JAMES THE LESS, historiated initial 'Q' on a leaf from an illuminated Antiphonal on vellum [Emilia, perhaps Ferrara, c.1480s]

A splendid and glittering example of northern Italian illumination from what would have been an imposing deluxe choirbook.

600 x 440mm. The initial 'Q' opening the antiphon for the Feast of a Martyr Saint, 'Qui me confessus fuerit coram [...]', 17 lines of text, 2 of music on a red stave (light rubbing to the burnished gold, else in excellent condition). Provenance: Koller Auctions, Zurich, Italian Manuscript Illuminations, 18 September 2015, lot 167.

Illumination: The crisp definition of the foliage and the drapery folds of this handsome initial recalls the style of the illuminators working for the d'Este court in Ferrara in the second half of the 15th century. The delicacy and precision of handling of St James the Less is worthy of the finest of these artists and is especially evocative of the work of Martino da Modena in the Gradual (Gradual I; Bologna, San Petronio) for which he was paid in 1478: M. Levi d'Ancona in Illuminations in the Robert Lehman Collection, (New York 1997) pp.188, fig.26.2. Gaudenz Freuler tentatively suggests a more northern attribution, and an association with the anonymous master of the choirbooks from San Salvatore in Pavia: certainly the letter-form, the white filigree decoration against the deep blue background, the green flowers on the gold ground and the scrolling acanthus are reminiscent of earlier Lombard illumination - harking back to Cremona and the work of Frate Nebridio in the 1460s-70s.

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