Master of The Franciscan Breviary (Active 1440-1460)

Master of the Franciscan Breviary (active 1440-1460)
ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN, initial 'A' from a Bessarion antiphonal [Lombardy or Emilia, 1440-60]
A sparkling example of the work of the Master of the Franciscan Breviary, so-named after a two-volume breviary for Franciscan use now in Bologna (Biblioteca Universitaria, ms. lat. 337). Characteristic of the artist's style are his diaphanous draperies; his graceful, pale figures with diminutive features; and his architectural initial staves. Similar seraphim, with the same childish faces, hair and wings are found in other works by this illuminator, for example, a Coronation of the Virgin (British Library, Additional 60630, f.12); an Ascension of Christ in an initial T (M. Levi d'Ancona, The Wildenstein Collection of Illuminations, Florence, 1970, pl. II); and a second Coronation of the Virgin sold at Christie's New York, 10 January 1996, lot 8.

The master's work appears in the renowned series of choirbooks commissioned by Cardinal Bessarion, one of the most intriguing and influential figures of the Renaissance. It is believed that Bessarion commissioned the manuscripts while he was Papal Legate in Bologna, from 1450-55, and that he originally intended them for the newly founded Observant convent of S. Antonio 'de Cypressis' in Constantinople. When Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, it became clear that the choirbooks would need a new destination.

The present cutting comes from volume XIV in the 1812 inventory of the Bessarion choirbooks, described as an 'Antifonario feriale della Pentecoste fino all'Avvento di pag.124' (see G.M. Canova, 'Una illustre serie ricostruita: i corali del Bessarione', Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell'Arte, XI, 1978, pp. 9-20). A David in Prayer with the coat of arms of Bessarion, also the work of the Master of the Franciscan Breviary, and also from the same manuscript, is now Fondazione Giorgio Cini 2096 (see G.M. Canova, Miniature dell'Italia settentrionale nella Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 1978, no 79).

Provenance:
•The parent antiphonal was gifted by Cardinal Bessarion to the Church of Santa Maria Annunziata del Convento dei Frati Minori in Cesena. The convent was suppressed in 1866.
•Francesco Torchiana, of Como (part of the 'Dipartimento del Lario' until 1815): inscription 'Como, 24 Dicembre 1812' and '1813' and repeated pentrials in French and Italian on verso.
•Private collection, London. Published by F. Lollini, 'Bologna, Ferrara, Cesena: i corali del Bessarione tra circuiti umanistici e percorsi d'artisti', Corali miniati del Quattrocento nella Biblioteca Malatestiana, Milan, 1989, pp. 19-33).

268 x 196mm. Historiated initial 'A' cut from an illuminated manuscript antiphonal on vellum, opening one of the antiphons for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin: 'Assumpta est Maria in celum: gaudent angeli'; two 4-line staves in red on verso interspersed with later inscriptions in Italian and French.

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