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Jean Colombe: Coronation of the Virgin
Description155 x 1060mm Vellum, the scene set within architectural Corinthian columns in liquid gold on a dais and with a pediment, the backdrop formed by a bench with drapery of liquid gold with floral pattern in red held aloft by angels in red and gold, themselves backed by a second tier of angels in blue, two putti, one with red and one with blue wings below in foreground holding up the banderole of text with a large three-line initial C in liquid gold on a brown ground framing a pen portrait, verso ruled in red with 15 lines of text in black ink in a gothic batarde hand, with various initials in gold on blue or red grounds, some overall wear to gold and some rubbing in bottom left corner and body of left putti, minor cropping, generally very good condition. Miniature for Compline in the Hours of the Virgin. Converte nos Deus… CommentaryOne of 10 sister leaves from one private collection. Jean Colombe (Bourges 1430-1498), a well-documented artist influenced by Jean Fouquet, is best known for finishing the Très Riches Heures at the end of his life for Duc Charles I and illuminating the magnificent Hours of Louis de Laval (1). Besides the liberal use of gold and inventive architectural frames, the conceit, borrowed from Fouquet, of using angels to support the banderole became one of his most characteristic trademarks according to F. Avril (2). This charming miniature is identical to the one in a slightly smaller Book of Hours done by Colombe around 1480 (3). The same bench with upheld drapery with the same red flowers, the same tiers of angels, the same tenderly humble attitude of Mary, eyes down, the same blessing movement of Christ holding the same orb, with the same conceit of angels holding the banderole, and the same visibility of the underdrawing. In fact the main difference is in the manner of the architectural framing and the colour of the garments. 1. Paris, Bib Nat, Lat 920. 2. 1993, p. 184. 3. Paris Bib. nat. N. a. lat. 3181., f. 92v. LiteratureF. Avril and N. Reynaud, Les manuscrits à peintures en France 1440-1520, Paris, 1993.
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