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Yates Thompson MS 29
- Record Id:
- 040-002354778
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002354332
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000772.0x0002c2
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100165175321.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Yates Thompson MS 29
- Title:
-
Book of Hours, Use of Rome ('The Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri', or 'The Albani Hours')
- Scope & Content:
-
Book of Hours, Use of Rome, the 'Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri'; formerly known as 'The Albani Hours'.
The manuscript includes:
ff. 1r-12v: Calendar.
ff. 13r-14r: Psalm 90.
ff. 16r-73v: Hours of the Virgin, use of Rome.
ff. 75r-100r: Hours of the Virgin for Advent and Christmas.
ff. 101-103v: Mass of the Virgin Mary.
ff. 105r-126r: Seven Penitential Psalms with Litany and prayers.
ff. 128r-131r: Hours of the Cross.
ff. 133r-135v: Hours of the Holy Spirit.
A folio from this manuscript, formerly f. 132, is now kept separately as Yates Thompson MS 29/1.
Decoration:
12 roundels with portraits of saints in colours and gold, in the lower margins, in the Calendar (ff. 1r-12r). 4 full-page miniatures with full borders, in colours and gold (ff. 15v, 74v, 127v, 104r); a 5th miniature, formerly f. 132r, is now kept separately. 7 large historiated initials in colours and gold, with full scatter borders or with all’antica elements (ff. 16r, 23r, 75r, 101r, 105r, 128r, 133r). 8 large historiated initials in colours and gold with partial foliate borders (ff. 27v, 36r, 48r, 52r, 55v, 58v, 62r, 69r). Partial foliate borders in the Calendar and the Litany. Large initials in gold on coloured grounds in red, and/or blue, and/or green, with flowers extending into the margins. Small initials and line-fillers in gold on red, blue or green grounds.
The miniature of f. 15v is signed by Amico Aspertini ‘Amicus Bononiensis’ (b. 1464, d. 1552); and the miniature on f. 132v (now kept separately as Yates Thompson 29, f. 132) is signed by Pietro de Cristoforo Vannucci, known as Perugino (b. c. 1450, d. c. 1523); the miniature on f. 74v, all historiated initials and the calendar roundels are attributed to Matteo da Milano (documented 1504-1512); the miniature on f. 15 is attributed to Mariano del Buono (b. 1433. d. 1504) (see Gazelli, Miniatura fiorentina, 1985).
The subjects of the miniatures and historiated initials are:
In the Calendar:
f. 1r: St John the Evangelist holding a chalice with a serpent (January).
f. 2r: St Peter Martyr (Peter of Verona) (February).
f. 3r: A young male saint (March).
f. 4r: St Praxedes, holding a small pot (April).
f. 5r: St Helena holding a cross (May).
f. 6r: A saint abbot or bishop holding a crozier (St Boniface?) (June).
f. 7r: A man in profile, (presumably Virgilio Ghislieri), flanked by birds, in the lower margin, with a partial border (July)
f. 8r: St Lawrence holding a martyr's palm, and a grid-iron (August).
f. 9r: St Lucy holding a martyr's palm and a dish with her eyes (September).
f. 10r: A saint with sores on his skin (St Lazarus?) (October).
f. 11r: A male saint (November).
f. 12r: St Dominic reading (December).
In the Hours to the Virgin:
f. 15v: The Adoration of the Shepherds, with an illusionistic trophy border on a black ground (signed by Amico Aspertini: 'AMICUS BONONIEMSIS') (preceding the Hours of the Virgin).
f. 16r: Initial 'D'(omine) of the Virgin with Child and the Angel Gabriel, with a border including grotesques, gems, and portraits (Matins).
f. 23r: Initial 'E'(ructavit) of a young saint with a sword, with a full scatter border of flowers, birds, and a butterfly (Psalm 44 in Matins).
f. 27v: Initial 'C'(antate) of St Catherine of Alexandria, with a partial border of flowers, leaves, a bird, and a snail (Psalm 95 in Matins).
f. 36r: Initial 'D'(eus) of St Catherine of Siena in a Dominican habit (Lauds).
f. 48r: Initial 'D'(eus) of John the Baptist clad in animal skins (Prime).
f. 52r: Initial 'D'(eus) of St Francis with stigmata with a partial border of flowers, leaves, and a bird (Terce).
f. 55v: Initial 'D'(eus) of St Peter with a book, with a partial border of flowers, leaves, and a bird (Sext).
f. 58v: Initial 'D'(eus) of St Jerome, with a partial border of flowers, leaves, and a bird (None).
f. 62r: Initial 'D'(eus) of St Claire, with a partial border of flowers, leaves, and a bird (Vespers).
f. 69r: Initial 'C'(onverte) of St Barbara holding her tower, with a partial border of flowers, leaves, a snail, and a bird: (Compline).
In the Hours to the Virgin for Advent and Christmas:
f. 74v: The Annunciation, with a border with flowers, grotesques, and a deer in a roundel in the lower margin (preceding the Hours to the Virgin for Advent and Christmas).
f. 75r: Initial 'D'(omine) of the Virgin and Child, with an illusionistic border including flowers, strawberries, a bird, a snail, and a butterfly (Matins).
f. 101: Initial 'S'(alve) of the Virgin Mary, with a full scatter border including flowers, a snail, and grotesque hybrid creatures (Mass of the Virgin Mary).
f. 104v: David playing the dulcimer, with a scatter border of flowers, leaves, a snail, and grotesque hybrid creatures (Seven Penitential Psalms).
f. 105r: Initial 'D'(omine) of David kneeling in prayer, with a scatter border of flowers, gems, and a butterfly (Seven Penitential Psalms).
In the Hours of the Cross:
f. 127v: Jerome in the wilderness, kneeling before a cross with his lion at his side, with a scatter border of flowers, leaves, and grotesque hybrid creatures (preceding the Hours of Cross).
f. 128r: Initial 'D'(omine) of St Mary Magdalene, kneeling and embracing a cross, with a scatter border of flowers, leaves, and grotesque hybrid creatures (Matins).
In the Hours of the Holy Spirit:
f. 132v: The martyrdom of St Sebastian (signed by Pietro Perugino: 'PETRUS PRVSINUS PINXIT').
f. 133r: Initial 'D'(omine) of the Apostles and the Virgin Mary receiving the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), with a scatter border of flowers, leaves, and grotesque hybrid creatures (Matin).
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Yates Thompson Collection
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002354332
040-002354778 - Is part of:
- Yates Thompson MS 1-59 : Yates Thompson Manuscripts
Yates Thompson MS 29 : Book of Hours, Use of Rome ('The Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri', or 'The Albani Hours') - Hierarchy:
- 032-002354332[0030]/040-002354778
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Yates Thompson MS 1-59
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100165175321.0x000001 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1495
- End Date:
- 1505
- Date Range:
- c 1500
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
- Restrictions to access apply please consult British Library staff
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript.
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimension: 205 x 150mm (text space: 115 x 75mm).
Foliation: ff. 135 [f. 132 is kept separately] (+ 1 original flyleaf at the beginning, and 1 at the end).
Script: Humanistic; written by Pierantonio Sallando (fl. 1490-1540).
Collation: i8 (ff. 1-8), ii6 (ff. 9-14); iii10+1 (ff. 15-25, f. 15 is an added singleton), iv-vii10 (ff. 26-65), viii8 (ff. 66-73); ix10+1 (ff. 74-84; f. 74 is an added singleton), x10 (ff. 85-94), xi10-1 (ff. 95-103; 1 leaf cancelled at the end), xii10+1 (ff. 104-114; f. 104 is an added singleton), xiii10 (ff. 115-124), xiv10+2-1 (ff. 125-136; ff. 127 and 132 are added singletons; f. 132 has now been removed and is kept separately); vertical chatchwords and bifolium signatures.
Binding: Post-1600. Cut leather, green and blue silk and gold paper, with miniatures of Archangel Gabriel (upper board) and the Virgin Annunciate (lower board); inside boards with embossed and gilt, and medallions of Julius Caesar. Silver clasps, cornerpieces, and frames.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Bologna, Italy.
Provenance:
A member of the Bolognese Ghislieri family, probably Bonaparte Ghislieri (d. 1541), a senator of Bologna, c. 1500: Ghislieri arms, with initials ‘BP’ and ‘GI’ (f. 16r), and arms (f. 74v); portrait medallion (f. 7r) could be Virgilio, Bonaparte’s father (d. 1523); for a discussion of patronage see Alexander, The Painted Page, 1994 p. 222.
Giuseppe (Andrea) Albani (b. 1750, d. 1834), Cardinal: see below.
James Dennistoun of Dennistoun (b. 1803, d. 1855), antiquary and art collector, bought by him in Rome, in 1838 from the heirs of Cardinal Albani (see Yates Thompson Catalogue, 1907, p. 146).
Bertram Ashburnham (b. 1797, d. 1878), 4th Earl of Ashburnham, 1847: his Appendix Ms. 63; bought from James Dennistoun, for £735, according to the handwritten annotations in the BL Manuscript Department's copy of Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Place: Appendix (London: Hodgson, 1853).
Bertram Ashburnham, 5th Earl of Ashburnham: his sale, May 1897, bought by Yates Thompson together with the entire Ashburnham Appendix: book-plate with an inscribed number 'From the Library of the Earl of Ashburnham Appendix no. LXIII May 1897' (pasted on f. [i] verso).
Henry Yates Thompson (b. 1838, d. 1928), collector of illuminated manuscripts and newspaper proprietor: with his book-plate inscribed '[MS] XCIII / reee.e.e [i.e. £2000.0.0] / [bought from the] Earl of / Ashburnham / 8 May 1897' (pasted on f. [i] verso); in his sale, 1 May 1899, lot 70, bought by Quaritch (London bookseller) on behalf of Rahir (Paris bookseller) for £467, but returned to the Thompson collection.
Bequeathed to the British Museum by Mrs Henry Yates Thompson in 1941.
- Information About Copies:
-
Full digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Digitised Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/.
Select digital coverage available for this manuscript, see Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm.
- Publications:
-
A Descriptive Catalogue of Twenty Illuminated Manuscripts, Nos. LXXV to XCIV(Replacing Twenty Discarded from the Original Hundred) inthe Collection of Henry Yates Thompson (Cambridge: University Press, 1907), no. XCIII pp. 145-52.
A. Serafini, ‘Ricerche sulla miniatura umbra (secoli XIV-XVI): La scuola peruginesca’, L’Arte, 15 (1912), 233-62 (pp. 237-38).
A. Venturi, Storia dell’arte italiana: La pittura del quattrocento (Milan, 1914), VII, pp. 1012-13.
Illustrations from One Hundred Manuscripts in the Library of Henry Yates Thompson, 7 vols (London: Chiswick Press, 1907-1918), VI: Consisting of Ninety Plates Illustrating Seventeen MSS. with Dates Ranging from the XIIIth to the XVIth Century (1916), pp. 36-42, pls LXXIX-LXXXVIII.
Paolo d’Ancona, La miniature italienne du Xe au XVIe siècle (Paris, Brussel: Librairie nationale d'art et d'histoire, 1925), pp. 73, 88, pls LXVIII, LXXXV.
Seymour De Ricci, Les Manuscrits de la Collection Henry Yates Thompson, Extrait du Bulletin de 1926 de la Société Française de Reproductions de Manuscrits à Peintures (Paris: SFRMP, 1926), no. XCIII, p. 31.
Fiorenzo Canuti, Il Perugino, 2 vols (Siena, 1931), II, p. 333 n. 56.
J. Wardrop, ‘Pierantonio Sallando and Girolamo Pagliorolo, Scribes to Giovanni II Bentivoglio’, Signature, 2 (1946), pp. 15-16, 28, fig. 14.
Francis Wormald, 'The Yates Thompson Manuscripts', The British Museum Quarterly 16 (1952), 4-6 (p. 6).
Phyllis Pray Bober, Drawings after the Antique by Amico Aspertini: Sketchbooks in the British Museum (London: Warburg Institute, 1957), p. 36, fig. 135 pl. 58.
Mario Salmi, Italian Miniatures (London: Collins, 1957), pp. 57, 64.
Tammaro de Marinis, La legatura artistica in Italia nei secoli XV e XVI, 3 vols (Florence, 1960) II, pp. 57, 81.
[Derek Howard Turner], Reproductions from Illuminated Manuscripts, Series V: Fifty Plates (London: British Museum, 1965), nos. XLV, XLVI pp. 23-24, pls. XLV, XLVI.
D. H. Turner, Illuminated Manuscripts Exhibited in the Grenville Library (London, British Museum, 1967), pp. 54-55.
Jonathan J. G. Alexander and Albina C. de la Mare, The Italian Manuscripts in the Library of Major J. R. Abbey (London: Faber and Faber, 1969), p. 140.
Nicole Dacos, La découverte de la Domus Aurea et la formation des grotesques à la Renaissance (London: Warburg Institute, Leiden: Brill, 1969), pp. 40, 82 n. 2.
A. N. L. Munby, Connoisseurs and Medieval Miniatures 1750-1850 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 125.
Jonathan J. G. Alexander, Italian Renaissance Illuminations (London: Chatto & Windus, 1977), pp. 116-17, pls. 38-39.
Renaissance Painting in Manuscripts: Treasures from the British Library, ed. by Thomas Kren (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), pp. X, 7, 93, no. 16 pp. 123-25, pls XIX-XXI.
P. Tosetti Grandi, ‘Lorenzo Costa miniatore’, in La miniatura italiana tra gotico e rinascimento: Atti del II Congresso di storia della miniatura italiana, Cortona, 1982, ed. by E. Sesti, 2 vols (Florence: Olschki, 1985), I, pp. 334-42, 351-52.
Miniatura fiorentina del Rinascimento, 1440-1525: un primo censimento, 2 vols, ed. by Annarosa Garzelli ([Florence]: Giunta regionale toscana, 1985), II, pl. 752.
Anthony Hobson, Humanists and Bookbinders: The Origins and Diffusion of Humanistic Bookbinding 1459-1559~ (Cambridge: University Press, 1989), pp. 54, 105-06, 221, figs. 85, 86.
Jonathan J. G. Alexander, 'Matteo da Milano, Illuminator', Pantheon, 50 (1992), 32-45 (p. 41, fig. 28). Reprinted in Alexander, Studies in Italian Manuscript Illumination (London: Pindar Press, 2002), pp. 281-333 (pp. 322, 326, 329).
Fabrizi Lollini, 'Appunti su Matteo da Milano', Studi umanistici Piceni, 12 (1992), 143-54 (pp. 145, 146, figs. 4-5).
The Painted Page: Italian Renaissance Book Illumination 1450-1550, ed. by Jonathan J. G. Alexander (London: Prestel, 1994), pp. 16, 32, no. 117 pp. 222-23.
Janet Backhouse, The Illuminated Page: Ten Centuries of Manuscript Painting in the British Library (London: British Library, 1997), no. 200 p. 225.
Jonathan J. G. Alexander, 'Italian Illuminated Manuscripts from the Fourteen to the Sixteenth Centuries in British Collections', in Jonathan J. G. Alexander, Studies in Italian Manuscript Illumination (London: Pindar Press, 2002), pp. 22-54 (p. 35).
Alixe Bovey, Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2002), p. 44, fig. 36.
The Inventory of H. P. Kraus, Sotheby's, New York, 4-5 December, 2003, p. 505.
Janet Backhouse, Illumination from Books of Hours (London: British Library, 2004), pl. 127.
Hugo Chapman, Tom Henry, and Carol Plazzotta, Raphael: From Urbino to Rome (London: National Gallery, 2004), no. 9 pp. 84-85 [Yates Thompson f. 29, f. 132].
Greg Buzwell, Saints in Medieval Manuscripts (London: British Library, 2005), p. 23.
Alixe Bovey, 'Renaissance Bibliomania', in Viewing Renaissance Art, ed. by K. W. Woods, C. M. Richardson and A. Lymberopoulu, (London: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 112-44, figs. 3.18-3.19.
Libro d'Ore di Bonaparte Ghislieri, with a commentary by G. Benevolo, Peter Kidd, Massimo Medica (Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 2008) [facsimile].
Elena De Laurentiis and Emilia Anna Talamo, The Lost Manuscripts from the Sistine Chapel: An Epic Journey from Rome to Toledo (Madrid: Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica; Dallas, Tex.: Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, 2010), p. 110 n. 11.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)