Painting & Illumination

St Peter

Description

The initial 85x65mm, showing the haloed St Peter with book and keys wearing a long mauve garment, which, like the face and beard, is delicately shaded, against a ground of deep azurite with white highlights, the bar of the “T” formed by an orange band across his head, perfect condition, the bottom margin of the leaf probably cut not affecting text.

Text is from the Vespers Antiphon celebrating the office (chair) of St Peter.

Tu es pastor ovium, princeps apostolorum tibi tra ditae sunt claves regni coelorum

Provenance

The palette, facial type, and simple initial decoration place this leaf in Bologna and more specifically in the circle of Neri da Rimini, active in Bologna in the early part of the 14th century when Bologna was one of the key centers of manuscript illumination in Europe.

Private collection South of France.

Literature

Gudrun Dauner, Neri da Rimini und die Rimineser Miniaturmalerei des frühen Trecento, 1998.