(+) Detailed zoom (+) Regular zoom

More book images

(+) Detailed zoom
(+) Regular zoom

(+) Detailed zoom
(+) Regular zoom

(+) Detailed zoom
(+) Regular zoom

(+) Detailed zoom
(+) Regular zoom

Breviary (use of the Order of the Trinitarians)

Description

France, likely Paris, 1440 Breviary (use of the Order of the Trinitarians) In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment France, likely Paris, c. 1440-1450 [3] flyleaves of paper and parchment + 530 ff. [last 10 ff. added in the sixteenth century] + [3] flyleaves of paper and parchment, complete, mostly in quires of 12 (collation : i12 ; ii4 ; iii-xlii12 ; xliii10), written in a tight and clear gothic liturgical script, in brown ink, on up to 20 long lines (justification : 35 x 55 mm), discreet circled catchwords (some decorated with human heads, manicula, scrolls, fountain (fol. 208v), pointing Virgin (fol. 244v), crowned king (fol. 279v), angel (fol. 327v)), ruled in red, rubrics in red, calendar in red, blue and brown ink, capitals in alternating red or blue ink, 2-line high initials in red or blue ink with fine penwork in opposite red or blue, sometimes extending in the margin, 4 to 5-line high painted initials in blue and pink on burnished gold grounds with colored vine or floral infill and springing hair-line stem ornamentation (gold vine, gold besants and floral motifs) extending into the margin forming partial bracket borders, larger 6-line high opening initial B to Psalms, painted in blue with white tracery on burnished gold ground with vine infill of blue and pink (fol. 17), text framed with illuminated border of blue and gold acanthus leaves, floral motifs and gold besants, red shield with erased arms placed at bottom of border, 3 THREE QUARTER-PAGE MINIATURES (ff. 13, 15, 221) framed with illuminated border of the type described above ; some spaces left blank for miniatures (in particular fol. 233). Bound in a sixteenth-century gold-tooled binding of polished light brown calf over stiff pasteboards, smooth spine also gilt with ajouré arabesque, foliate and floral tools, boards with four cornerpieces and central cartouches on both covers with grotesques, cartouches bearing gilt lettering, respectively « S. Berna[r]dus » and « Maior minister », ajouré arabesque, foliate and floral tools, edges gilt and gauffered, edges of the boards decorated with gilt line alternating with short diagonals, written parchment strips as reinforcement visible beneath pastedowns, traces of ties. [Paris, circa 1565-1570; for comparisons, see Hobson, Italian and French 16th century Bookbindings (1991) plate n°58] (Spine slightly rubbed, edges a bit split, else good overall condition). Dimensions : 65 x 95 mm. /// PROVENANCE: 1. Made for the use of the Trinitarians, likely for use in Paris as confirmed by the calendar (importance of Genevieve and Agnes; also important Trinitarian saints such as Mathurin and Magloire) (see comparison, V. Leroquais, Lesbréviaires..., II, no. 415, Bréviaire Romain à l’usage des Trinitaires de Paris ; in particular: Calendrier romain à l’usage de Trinitaires de Paris). The attribution of the three miniatures to the Master of Jean Rolin, an artist active in Paris between 1445 and 1465 would tend to corroborate this localization. 2. Erased arms on folio. 17 (red shield). 3. Ex-libris on verso of first flyleaf: "Perard, changeur du roy a Metz" and added ex-libris: "Ce livre appartient a Monsieur Brun, trinitaire a Metz" (18th century hands). TEXT ff. 1-12, Calendar, in Latin, written in brown, red and blue inks; noteworthy saints include : Genevieve (in red, 3 Jan); Guillermus, bishop of Bourges (10 January, in brown); Agnes (28 Jan); Mathurin (feast 9 november, in blue); Inventio sancti Stephani (3 August, in red); Fiacre (30 August, in brown); Magloire (24 Novembre, in brown); Mathurin (9 November, in blue ; again 16 November, in brown) [Nota : saint John of Matha is absent from calendar and Proper of saints, in particular his feast of 8 Feb.]. ff. 13-14, Prayers to the Trinity; ff. 15-16, Prayers to the Virgin Mary; ff. 17-220, Psalter with eight-fold division as follows: f. f. 17, "Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio..."; f. 44, "Dominus illuminacio mea et salus mea" (Psalm 26, Feria II); f. 61v, "Dixi custodiam vias meas" (Psalm 38, Feria III); f. 78v, "Dixit insipiens in corde suo" (Psalm 52, Feria IV); f. 94v, "Salvum me fac" (Psalm 68, Feria V); f. 115, "Exultate Deo adjutori nostro" (Psalm 80, Feria VI); f. 134, "Cantate Domino canticum novum" (Psalm 97, Sabbatum); f . 157, "Dixit Dominus" (Psalm 109, Vespers); ff. 221-232, Vigil of the Dead, rubric: Incipiunt vigilie defunctorum; f. 232v, blank; ff. 233-354 Temporal, incipit: “Sabbato primo adventus Domini..."; f. 355, blank; ff. 356-467, Proper of the Saints, rubric: In vigilia sancti andree apostoli ; ff. 467v-519, Common of the Saints, rubric: Incipit communi sanctorum et primo de evangelistis ad vesperis; ff. 520-527, Short Hours of the Virgin (added sixteenth–century folios), rubric: Hore parve. Incipit officium quotidianum beate marie virginis abreviatum. The Order of the Trinitarians was founded by Jean de Matha (died 1213) in order to liberate the Christians taken prisoner by the infidels. Jean de Matha sought and gained support for his Order, placed under the protection of the Trinity, from the bishop of Notre-Dame in Paris and the abbot of Saint-Victor. As devised by Jean, the Rule of the Trinitarians proscribed that the revenues of the community be used in three ways : a third for the daily needs of the community, a third for the freeing of Christian prisoners, and a third for works of charity. The Rule was very austere: members often fasted, their garments were of white wool and they observed a vow of silence. It was the first order whose Rule was approved by the Holy See in a Papal Bull by Innocent III in 1198. The centuries of foundation and expansion were a time of vitality and achievement. Stability underpinned the Trinitarians in their local communities and throughout the Order. The Order's headquarters was eventually established near the Sorbonne in Paris, at the house of St. Mathurin which had been founded during the first half of the 13th century. The name of this house gave rise to the popular use of the name "Mathurins" in France for members of the Order. By the end of the Middle Ages, there were 12 provinces of the Trinitarians, with a total of some 150 houses in Europe. ILLUSTRATION f. 13, Monk (Trinitairian) kneeling in prayer before Trinity ; the Monk bears the distinctive cross of red and blue on his white robe ; f. 15, Monk (Trinitarian) kneeling before a Pietà. f. 221, Resurection of Lazarus. This manuscript contains three fairly large miniatures for such a small format, attributed to a Parisian artist known as the Master of Jean Rolin, a member of a "triade" of artists (see N. Reynaud, p. 36) active in Paris, composed respectively of the Maître de Jean Rolin, the Maître François and the Maître François. Active in Paris between 1445 and 1465, the Master of Jean Rolin is well documented and studied by N. Reynaud (see F. Avril/N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures..., pp. 38–45). Compare the style of our miniatures with, for example, the eponymous manuscript, the Missel of Jean Rolin (Lyon, Bibl. Mun., MS 517), where the same energetic drawing, angular gestures, and expressive features appear, along with the intense colors accompanied by grey and beige, highlighted with liquid gold. LITERATURE Avril, F. and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France, 1440-1520, Paris, Flammarion, 1993. Deslandres, P., L’ordre des Trinitaires pour le rachat des captifs, Toulouse, 1903 Leroquais, V., Les bréviaires manuscrits des bibliothèques publiques de France, vol. II, Paris, 1934. ONLINE RESOURCES On the Breviary: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02768b.htm Order of the Trinitarians: http://www.trinitarians.org/. Cuir / Leather. VERY GOOD / TRÈS BON. 65 x 95 Mm.