THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS, historiated initial on a leaf from an illuminated Book of Hours [northern France or southern Netherlands, probably Tournai, c.1400]

An attractive little miniature on a leaf from an early 15th-century Book of Hours. The spiky borders have a very Flemish flavour, while the miniature itself displays characteristics of northern French illumination. Similar in style to a Rituale of c.1400-1415 at the Bibliotheque nationale de France, ms. nouv. acq. lat. 3106, this is a testament to the cross-cultural artistic exchanges and influences on the Franco-Flemish border at the turn of the 15th century.

The historiated initial marks the opening of None in the Office of the Virgin.

Provenance:
- The text of the present leaf has the capitulum ‘Felix namque’ for Sext followed by the Antiphon ‘Pulchra es’ for None. This unusual combination is found in Books of Hours made for the use of Tournai, in modern-day Belgium.
- Sotheby’s, 19 June 1990, lot 51.

Measurements:
180 x 135mm. 21 lines, written space: 113 x 79mm.

Bibliography:
M. Smeyers, Flemish Miniatures, 1999, pp.217-9.

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