Anonymous Austrian artist
STIGMATISATION OF ST FRANCIS, initial ‘G’ on a gradual leaf [Vienna, c. 1458-65]
A lovely leaf from an Austrian gradual, most likely a commission marking the foundation of the first Observant Franciscan house in Vienna, St Theobald ob der Laimgrube in 1451; this is one of a group of nine manuscript leaves whose production has been localised to the city around 1458-65. Lost for almost three decades, the present leaf was described in a recent exhibition catalogue as being ‘known only from photographs’ (ex. cat. Beyond Words, 2016, no 75, pp. 98-99).

Jeffrey Hamburger’s discussion of the Vienna leaves in the aforementioned catalogue identifies a significant degree of stylistic divergence between the leaves, which come from at least three manuscripts worked on as a collaborative project: the three-sided border of foliate scrolls incorporating naturalistic flower-heads and an attractive peacock decoration of the present leaf is restrained and spacious, while the initial itself is perhaps more traditional in its imagery than some of its sisters. The leaves discussed by Hamburger are held at Boston Public Library, MSS f Med.205-207 and Harvard University, Houghton Library, MSS Typ 704.1 [12] & [13], along with a leaf at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (Cod. B. 1838), another in a private collection in Germany, and two (including the present) leaves listed as ‘location unknown’.

Provenance:
•The parent manuscript, a gradual, likely formed part of a set of at least three choirbooks made for the first Observant Franciscan house in Vienna, St Theobald ob der Laimgrube. Founded in 1451 by Emperor Friedrich III, at the initiative of the preacher Johannes Capistrano (1386-1456), it seems most possible that the manuscripts were produced for this house. That St Francis’ name is picked out in red, highlighting his significance, on the present leaf, as well as further evidence from a sister leaf, makes a Franciscan commission probable.
•Maggs Bros. catalogue, Illuminated Miniatures, Manuscripts and Single Leaves, European Bulletin no. 14, January 1988, no 15.
•Private collection, London.

Leaf: 545 x 375mm., initial: 123 x 120mm. The initial ‘G’ opening the introit for the feast of St Francis, ‘Gaudeamus omnes in domino’. Mounted.

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