractive works whose additional details deviated from the standard 13th-century iconography and added an enticing twist to the visual imagery of the period. Works by the artist and his collaborators can be found in leading public collections such as the BnF, Latin 36; Latin 14397, Pierpont Morgan Library, MS G.37, the Huntington Library, MS HM 1074, and Avranches, BM 24 (Gospels with gloss). 

Small and fantastic creatures, birds, and monsters feature prominently in the visual language of the workshop. A feature of the atelier are the tightly coiled hybrid creatures, often combining avian bodies with different animal heads, which appear in several of the initials in the present lot.

REFERENCES

Branner, Manuscript Painting in Paris during the Reign of Saint Louis, 1977; Two miniatures, (MS G.37.1-2), formerly Glazier Collection, https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/77492; Sforzolini, "Un codice dell’atelier di Gautier Lebaube," in Classicismo: Medioevo, Rinascimento, barocco (1993), p. 57–63