Beschreibung:

ANNUNCIATION, miniature on a leaf from a Book of Hours, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Bruges, c.1440] l90 x 135mm (leaf). Arch-topped miniature with a background of gold decorated with painted scrolling yellow tendrils, the Virgin and Gabriel kneeling on a tiled floor, a golden jar of lilies before them, the Dove of the Holy Spirit approaching the Virgin on rays coming from the blue head of God the Father in the upper left, the miniature above four lines of text written in black ink in a gothic bookhand, rubrics in red, a four-line initial of blue against a ground of pink with white penwork decoration, infilled with burnished gold diaper with small coloured flowers, text and miniature surrounded by a three-sided bar border and a full-page border of curling acanthus and sprays of flowers with hair-line sprays of golden trefoils and blue and pink florets, on the verso 15 lines of text with four one-line initials and one two-line initial of gold on grounds and infills of pink and blue with white penwork decoration (very slight smudging of ink in border). The illuminators referred to as the Masters of the Gold Scrolls, who were active in Bruges in the first half of the 15th century, were a prolific and variable group. The illumination gathered under the umbrella of this attribution is invariably anecdotal and charming, but it can vary widely in finish and style. This Annunciation is a particularly delicate and fine example; combining elegant draughtsmanship and careful execution with a lavish use of gold - the customary background of red with liquid gold decoration that gave the group its name has here been replaced by a ground of burnished gold.