Catalog Archive
Auction 105, Lot 594

"Printed Leaf", Verard, Antoine

Subject: Early Printing

Period: 1506 (circa)

Publication: Book of Hours

Color:

Size:
5.6 x 8.4 inches
14.2 x 21.3 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

A very beautifully printed vellum leaf from the transitional period between purely manuscript and printed Books of Hours. The text on both sides is a list of the saints with each line beginning in an illuminated "S" hand-painted in gold on a background of either red or blue. The text is surrounded by fine illustrations printed from metal plates. The illustrations on the recto have to do with the Resurrection of Christ and the Old Testament parables - Samson taking away the gates of Gaza and Jonah escaping from the whale. The pictures on the verso are purely decorative - monsters, drolleries and playing children. Verard was the most prolific publisher of Books of Hours in Paris. The genre had certain definite rules and this leaf is a prime example of the art, closely based on manuscript traditions.

References:

Condition: A

Slight cockling.

Estimate: $140 - $180

Sold for: $130

Closed on 12/3/2003

Archived