Accession number
MS M.1252
Object title
The Mystical Lamb of the Apocalypse (MS M.1252).
Created
Italy, Lucca, ca. 1400
Credit line
Purchased on the T. Kimball Brooker Foundation Book Purchase Fund in honor of the Morgan's Centennial, 2024.
Description
1 cutting : vellum, ill. ; 210 x 170 mm
Provenance
Probably from an antiphonary commissioned for a religious house in Lucca by Nicolò di Lazaro Guinigi, archbishop of Lucca from 1394-1402 and 1432-1435; bought by James Dennistoun (1803-1855) in Lucca in 1838 (his number 81); passed by descent to his nephew, James Wallis Dennistoun (1839-1908); and then to his daughter, Isabella 'Ella' Caroline Henson née Dennistoun (1869-1949); bought from her ca. 1930 by Lord Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) of Saltwood Castle, Kent; sold in London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1984, as the third of five cuttings in lot 92; bought by Bernard H. Breslauer (1918-2004); offered in his Catalogue 109 (1988), no. 2; bought by T. Kimball Brooker; his sale London, Sotheby's, 10 December 2024, lot 1108.
Notes
Ms. cutting, probably from an Antiphonary, from Italy, Lucca, ca. 1400.
Artist: Possibly Martino di Bartolomeo (ca. 1365-1435) or a follower.
Initial 'D' depicting the Lamb of God standing on a book with seven seals (cf. Apocalypse 5:1-7), the initial on a rectangular field of burnished gold with an outer frame of punched ornament.
The present cutting was one of a group of thirty-nine acquired by James Dennistoun (1803-55) in Lucca, Italy, in 1838. They were pasted into his album, which contained a collection of 105 cuttings. The album passed down to his niece, Isabella 'Ella' Caroline Henson née Dennistoun (1869-1949), who sold it around 1930 to Lord Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) of Saltwood Castle, Kent. The album was disassembled, and some cuttings from it were either framed or sold in separate auctions.
The present leaf was sold in London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1984, as the third of five cuttings in lot 92. A total of nineteen leaves from the Lucca group were featured in the sale.
Another eighteen cuttings from the Lucca group were sold in London, Sotheby's, 18 June 1962, lot 125. While these cuttings appear to have a radically different art style, all were reported by Dennistoun to have come from the same Charterhouse in Lucca. It is unclear if the initials originated from a single book, or were part of a larger corpus of liturgical manuscripts.
Artist: Possibly Martino di Bartolomeo (ca. 1365-1435) or a follower.
Initial 'D' depicting the Lamb of God standing on a book with seven seals (cf. Apocalypse 5:1-7), the initial on a rectangular field of burnished gold with an outer frame of punched ornament.
The present cutting was one of a group of thirty-nine acquired by James Dennistoun (1803-55) in Lucca, Italy, in 1838. They were pasted into his album, which contained a collection of 105 cuttings. The album passed down to his niece, Isabella 'Ella' Caroline Henson née Dennistoun (1869-1949), who sold it around 1930 to Lord Kenneth Clark (1903-1983) of Saltwood Castle, Kent. The album was disassembled, and some cuttings from it were either framed or sold in separate auctions.
The present leaf was sold in London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1984, as the third of five cuttings in lot 92. A total of nineteen leaves from the Lucca group were featured in the sale.
Another eighteen cuttings from the Lucca group were sold in London, Sotheby's, 18 June 1962, lot 125. While these cuttings appear to have a radically different art style, all were reported by Dennistoun to have come from the same Charterhouse in Lucca. It is unclear if the initials originated from a single book, or were part of a larger corpus of liturgical manuscripts.
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