Mary Magdalene and Two Angels

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Mary Magdalene and Two Angels

About the Item

Tuscany, Lucca, end 14th century This illuminated initial "C" shows Mary Magdalene, her hands clasped together in prayer, borne into the heavens by two angels. On the verso the fragment of text in rounded Gothic script and square musical notation on four-line stave in red ink is for the Feast of the Martyrdom of One Virgin, which confirms the identification of the present subject ("...tua et pulcri-..."). Hidden in the scroll-like foliage of the acanthus leaves of the decoration is a curious portrait of a man, his eyes looking towards the saint. Along with others cut from the Choir Books of the Charterhouse in Lucca, this illumination was acquired by James Dennistoun in Lucca in 1838. Later, it was part of a group in the collection of Lord Kenneth Clark, which included another seven illuminations showing David Bemoaning the Death of Saul (initial "P") (Bollati, 1993, part I, chap. VII, pages 41-42), All the Saints (initial "P"), Saint John the Baptist (initial "A"), Saint Gregory the Great (initial "E"), Saint Paul (initial "S"), Saint Thomas Aquinas (initial "D") and Saint Benedict (initial "E") (see London, Sotheby's, 27th June 1984, lot 93). The period of execution of the group of initials from the present series is precisely contemporary with the patronage in Lucca of Bishop Guinigi, who invited the Bolognese artist Niccolo di Giacomo to come and work at Lucca in the 1390s; for the former Niccolo executed a splendid Choir Book now dismantled and also part of the Dennistoun-Clark collections. At the same time, the Sienese artist Martino di Bartolomeo was also working in Lucca on the Cathedral Choir books (Cathedral Museum, choir-books 1, 7-10) (see L. Bellosi, "La mostra di Arezzo," in Prospettiva, 1975, 3, pages 55-60, and M. Paoli, Arte e committenza privata a Lucca net Trecento e net Quattrocento, Florence, 1986, page 99, and recently A. Labriola, "Martino di Bartolomeo," in Sumptuosa tabula picta, Pittori a Lucca tra Gotico e Rinascimento, 1998, pages 202-214). There was, therefore, a concerted effort--over a period of ten years--to renew the liturgical books in use not only in the Charterhouse in Lucca, but also in the Cathedral. The work of our illuminator has been compared with that of the Sienese illuminator Martino di Bartolomeo, and he seems to have drawn his inspiration at least for his decorations of the initial letters and friezes from the Cathedral Choir books. Clearly our illuminator's style was conditioned by the Sienese Master, although he developed his own distinctive style responding to other late Gothic figural developments in Lucca. From the same antiphonary as our initial, there come the illuminated letters of Christ's Resurrection and the Decapitation of John the Baptist (New York, ex-Breslauer Collection), the Mystic Lamb (ex-Clark Collection, lot 92, no. 3) and Christ's Blessing (ex-Clark Collection, lot 94, no. 1), as Voelke and Wieck have pointed out.

Dimensions:
Height: 84.26 in (214 cm)Width: 75.6 in (192 cm)
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
18th Century and Earlier
Date of Manufacture:
End 14th century
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: JG1208019857D