Heart pendant, Spain or Italy, c. 1600. Gold, enamel, glass ; weight 17.2 grams; dimensions 45 × 31.4 × 13.8 mm. Courtesy Les Enleminures

With its wonderful openwork structure covered with enamel flowers, strapwork, and “gems,” the magnificent heart captures the gaze and its shape moves effortlessly between secular and religious meanings — human or divine love, romantic or religious devotion.

Double-sided heart-shaped pendant in gold and enamel openwork. A blue enameled frame surrounds an oval capsule with convex glass and translucent red and opaque white cartouche with wings. The bulbous outer border consists of opaque blue strapwork alternating with opaque white enameled daisy-like flowers and red globules. Baluster-shaped base with red and blue enamel for the gold pendant loop.

Magic Belt, Spain, Castile, 17th century, textile late 13th century, coins and medals 10th-19th century. Brocaded velvet, gold thread, silver, enamel, jet, rock crystal and castaña de Indias, 73.5 × 30-50 cm (28.9 x 1.1-1.9 in.). Courtesy Les Enleminures

The oldest of the very few surviving examples, this Spanish “magic belt” includes elements from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries: Islamic textile, Arab coins, rosary beads, a rock crystal skull, a jet amulet, and a type of horse chestnut make up the belt, which would have been worn by a child to protect him or her from evil spirits.

The belt is formed of a brocaded red velvet textile with discs of gold thread. Twenty-eight silver coins are sewn onto the belt (two are eighteenth-century Moroccan, the rest from al-Andalus, a single coin dating from the tenth century and the others to the fourteenth century, and with a single nineteenth-century silver medal). Three pendants are suspended from the belt and attached to parts of a rosary made of silver links, the mounts with black and white enamel and round jet beads. The jet beads are carved with stylized foliage and memento mori, with the head of Christ or the Virgin Mary and a skull. Three attached pendants are a tropical nut (castaña de Indias) with silver figa pendants and a single Virgin Mary pendant, a carved rock crystal skull, and an ornate fist with figa carved in jet. The belt appears to have been further embellished with hooked clasps. The thread used to secure some of these embellishments suggests that the belt was repaired towards the end of the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Provenance: Originally gifted to the Virgin in the Church of Herrera de Pisuerga (Palencia), 1945; Subastas Segre, Madrid, 2005, no. 4; Private collection, Europe. 

Memento mori skull pendant, Germany, 17th century. Fire-gilded copper, glass ; weight 42 grams; dimensions 38 × 23 × 53 mm (opened flat). Courtesy Les Enleminures

This hinged skull, monumental in spite of its small scale, has movable jaws and opens with a tiny screw to reveal hidden compartments of relics, all of sainted emperors, suggesting that it must have belonged to a member of the court.

A skull made of fire-gilded copper with hinged, screw-mounted lower jaw, which opens and closes. On the skullcap is a pendant loop with a floral ornament that also functions as a screw and lock; with the screw removed, the pendant opens to reveal two halves, one side with three compartments that contain bone relics under glass with inscriptions naming the saints engraved on a golden frame: CARL.M/LADL.K./OSWD.K (Charlemagne, king of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor; St. Ladislaus I, king of Hungary; and St. Oswald, king of Northumbria). The other side contains a miniature solar monstrance with fine wires.

Vante De Gabriello Di Vante Attavanti (Attavante) (Active in Florence, born 1452, died 1520-1525), Saints Sergius And Bacchus, Initial ‘A’ from A Choir Book (150 X 127/130 Mm.), Italy, Florence, C. 1475-1485. Courtesy Les Enleminures

This brightly colored initial ‘A’ from a Choir Book depicts the martyr saints Sergius and Bacchus, both Roman soldiers, in fantastic Renaissance armor. This miniature is attributed to Attavante, noted by Giorgio Vasari as the most “celebrated and famous of miniaturists.”

This brightly colored initial ‘A’ from a Choir Book depicts the martyr saints Sergius and Bacchus, both Roman soldiers, in fantastic Renaissance armor. They stand in a landscape holding weapons and wearing brightly contrasting colors with Burgonet-style helmets. The historiated initial is surrounded with flowers and decorated with a red gemstone at top. Under a faint yellow wash to the left of both figures is a partially legible inscription: “Cu(m) fi…,” perhaps “Cum figura…” (with figure…), a rare example of instructions to the illuminator. This miniature is attributed to Attavante, noted by Giorgio Vasari as the most “celebrated and famous of miniaturists.” Attavante is known primarily through a series of luxurious Missals and Breviaries illuminated for important patrons, including Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary. Relatively early in his career, around 1473, Attavante collaborated with Ghirlandaio on a Choir Book, the miniatures of which are now in an album in Rome (BAV, Cod. Ross. 1192). Here Roman soldiers in armor and helmets appear in the background of a miniature with the Finding of the True Cross (f. 22r), comparable to the present miniature. Also comparable are the miniatures attributed to Attavante in the Bible of Federico Montefeltro (Rome, BAV, Cod. Urb. Lat. 1-2), dated between 1476 and 1478, and miniatures in the Missal of Thomas James, illuminated around 1483 (Lyon, BM, MS 5123). The initial ‘A’ opens the Feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (7 October), probably for the antiphon “A[bsterget deus].” The reverse is written with fragments of two lines of music notation on four-line staves in red, with text in brown ink: “…[n]ostris [concedat v]obis salutem…,” from the antiphon Adaperiat dominus cor vestrum, for Saturdays preceding the first Sunday of October. The pigments and parchment are in good condition, with some rubbing to the gold leaf and some isolated smudges.

Provenance: Paul Durrieu (1855-1925), Paris; acquired privately, 2017.

Hours of Philippote de Nanterre (Use of Amiens), France, Amiens circa 1420s. Illuminated manuscript on parchment, in Latin and French, with 27 miniatures by the Master of Raoul d’Ailly and a collaborator, 18.1 x 13.5 cm (7.1 x 5.3 in.). Courtesy Les Enleminures

Monumental work by a rare Amiens painter directly influenced by Flemish primitives.

Hours of Philippote de Nanterre (Use of Amiens) Illuminated manuscript, on parchment, in Latin and French 27 miniatures by the Master of Raoul d’Ailly and a collaborator France, Amiens, c. 1420s This manuscript comes from the fertile borderland between France and Flanders during a crucial moment of artistic creativity in Amiens. The haunting style of this painter merges Parisian courtly elegance with the northern realism of the Flemish primitives to pioneer a new form of pictorial representation. Our artist is known in very few Books of Hours. Familiar with Flemish panel painters such as the Master of Flémalle and Roger van der Weyden, he uses green shadows and imposing figures set either in homey interiors or realistic landscapes. 208 folios, mostly in gatherings of 8( i12, ii6-1, iii6, iv-v8, vi-vii8-1, viii8, ix8-1, x-xi8, xii10, xiii8-1, xv-xviii8, xix4, xx8, xxi4, xxii-xxvi8, xxvii6, xxviii5-2), lacking one leaf after the calendar and 4 others, missing 5 miniatures, written in a gothic book hand in brown ink on 17 long lines (justification 95 x 65 mm.), no ruling visible, rubrics in red, 1-line initials in burnished gold leaf with red and blue calligraphic penwork, line endings rectangular, half rose and half blue with white filigree designs, burnished gold circles at either end of the design, illuminated 3-to 7-line initials, numerous full borders of acanthus, flowers, and birds on the pages with full-page illumination, and partial borders with small leaves and flowers on the text pages, with 27 full-page illuminations all in arched compartments, in excellent condition. Seventeenth-century French red morocco binding, gold filet tooling, gilt edges. Dimensions 181 x 135 mm. TEXT ff. 1-12v, Calendar for Amiens with St. Firmin, the first bishop of Amiens, 13 January and 25 September, in gold; St. Firmin, third bishop of Amiens, 1 September; St. Honore, bishop of Amiens, 16 May; and three martyrs of Amiens, Saints Fuscian, Gentian, and Victorius, 11 December. ff. 13-16v, Gospel Sequences ff. 17-23v, Apostle’s Creed; ff. 24-39, Hours of the Virgin (incomplete), with f. 24, Matins; f. 46, Lauds; f. 54, Prime; f. 58v, Terce; f. 62, Sext; f. 65, None; f. 68v, Vespers; f. 75, Compline; ff. 79v-94v, Seven Penitential Psalms; ff. 95-100v, Short Hours of the Cross; ff. 101-106v, Hours of the Holy Spirit; ff. 106-117v, Prayers to the Virgin, including “Obsecro te” and “O Intemerata”; ff. 118-123, Hours of the Holy Sacrament; ff. 123-127v, Suffrages; ff. 127v-135v, Prayers in French; ff. 136-145v, Prayer of Theophilus; ff. 146-154, Fifteen Joys of the Virgin; ff. 151-153v, Seven Requests of Our Lord; ff. 154-158, Suffrages to Saints; ff. 159-202, Office of the Dead; ff. 202v-204, Prayers in French; ff. 204v-207, Suffrages for Quentin, John the Baptist, and Catherine. ILLUSTRATION f. 17, Peter; f. 17v, Andrew; f. 18, James the Great; f. 18v, John the Evangelist; f. 19, Thomas; f. 19v, James the Less; f. 20, Philip; f. 20v, Bartholomew; f. 21, Matthew; f. 21v, Simon; f. 22, Jude; f. 22v, Mathias f. 24, Annunciation (Hand B); f. 58v, Annunciation to the Shepherds; f. 65, Presentation in the Temple; f. 68v, Flight into Egypt (Hand B); f. 75, Coronation of the Virgin; f. 79v, David Praying in a Landscape (Hand B); f. 101, Pentecost; f. 118, Priest Celebrating Mass; f. 136, Virgin Weaving (Hand B); f. 146, Woman (Philippote of Nanterre) kneeling before the Virgin; f. 151, Last Judgment; f. 154, Saint John the Baptist; f. 155, Saint James the Great (Hand B); f. 156, Saint Nicolas; f. 159, Funeral Service. The deluxe Hours of Philippote de Nanterre is a key work in the oeuvre of the Master of Raoul d’Ailly in Amiens. The artist is named after the Hours of Raoul d’Ailly (Private Collection, United States; for which see London, Sotheby’s 11 July 1978, lot 48), a manuscript for which he painted all forty-seven of its miniatures. Few works by the artist are known. In addition to the d’Ailly Hours, one of the most important is the Hours of Jacques de Châtillon (now in the BnF, MS n. a. lat. 3231); twenty-seven of its fifty-four paintings are by the Master of Raoul d’Ailly. In every aspect of its text, decoration, and illumination, the Philippote de Nanterre Hours is closely tied to the d’Ailly workshop. A small group of other works have been gathered together on which the artist occasionally collaborated with other Parisian-trained illuminators in Amiens between c. 1420 and c. 1450. Let us set the stage for this artist’s important career. Netherlandish artists poured into Paris at the beginning of the fifteenth century (the Limbourg Brothers, Jean Malouel, perhaps the Boucicaut Master himself). Patronized by some of the leading bibliophiles of the day, including Jean Duke of Berry, these artists created a distinctive style, unifying the humble “realism” of their origins with the elegant courtly manner they found in vogue in the Paris courts. The glory of this “golden age” of book illumination effectively ended with the Battle of Agincourt (1415) and the subsequent occupation of Paris by the English with an English regent John Duke of Bedford on the throne in 1422 after the death of the Valois King Charles VI. The successor to the Boucicaut Master known as the Bedford Master (named for his masterpieces for the English regent) represents the last flowering of this style. Seeking new patronage, Parisian-trained artists thus went elsewhere. Their exit from the French capital accounts for the emergence of many important and creative provincial schools of illumination. Amiens is one such center. In Amiens by the beginning of the 1420s, the Master of Raoul d’Ailly cultivated the patronage of leading figures from noble families: Jacques II de Châtillon was a count of Champagne; Raoul d’Ailly was a vidame or vice-lord (a feudal officer); and the Philippote de Nanterre was the wife of the Seigneur of Roquoncourt, Thierry de la Cloche, both high-ranking members of Amiens society. These three core manuscripts were all made to order and reflect many personal preferences of their patrons. Of the three manuscripts, only the Châtillon Hours is in the public domain and only since 2001, which partly accounts for the fact that the Master of Raoul d’Ailly has not received the attention his art merits. The unique series of the saints, represented in an imposing, monumental style and illustrating Apostles Creed in the Philippote Hours, find their counterparts in the twenty-seven standing figures of the saints illustrating the Suffrages of the Châtillon Hours attributed to the Master of Raoul d’Ailly. The artist’s haunting style is his use of green paint for the modelling, massive figures, and settings of homey interiors or realistic landscapes. Traces of influence of the Bedford Master are found in the artist’s style, and S. Nash suspects the artist was locally trained in Amiens by a member of the Bedford Master’s workshop. More remarkable, however, is the artist’s knowledge and assimilation of Flemish painting. S. Nash has shown that his work includes a lost copy of a painting by the Master of Flemalle (Robert Campin) and moreover, that the illuminator must have personally seen the painting, because he imitates qualities of its painted surface, as well as its composition. She even suggests that the artist owned a work by Campin. Familiarity also with the work of Roger van der Weyden characterizes the artist’s “northern” style. Chronicling the importance of the acquisition of the Châtillon Hours in 2001 by the BnF, François Avril wrote: “Ce manuscrit est un document important pour l'histoire de l’art au XVe siècle. Il témoigne de l’affirmation d’un nouveau centre de production de manuscrits en France. Après la bataille d’Azincourt en 1415, les Anglais s’installent à Paris. Les enlumineurs vont chercher fortune dans d’autres villes. C’est ainsi qu’Amiens devient un centre très actif durant les années 1430-1450. Il témoigne de la confluence du réalisme flamand et du style courtois encore en vogue à Paris. Et, plus largement, du dialogue établi à cette époque entre les artistes du Sud et ceux du Nord, qui a fait évoluer la représentation picturale.” (Chroniques BnF, December 2001). [This manuscript is an important document for the history of art of the fifteenth century. It witnesses the emergence of a new center of manuscript production in France. After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the English were installed in Paris. Parisian illuminators went to seek their fortune in other towns. Amiens thus became a very active center during the years 1430-1450. It witnesses the confluence of Flemish realism and the courtly style in vogue in Paris. And, more importantly it witnesses the dialogue established during this period between artists of the South and those of the North, who together contributed to the evolution of pictorial representation]. Like the lavish Châtillon Hours, the Philippote Hours shows collaboration between a native Amienois artist and a Parisian-trained immigrant. The artist responsible for the miniatures of the Apostles, and the Suffrage miniature of St. James (Hand A), which are of very high quality, shares the d’Ailly Master’s predilection for vibrant colors, expressive faces, and the decorative use of drapery. Collaborating with this artist is Hand B, a Parisian-style painter, responsible for the Annunciation, the Presentation, the Virgin Weaving, and the Suffrages except St. James, etc. His style is related to that of the Master of Fitzwilliam 65, who was already working in Amiens in the 1420s (see S. Nash, no. 8, p. 285ff.). The dress of Philippote, kneeling before the Virgin and Child on f. 186, dates later, perhaps as late as 1450. Closer examination of this folio, however, shows that her costume has been revamped to reflect a more up-to-date style with narrow sleeves and bodice, a repainting that must date during Philippote’s lifetime since the arms are original and show no evidence of overpainting. This new observation by Susie Nash helps place the Hours of Philippote of Nanterre firmly in the early 1420s. The Philippote Hours thus emerges as one of the earliest works of the Master of Raoul d’Ailly and one of his collaborators. It confirms the presence already at this date of immigrant Parisian artists in Amiens, and it reveals the indigenous roots of the powerful style of the Master of Raoul d’Ailly. The Master of Raoul d’Ailly was to become a major force in Amiens painting of the second quarter of the fifteenth century, contributing to the creation of pioneering forms of pictorial representation.

Provenance: Philippote de Nanterre and her husband, Thierry de la Cloche (the Seigneur of Roquoncourt), Amiens, France; François César Le Teller, Marquis of Courtanvaux (1712-1781), Paris, France; Paul-Louis Weiller (1883-993), Paris, France; James and Elizabeth Ferrell, USA

LES ENLUMINURES, Stand B1 at Masterpiece London 2018 (28 June - 04 July 2018).