Beschreibung:

MEXICAN ILLUMINATED MISSAL – Illuminated manuscript on vellum, in Latin and Spanish. Mexico, 24 September 1702. Folio (492 x 356mm). 140 leaves; 12 lines in a round bookhand framed with a double fillet in red; red, one-line initials; ruled space: 422 x 267mm. 56 illuminated initials of various sizes, most c. 122 x 122mm, in colors and liquid gold (occasional marginal finger soiling). Contemporary Mexican calf with elaborate gilt decoration, edges gilt, original iron clasps (repairs to head and foot of spine, some wear). Provenance : Bethlemite Brothers of Mexico City – Mrs. Claiborne Pell (Christie's, 16 December 2004, lot 585) – William Reese Co. An exceptional example of the Baroque Mexican book arts, with 56 illuminated initials. The fifty-six gorgeously illuminated initials of this missal, made by the Bethlemite brothers of Mexico City, depict New World flora and fauna–including a turkey. Their style melds the traditional Renaissance book arts to an Andalusian decorative aesthetic, with a strong mannerist influence. The contents are: The Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo; Masses of the Virgin; Masses from the Sanctoral and Temporal; with a Hymn to the Virgin on the front pastedown and flyleaf, and the Asperges on the endleaf and rear pastedown. The manuscript was created for the use of the Convent and Hospital of Our Lady of Bethlehem in Mexico City, completed by "a servant of Mary" in 1702. The Bethlemites were the first Catholic religious order founded in the New World, originating in Guatemala from the community established by St. Pedro de Betancur, "St. Francis of Assisi of the Americas," in 1658. They were confirmed as an official order by Pope Innocent XI in 1687 and continued their work of caring for the sick and educating the poor, founding hospitals in Peru and Mexico. The Bethlemite brothers in Mexico City attracted generous benefactors, which allowed them to commission the influential architect Lorenzo Rodriguez to design new buildings for them only a few years after this luxurious manuscript was produced.