TEXT FROM PRIME

Rouen, late 15th century. Visible leaf: 170 x 122 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 3/4"). Frame: 338 x 280 mm. (13 1/4 x 11"). Verso with single column, 20 lines in a gothic hand.
In an old wooden frame, lightly gilt, with a small brass plaquette on the front, glass on both sides (frame with light wear in places, but in very good condition). Rubrics in red, three line-fillers and six one-line initials painted gold on blue, brown, or red ground, one three-line initial and one two-line initial painted white and pink and filled with a blue flower on a gold ground, panel border with alternating triangular shapes of bare vellum filled with gold and blue acanthus and flowers on a painted gold ground, A FULL-PAGE MINIATURE OF THE NATIVITY, with the Virgin and Joseph kneeling inside a half-timbered shed before their newborn son, two angels dressed in gold immediately behind them, a cow and an ass in the background, all framed by an architectural border painted gold. ◆Not examined outside of frame, but the vellum slightly wavy, verso with two old mounting strips in upper margin, but the miniature IN FINE CONDITION, without any erosion in the paint, and looking virtually as bright and fresh as the day it left the workshop.

In a beautiful palette of pale blue, green, and gold, this lovely miniature of the Nativity was no doubt produced in Rouen by a skilled artisan. The scene is wonderfully intimate, with the Virgin and Joseph both kneeling in prayer on either side of their newborn child, who radiates rays of gold on the bare ground. Two angels are in attendance behind the holy family, and even the statuary depicted in the architectural frame seem to take notice of the extraordinary event. The soft color palette adds to the serenity of the moment, and effuses the scene with tranquility. A particularly interesting feature of this miniature is the prominent beam of the shed that bisects the image, isolating the Virgin on the left in what seems to be an unusual way. The work is clearly that of a practiced hand; the composition conveys a convincing sense of space, the detail work is excellent, and it includes a good deal of gold highlighting, adding a note of luxury to the otherwise modest surroundings depicted in the miniature..