LEO THE GREAT, THE ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS, CHRIST BLESSING and other miniatures on 16 leaves from a Giant Homiliary, illuminated by the Masters of the Pluteus Bible and other artists [Tuscany, probably Florence, third quarter 12th century]

These 16 leaves would have been part of a great Homiliary – a book containing explanations of the Gospels by the Church Fathers – illuminated in Tuscany in the late 12th century. There are three clearly different hands at work here: the first, and likely earliest, is the one responsible for the initials depicting the Annunciation to the Shepherds and Christ blessing, closely resembling a Commentary of the Gospel of John in Siena (Bibl. Com. F.I.2). The style is lively and eccentric: the figures contorted and stylised; the foliage spidery and unorthodox. The second artist is responsible for the more simplistic and monochromatic initials formed of animals and drawn interlace. The third, and most accomplished, has been attributed to the First Master of the Pluteus Bible (Florence, Laurenziana cod. Plut. 15. 13): his style is bright and vibrant, to quote Berg: ‘he often displays a riotous fantasy in enlivening his foliage with birds, masks, and putti [...] the foliage is very crisp, generally giving a strong plastic effect.’

Provenance:
ERIC KORNER (1893-1980), nos 4-5 (bought from Hoepli, 1953, no 34): his sale, Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 3.

Measurements:
471 x 332mm. Two columns of 49-52 lines, SIXTEEN LARGE INITIALS.

Bibliography:
K. Berg, Studies in Tuscan Twelfth-Century Illumination, 1968.

θ Please see our Conditions of Sale for definitions of cataloguing symbols.

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