Master of Master of... the King David Scences in the Grimany Breviary, the Master of the Prayerbooks around 1500, the Master of Add. 15677, et al.

Exhibited by Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books

Material Gold and pigment on vellum

Dimensions 230 x 160 mm

Place of Creation Flanders, Bruges

Status Vetted

About the Work

The Spitzer Hours offer an intimate look on the technical and artistic sophistication of Flemish manuscript production in the 16th century. Created for an unidentified wealthy patron, this object showcases the collective effort of several masters of illumination, and a high level of customization in accordance with the wishes of its owner. Characterized by an astounding level of spatial illusionism, these miniatures offer a captivating display of Flemish illumination at its height, featuring 12 magnificent full-page miniature paintings, six of them with broad historiated borders and four with trompe l’oeil borders. 24 near-full-page miniatures and 12 historiated borders surrounding the calendar capture scenes of incredible detail and beauty.

The tome was previously owned by Frédéric Spitzer, a connoisseur renowned for curating one of the most sought-after collections of fin-de-siècle Europe.

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Provenance

1. Made in Bruges for an unknown patron established in Franche-Comté por-
trayed in the miniature f. 28r, c. 1520.
2. Verdun, Catherine de Choiseul, Abbess of Saint-Maur of Verdun from 1561 or
1570.
3. Verdun, Ursule de Saint Astier, Abess of Saint-Maur (d. 1619) and niece of Catherine, she took possession of the Abbatial in 1587.
4. Property of Saint Maur of Verdun until the French Revolution.
5. London, library of John Boykett Jarman. His sale at Sotheby's, 13 June 1864, lot
94.
6. Paris, Spitzer Collection. Frederic Spitzer (1815–1890), he settled in Paris and became one of Europe’s leading buyers and sellers of art, especially known for
his passion for medieval and Renaissance art. Upon his death in 1890, his private collection was one of the largest and most coveted in fin de siècle Europe. Near the end of his life, Spitzer persuaded leading art historian Emile Molinier to collaborate with him on a multivolume catalog of his private collection. Only one volume appeared before Spitzer’s death. The Spitzer collection was publicly auctioned over 3 months in 1893. L. Delisle et A. Molinier, La Collection Spitzer, Paris, Quantin, 1890-1893, 6 vol. in-fol., t. V, p. 141.
7. Sir Julius Wernher (1850 - 1912). His sale at Sotheby’s 10 November 1952, lot 78.
8. H. P. Kraus, Catalogue Ninety-five, Vaduz, 1961, pp. 79-90.
9. USA, private collection built in the 1950s-1960s. By descent to Switzerland, pri-
vate collection.

Literature

Buvignier-Cloüet, “À propos d’un livre d’heures de la "collection Spitzer". Notice sur Catherine de Choiseul et Ursule de Saint-Astier, Reformatrices de l’abbaye de Saint-Maur de Verdun”, Mémoires de la Société d'archéologie Lorraine, 1894, p. 111-149.
Sotheby's, London, Catalogue of Valuable Illuminated Manuscripts, 17-12-1940, p. 49f, lot 314
Sotheby's, London, Catalogue of Western Illuminated Manuscripts, 10-11-1952, p. 17- 20, lot 78.
H.P. Kraus, Catalogue 95, New York 1961, no. 23
Janet Backhouse, "A Victorian Connoisseur and His Manuscripts: The Tale of Mr. Jarman and Mr. Wing", The British Museum Quarterly 32, 1968, p. 76-92, here 83, 89.
H.P. Kraus, In Retrospect. A Catalogue of 100 Outstanding Manuscripts sold in the last four Decades, New York 1978, p. 234f, no. 95.