St. John the Baptist, a large historiated initial "F" on vellum cut from an antiphonal. Italy (Perugia), c. 1310-

£7,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A very fine representation of St. John the Baptist on an initial “F”, which introduces the first Responsorium for the first Nocturne of the feast of St. John the Baptist: “Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen Joannes erat hic venit ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine et pararet Domino plebem perfectam”. The characteristic foliate extension of the illuminated letter indicates an origin in Umbria in the first half of the fourteenth century. This can be further defined by comparing the figure of Saint John with the facial types in works by Venturella di Pietro, in particular MS. 14 in the Biblioteca Comunale di Cortona which can be attributed to him with certainty due to a note of the scribe. In particular, the figure of the Baptist can be compared with one of the apostles in the scene of the Ascension at f.161v, and our initial can therefore be attributed to an artist of his circle. Venturella di Pietro was a prolific artist active in Perugia during the first quarter of the 14th century; documents record a work for Podesta Ottaviano dei Brunelleschi, and a significant corpus of illuminations has been reconstructed. This includes a Messale and a Rituale in the Archivio Capitolare of Gubbio (MS. II C 20 A and MS. II C 15). There are also two cut-out leaves in the Victoria Albert Museum (E371 E378). A cutting of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem which appeared as item 16 in our European Bulletin no. 25 can also be attributed to the same circle. The foliated decoration of the initial would

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