Anonymous Spanish Artist

Anonymous Spanish artist
BENEDICTINE NUNS holding emblems of Faith, Charity and Justice [Spain, late 16th century]
An exuberant and decorative example of 16th-century Spanish illumination: a historiated border likely taken from a Patent of Nobility.

Patents of Nobility, or cartas executorias, were issued in Spain throughout the Renaissance and well into the 18th century. Often sumptuously illuminated, these documents would confirm the status of Hidalguia to the recipient, along with granting various exemptions from taxes and tributes. Many cartas would contain full-page miniatures depicting the nobleman and his family and the decorative borders to these miniatures could contain grotesques, or medallions with saints (among other subjects). It seems likely that the present cutting — with the representations of Faith, Justice and Charity — might well have formed part of such a miniature.

Provenance:
•Private collection, London.

228 x 70mm. Verso blank.

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