Anonymous Spanish artist
ST PAUL, initial 'P' on a bifolium from a Giant Bible [Spain, ?Castile, c. 1300]
A bifolium taken from a turn-of-the-14th-century Giant Spanish Bible. The illumination, depicting St Paul preaching, shows the influence of styles current in France, but the script and decorative features point to northern Spain. The vibrant yet nuanced palette of pinks, reds, blues and greens, the striking diapered backgrounds and delicate scrolling infills, and the stylised figures with their formulaic postures are also features of a Castilian Missal at the Victoria and Albert Museum (see R. Watson, Western Illuminated Manuscripts, 2015, cat. no 17).

Provenance:
•The present bifolium, and the other two in the sale that accompany it, was evidently used as a binding fragment, likely for archival material: 19th-century titles (‘Aqui estan todos los Privilegios de Orduña [...]’). Three other bifolia from the same manuscript were sold at Christie's, 13 July 2016, lots 103-105.

394 x 270mm. Ruled space: 250 x 160mm., one historiated and four illuminated initials. The text runs non-consecutively from 1 Timothy 4:15 '[...] manifestus sit omnibus' to 2 Timothy 2:4 'Nemo militans [Deo]'.

Please note this lot is the property of a private consignor.

Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.