A BIFOLIUM WITH THREE HISTORIATED INITIALS FROM THE BREVIARY OF LIONELLO D’ESTE, DUKE OF FERRARA (also known as THE LLANGATTOCK BREVIARY) [Ferrara, c.1450]

A wonderful example of the best of 15th-century Ferrarese illumination. A splendid and richly decorated bifolium from a lavish manuscript originally made for Lionello d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara and Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450. The three miniatures in our bifolium are the work of Guglielmo Giraldi, one of the favourite illuminators of Renaissance ruling families, including the Este of Ferrara and the Gonzaga of Mantova.
The text is from the feasts of St Boniface and the Nativity of St John the Baptist.

Provenance:
- All aspects of the manuscript — size, format and illumination — correspond to those of the Missal of Borso d'Este, marquis and then duke of Ferrara (Modena, Biblioteca Estense, Ms W.5.2, lat. 239) and the Breviary was certainly made either for him or his predecessor Lionello, and intended, like the Missal, for use in the ruler’s chapel. It is now usually identified with the Breviary recorded in accounts in the d’Este archives as having been illuminated for Lionello by Giorgio d’Alemagna, Bartolomeo di Benincà, Guglielmo Giraldi and Matteo de' Pasti.
- The parent manuscript was sold at Christie’s, December 8 1958, lot 190, as part of the estate of the 2nd Baron Llangattock. It carried the bookplate of JOHN ETHERINGTON WELCH ROLLS, father of the 1st Baron Llangattock. Many miniatures had already been removed (supposedly by soldiers during the Peninsular War) and after the sale the remaining leaves were separated and dispersed.

Measurements:
275 x 203mm. Two columns of 30 lines written in brown ink in a gothic bookhand.

Bibliography:
F. Toniolo ed., La miniatura a Ferrara dal tempo di Cosmè Tura all'eredità di Ercole de' Roberti, 1998, pp.19, 20, 76-77.

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