SIX MINIATURES cut from a copy of Gratian’s Decretum, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum[Italy (Bologna), late 13th century]
6 cuttings, each c. 55 × 70mm, the reverse of each ruled in leadpoint, written in gothic script, with 13 lines of text preserved, with rubrics, coloured initials, and paraph marks, the reverse of at least two of the cuttings with vestiges of numbers on adhesive labels printed in blue with perforated edges; in very fine condition; framed in a 19th(?)-century gilt double-sided metal frame, c. 295 × 180mm overall.
PROVENANCE? Károly/Karl von Pulszky (1853–1899), art historian, collector, museum founder, editor, translator of Arthur Conan Doyle and, from 1884, Director of the Hungarian National Picture Gallery (Országos Képtár), Budapest (on whom see Fehér, 2010): these 6 cuttings were perhaps among the 24 (four groups of six?) in his posthumous auction by Cubash, Vienna, 10 June 1901, lot 21, of which four are reproduced: they are painted by the same illuminator, and appear to come from the same parent manuscript.Sold at Christie’s, 21 November 2012, lot 2; bought by:The Boehlen Collection, Bern, MS 1126.
TEXT AND ILLUMINATIONThese miniatures can be attributed to an illuminator whose work has been studied in relation to a prolific late Bolognese group of artists known collectively as the ‘Gregory-Gratian Shop’ from their specialisation in the illustration of Canon Law manuscripts, who were active in the last two decades of the 13th century (see Susan L’Engle, 2000, esp. pp. 103–07, and L’Engle, 2021, esp. pp. 48–49). They were responsible for most of the illumination of Princeton University, Garrett MS 97 (on which see Skemer, 2013), which has been described as one of ‘the finest of all thirteenth-century Bolognese Decretum manuscripts’.
Each of the miniatures has the ecclesiastical judge seated at the left, holding a book; they depict:1. Causa 12. Concerning clerics who drew up wills, but also included in them some church possessions: a sick priest on his deathbed surrounded by monks and laymen, at the foot of a bed a man with a document.The text on the reverse from C.11, Q.3, C.108.2. Causa 4. Concerning an excommunicated man who, unable to accuse him directly, used a thirteen-year-old boy to accuse a bishop, who refuses to respond to charges brought improperly: the man presents the boy to the judge; the bishop stands to the right.The text on the reverse from C.4, Q.2–3, C.3.3. Distinctio 1? A bishop and clergy to the left, a king and laymen to the right. This perhaps represents the opening concept of the text, that canon law (represented by the bishop) and civil law (represented by the king) both derive from natural law, as represented by the gospels.The text on the reverse from D.3, C.3–4.4. Causa 16. Concerning the conflict between an abbot who appointed a monk to a parish church of the abbey, and the clerics of the cathedral in whose diocese in which the church: monks appeal to the judge while a priest celebrates mass at an altar.The text on the reverse from C.16, Q.1, C.2–3.5. Causa 14. Concerning canons who loaned money to traders for profit (against the biblical prohibition of usury) and instituted a lawsuit to recover the debt: monks (one holding a contract) and a layman appeal to the judge.The text on the reverse from C.13, Q.2, C.28–29.6. Causa 6. Concerning a bishop who sought a hearing before the bishop of another province, having been accused of simony by two fornicators: laymen (presumably led by one of the accusers) appealing to the judge while the bishop confers with a monk.The text on the reverse from C.6, Q.1, C.3–5.
REFERENCESH. Cubash, Pergament-Miniaturen des XI. bis XV. Jahr., Handzeichnungen, Radirungen, Kupferstiche u. Bücher aus dem Nachlasse des Hreen Karl v. Pulszky ... 10. Juni 1901.
I. Fehér, ‘Károly Pulszky and the Florentine Acquisitions for the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum in Budapest between 1893 and 1895’, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 54 no. 2 (2010), pp. 319–64
S. L’Engle, ‘The Illumination of Legal Manuscripts in Bologna, 1250-1350: Production and Iconography’ (PhD dissertation, Institute of Fine Arts New York University, 2000).
D.C. Skemer, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts in the Princeton University Library (Princeton, 2013), I, pp. 213–17 and pls. 46–48.
S.L’Engle, ‘Learning the law in Medieval Bologna: the production and use of illuminated legal manuscripts’, in Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City, exh. cat., Frist Art Museum, ed. by T. Kennedy (Nashville, 2021).
SIX MINIATURES cut from a copy of Gratian’s Decretum, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum[Italy (Bologna), late 13th century]
6 cuttings, each c. 55 × 70mm, the reverse of each ruled in leadpoint, written in gothic script, with 13 lines of text preserved, with rubrics, coloured initials, and paraph marks, the reverse of at least two of the cuttings with vestiges of numbers on adhesive labels printed in blue with perforated edges; in very fine condition; framed in a 19th(?)-century gilt double-sided metal frame, c. 295 × 180mm overall.
PROVENANCE? Károly/Karl von Pulszky (1853–1899), art historian, collector, museum founder, editor, translator of Arthur Conan Doyle and, from 1884, Director of the Hungarian National Picture Gallery (Országos Képtár), Budapest (on whom see Fehér, 2010): these 6 cuttings were perhaps among the 24 (four groups of six?) in his posthumous auction by Cubash, Vienna, 10 June 1901, lot 21, of which four are reproduced: they are painted by the same illuminator, and appear to come from the same parent manuscript.Sold at Christie’s, 21 November 2012, lot 2; bought by:The Boehlen Collection, Bern, MS 1126.
TEXT AND ILLUMINATIONThese miniatures can be attributed to an illuminator whose work has been studied in relation to a prolific late Bolognese group of artists known collectively as the ‘Gregory-Gratian Shop’ from their specialisation in the illustration of Canon Law manuscripts, who were active in the last two decades of the 13th century (see Susan L’Engle, 2000, esp. pp. 103–07, and L’Engle, 2021, esp. pp. 48–49). They were responsible for most of the illumination of Princeton University, Garrett MS 97 (on which see Skemer, 2013), which has been described as one of ‘the finest of all thirteenth-century Bolognese Decretum manuscripts’.
Each of the miniatures has the ecclesiastical judge seated at the left, holding a book; they depict:1. Causa 12. Concerning clerics who drew up wills, but also included in them some church possessions: a sick priest on his deathbed surrounded by monks and laymen, at the foot of a bed a man with a document.The text on the reverse from C.11, Q.3, C.108.2. Causa 4. Concerning an excommunicated man who, unable to accuse him directly, used a thirteen-year-old boy to accuse a bishop, who refuses to respond to charges brought improperly: the man presents the boy to the judge; the bishop stands to the right.The text on the reverse from C.4, Q.2–3, C.3.3. Distinctio 1? A bishop and clergy to the left, a king and laymen to the right. This perhaps represents the opening concept of the text, that canon law (represented by the bishop) and civil law (represented by the king) both derive from natural law, as represented by the gospels.The text on the reverse from D.3, C.3–4.4. Causa 16. Concerning the conflict between an abbot who appointed a monk to a parish church of the abbey, and the clerics of the cathedral in whose diocese in which the church: monks appeal to the judge while a priest celebrates mass at an altar.The text on the reverse from C.16, Q.1, C.2–3.5. Causa 14. Concerning canons who loaned money to traders for profit (against the biblical prohibition of usury) and instituted a lawsuit to recover the debt: monks (one holding a contract) and a layman appeal to the judge.The text on the reverse from C.13, Q.2, C.28–29.6. Causa 6. Concerning a bishop who sought a hearing before the bishop of another province, having been accused of simony by two fornicators: laymen (presumably led by one of the accusers) appealing to the judge while the bishop confers with a monk.The text on the reverse from C.6, Q.1, C.3–5.
REFERENCESH. Cubash, Pergament-Miniaturen des XI. bis XV. Jahr., Handzeichnungen, Radirungen, Kupferstiche u. Bücher aus dem Nachlasse des Hreen Karl v. Pulszky ... 10. Juni 1901.
I. Fehér, ‘Károly Pulszky and the Florentine Acquisitions for the Szépmüvészeti Múzeum in Budapest between 1893 and 1895’, Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz, 54 no. 2 (2010), pp. 319–64
S. L’Engle, ‘The Illumination of Legal Manuscripts in Bologna, 1250-1350: Production and Iconography’ (PhD dissertation, Institute of Fine Arts New York University, 2000).
D.C. Skemer, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts in the Princeton University Library (Princeton, 2013), I, pp. 213–17 and pls. 46–48.
S.L’Engle, ‘Learning the law in Medieval Bologna: the production and use of illuminated legal manuscripts’, in Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City, exh. cat., Frist Art Museum, ed. by T. Kennedy (Nashville, 2021).
Testen Sie LotSearch und seine Premium-Features 7 Tage - ohne Kosten!
Lassen Sie sich automatisch über neue Objekte in kommenden Auktionen benachrichtigen.
Suchauftrag anlegen
