MARTYRE OF ST. QUENTIN INITIAL F HISTORIATED REPRESENTING ST. PAUL WITH HIS SWORD AND A BOOK Miniature on a leaf from a Latin liturgical book on vellum vellum, Flanders, Bruges, circa 1490 - 1510. leaf: 244 x 171 mm ; miniature: 134 x 129 mm; initial: 50 x 42 mm. - Written space: 82 x 129 mm. 1 column, 8 lines. Text in black ink Text in black ink with headings in red Textura Gothic script. - 1 large miniature and a historiated initial F; solid liquid gold border with trompe-l'oeil flowers, berries, birds and a papyrus, birds, a butterfly and acanthus in grisaille in the style style. - The leaf has been neatly trimmed along the outer edge; a few stains in the text area on the right; the reverse is supported by glued cardboard. PROVENANCE Europe, private collection. TEXT Extract from a liturgical book, possibly an epistolary, in Latin, with the reading for the first Sunday in Advent from Romans 13:11-12. Dominica premia i[n] adventu[s] d[omi]ni. xiij. L[e]c[ti]o ep[isto]le beati pauli apostoli. Ad Romanos. (F)ratres : Scientes quia ho[ra] est : iam nos de sompno surgere. Nunc ante p[ro]pior est nostra salus : q[ua]m cum credidimus. Nox praecessit: dies aute[m] appropinquabit. Abiciamus ergo op[er]a. ENLUMINATION This leaflet offers an elaborate presentation of the martyrdom of of St. Quentin. In the foreground, St. Quentin is tortured with nails nails hammered into his shoulders as the Emperor Maximian Maximian. Quentin, dressed in a simple white loincloth, is holding a book decorated with a crucifix and clasps. It rests on his toes, as if he is dancing in pain. as if dancing in pain. Blood runs down his body from the wounds wounds caused by the nails. His head is crowned with a golden halo. The torturers wear red and orange tunics and orange tunics over grey chain mail, with yellow stockings. They are both bearded and hold very large hammers their heads. Two noble figures are watching them, the right one probably the Emperor Maximian, judging by his sceptre and his robe of sceptre and his gold and ermine robe. The whole group is in front of a stone building with colonnades. In the background, on the right, in a courtyard, soldiers are beheading the saint, kneeling in white and blindfolded. The illusionist historiated initial F shows the Apostle Paul with his sword, holding a book, standing before the crossbar of the letter. He bearded, wearing a gold robe and a simple gold halo around his head. around his head. Behind him, the artist has created a path that leads to a blue sheet of honour, suspended in front of a misty landscape. The initial itself is made up of gold leaves that curl up to form the letter. This magnificent leaf from what would have been a magnificent liturgical book is illuminated in the "Ghent-Bruges" style by an artist who followed the Master of Prayer Books around 1500. The height of the in manuscript illumination in Northern Europe is represented by the is represented by the Ghent-Bruges style of painting practised in these two cities around 1500. It is characterised by decorations trompe-l'oeil decorations of birds, insects and flowers on golden backgrounds and miniatures that echo the panel paintings of many of the by many of the most important masters of the Flemish masters of the Flemish Renaissance. The Master of the Prayer Books circa 1500, was the leading exponent of this style; his nickname, given to him by Friedrich Winkler, comes from the fact that many prayer books are associated with his hand. He was probably active in Bruges, although elements of Ghent painting appear in his work his work, and he and his studio may have worked in both cities. both cities. The present artist follows this style with enthusiasm. In clean and fresh condition, the present example is a luxurious of the Ghent-Bruges illumination with the characteristic trompe-l'oeil border trompe-l'oeil border, with large acanthus leaves and branches plants, birds and a butterfly, as well as well-modelled and well-modelled and colourful figures in typically Flemish settings. Flemish decor. LITERATURE Unpublished. TO FIND OUT MORE "CLVIII: St. Quentin, Martyr" in Jacques de Voraigne, La légende dorée trad. by Teodor de Wyzewa, Paris 1910, p. 602 - 603. Acc. May 2025, URL: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k202210w. Kren, Thomas and McKendrick, Scot. Illuminting the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting. Los Angeles 2003. EXPERTS Cabinet Leprince - Dr. Erin K. Donovan