Add MS 50004

From the printed Catalogue of Additions (2000):

'DYSON PERRINS MSS. Vol. VI (formerly Dyson Perrins MS. 114). Book of Hours written in Spain in the latter part of the 15th century. Latin. See Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 273-6; ii, pl. xcix-ci; S. C. Cockerell, Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1908, no. 227, pl. 142; Brown, Meredith-Owens, Turner, op. cit., pp. 34-5, pl. xviiib; D. H. Turner, Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, British Museum, Series V, 1965, no. XLI. Another part of the same MS. is Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett 78 A 26 (formerly 78 B 27: see P. Wescher, 'An Illuminated MS. by Juan de Carrión in Berlin', The Burlington Magazine, lv, 1929, p. 231 and pl., and P. Wescher, Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Miniaturen – Handschriften und Einzelblätter – des Kupferstichkabinetts der Staatlichen Museen Berlin, Leipzig, 1931, pp. 163-5, pl. 164-5). No. 32 in Catalogue 27 of Jacques Rosenthal, Munich, from whom the Berlin fragment was also acquired. Purchased by Dyson Perrins from Charles Fairfax Murray, 1906.

Vellum; ff. ii+88. 267 x 180mm. Single column, text space 130 x 85mm. 16 lines, except ff. 75-87, 17 lines. Gatherings: i10, ii10 (+ f. 16 inserted), iii8 (+ f. 27 inserted), iv10 (+ ff. 32, 37, 41 inserted), v10 (+ ff. 45, 53 inserted), vi10 (+ f. 64 inserted), vii8 (+ f. 70 inserted, lacks 7 after f. 73), viii10, two leaves and a pair. Modern brown morocco binding by Katharine Adams. Dyson Perrins bookplate (f. 1). On f. 88b is a certificate of orthodoxy in Spanish, 9 July 1584, by Fray Chioval d'Estrada, Dominican, who examined the book for the inquisition of Llerena, Estremadura.

Contents: 1. ff. 1-63b. Hours of the B. V. Mary, 'secundum consuetudinem Romane ecclesie'. 2. ff. 65-69b. Memorials of SS Christopher, Bernadino of Siena (canonised 1450), Anthony of Padua and Francis. 3. ff. 71-87. Prayers:- (a) 'Obsecro te domina sancta maria'. See V. Leroquais, Les Livres d'Heures Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Nationale, i, Paris, 1927, pp. xxiv-xxv. ff. 71-73b;- (b) 'Domine Ihesu Christe piissime mundi conditor'. Cf. Leroquais, op. cit., ii, p. 286. ff. 75-77;- (c) 'Pie redemptor humani generis'. ff. 77-78b;- (d) 'Sancte angele dei tibi ad custodiendum'. See A. Wilmart, Auteurs Spirituels et Textes Dévots, Paris, 1932, cap. xxiv, 'Prières à l'Ange Gardien', pp. 537-58. ff. 78b-79;- (e) 'Ihesu pie Ihesu bone Ihesu summe et misericors'. ff. 79b-81b;- (f) 'Concede michi misericors deus que tibi placita sunt'. See Leroquais, op. cit., i, pp. 3, 76, 269; ii, pp. 40, 177. ff. 81b-83;- (g) 'O domine Ihesu Christe adoro te in cruce pendentem'. Cf. A. Wilmart, 'Prières Médièvales pour l'Adoration de la Croix', Ephemerides Liturgicae, 1932, pp. 24-7, etc.; Leroquais, op. cit., i, p. xxxi. ff. 83-83b;- (h) 'Iuste iudex Ihesu Christe'. See Leroquais, op. cit., i, pp. 155, 340. ff. 83b-85;- (4) Memorial of SS Eustace, Eutepista, Agapitus and Theopistus. f. 87.

The decoration of 50004 has been described in detail by Warner, op. cit., i, pp. 274-6. The inserted leaves contain full page miniatures, the subjects of which are:- (1) The Visitation. f. 16b;- (2) The Nativity. f. 27b;- (3) The Annunciation to the Shepherds. f. 32b;- (4) The Adoration of the Magi. f. 37b;- (5) The Circumcision (not the Presentation of Christ in the Temple as in Warner). f. 41b;-(6) The Massacre of the Innocents. f. 45b;- (7) Christ amongst the Doctors. f. 53b;- (8) St Christopher. f. 64b;- (9) The Pietà. f. 70b;- (10) St Eustace. f. 86b. The Berlin fragment contains a further seven miniatures which have been described by Wescher, who argued that the whole book was executed in Toledo in about 1480 for a lady called 'Amise', whose name is on a scroll in the margin of f. 71. He ascribed the illumination to Juan de Carrión who was responsible for the decoration of six choir books at °vila, which bear the arms of Alfonso Carrilo, Bishop of °vila 1498-1514 (on the °vila choir books, see the following works by J. Domínguez Bordona: 'Las Miniaturas de Carrión', Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueologia, vi, Madrid, 1930, pp. 17-20, and pls; Manuscritos con Pinturas, Madrid, 1933, i, pp. 1-10, figs. 1-2; 'Miniatura' in Ars Hispaniae, xviii, Madrid, 1962, pp. 195-6, figs. 255-7; Spanish Illumination, 1930, ii, p. 61, pl. 133). Although the attribution to Carrión of the illumination in the present work was dismissed by Domínguez in 'Las Miniaturas de Carrión', p. 20, the case for attributing some of it to him has been strongly restated by F. Avril, J.-P. Aniel, M. Mentré, A. Saulnier and Y. Zaluska in Manuscrits Enluminés de la Péninsule Ibérique, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Départment des Manuscrits, 1983, nos. 151-152, pls. lxxxi-lxxxvii, pl. P, pl. Q. These authors point to strong similarities between the present work and two leaves, containing miniatures of the Crucifixion and eight saints, in the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, Coll. Masson, miniatures détachées, nos. 151-152. The second leaf contains an inscription 'Johan d. Carrio[n]' on a scroll held by a putto. Avril et. al. also attribute to Carrión some of the decoration in a Franciscan breviary, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. lat. 1064, and in a manuscript of El Libro del Cavallero Zifar, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. espagnol 36, as well as a miniature sold in 1978 which apparently came from the same manuscript as the detached leaves in the École des Beaux Arts (Julius Böhler, Ausstellung von Gemalden, Handzeichnungen . . . , Sept.-Oct. 1978, Munich, no. 24). Domínguez has also suggested that the decoration in MS. 483 in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid (a Latin version of Los Paradojas by Alfonso Tostado de Madrigal, Bishop of °vila) is by Carrión (see 'Dos dibujos de Juan de Carrión', Archivo Español de Arte y Arqueología, viii, 1932, p. 95). It has been proposed that Carrión was responsible for the illumination of Add. MS. 38037, part of a missal of Toledo use probably written for Alfonso de Acuña Carrillo, Archbishop of Toledo 1446-82 (see A. L. Mayer, 'Miniatures by Juan de Carrión in the British Museum', The Burlington Magazine, xlviii, 1926, p.104, pl.). This attribution was, however, dismissed by Domínguez (see 'Las Miniaturas de Carrión', p. 20) and has not gained general acceptance.

Where there is no explicit evidence that illuminations are by Carrión, it can be difficult firmly to identify his work. Most of the characteristic features claimed for it, such as the use of naturalistic flowers and foliage, birds, putti and human faces and decorative motifs, are common to many Spanish manuscripts of the period and Carrión frequently worked with several other artists on a particular manuscript. Many of the MSS. whose style of decoration most closely resembles Carrión's are associated with Toledo, and it appears that there was a school of illumination at Toledo of which he was a member (cf. Spanish Illumination, ii, p. 60, and Ars Hispaniae, xviii, pp. 196-8).

The borders in Add. MS. 50004 appear to be the work of at least two artists. Style I is found in the borders of all the miniatures except the last. The remaining borders are in Style II, although some (e.g., ff. 75-83) may perhaps be the work of a third hand. Style II is softer and more naturalistic, makes less extensive use of marginal scenes, and grotesques with foliage and flora are more dominant. In Style I the decoration is more flamboyant and some of the figures have an oriental appearance. The borders in Style II have strong similarities to those in Carrión's recorded work. The border of f. 68 contains a naked squatting figure almost identical to one in Biblioteca Nacional, MS. Latin 1064, attributed to Carrión (Avril et al., op. cit., pl. P). If either of these styles is to be identified as that of Carrión, then Style II would seem more likely to be his work. Two styles again appear in the miniatures, namely, Group A: nos. 1, 3, 7, 8, 10; Group B: nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, 9. In Group B, the figures appear wooden and lifeless, whilst some of the saints have nimbi, a feature which does not appear at all in Group A. By contrast with Group B, the miniatures in Group A show strong Flemish influence, particularly that of Vrelant. Carrión's recorded work shows marked Flemish influence and this, together with the more naturalistic appearance of the figures in Group A, suggests that, of the two styles apparent in the miniatures, Group A is more likely to be the work of Carrión (cf. Domínguez, 'Las Miniaturas de Carrión'). There is a strong resemblance between the miniature of St Christopher in the present MS. and a miniature of St John the Baptist in a Book of Hours formerly in the collection of Baron Vitta and now M.854 in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York: see further Domínguez, Catálogo, Exposición de Codices Miniados Españoles, 1929, p. 131, figs. 65-7; Spanish Illumination, ii, p. 60, pl. 125a, 126; Treasures from the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1957, no. 36, pl. 30; Mediaeval and Renaissance Manuscripts: Major Acquisitions of the Pierpont Morgan Library 1924-1974, New York, 1974, no. 41. It seems likely that the miniatures in Group A in 50004 and the miniature of St John the Baptist in Pierpont Morgan M.854 are all by the same hand.'