DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
ESSENTIAL WITNESS TO THE ARTISTIC MILIEU OF TOURNAI AROUND 1400
The Adoration of the Magi
Historiated initial ‘H’ on a leaf from an illuminated Antiphonal on vellum
France, Tournai?, 1400–1410
510 x 335 mm (leaf), 101 x 82 mm (initial). Tempera and gold leaf on vellum. – Some fading of ink,
lower left-hand margin slightly shaved.
TEXT
The initial ‘H’ opens the first Antiphon for the Feast of Epiphany, Hodie in Iordane baptizato
Domino.
PROVENANCE
This illustrative Adoration of the Magi is painted on a leaf, originally part of an Antiphonal,
presumably made in Tournai c. 1400–1410 according to the style of its decoration. Perhaps it
was executed for a Benedictine convent as can be deduced from a companion leaf presenting
a Benedictine nun kneeling in prayer at the Annunciation. The convent was probably located
in a Dutch speaking area, perhaps in Flanders, as is shown by the rubric in Dutch added later
in the century to another surviving leaf.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
COMPANION LEAVES
Altogether 24 leaves from the original manuscript are known. In 1966, these leaves were still
bound together in an album that was sold at Sotheby’s, 11 July 1966, lot 213. They come
from the Temporal, Sanctoral and Communal. 15 pages of these 24 have significant
decoration, nine leaves are decorated with small initials of saints and one with a decorated
initial.
Four of these 15 decorated folia present a large initial. They were part of the Winter volume
(see Catalogue 179, nos. 1–15, Philip C. Duschnes, New York, 1966). These initials are:
1. Annunciation, opening of the Temporal; private collection
2. Nativity; Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books, Switzerland
3. Adoration of the Magi, part of the Temporal; the present leaf
4. Presentation in the Temple, part of the Sanctoral; private collection
ILLUMINATION
The Adoration of the Magi is presented in a large initial H. The three magi bring gifts to the
Christ child, sitting on his mother’s knees. Mary is seated on a wooden bed and Jesus plays
with the gift of the first king. While Joseph seems to be absent, a groom is tending to the
horses in the back. The three ages of the kings are reflected in the colour of their hair and
beards. The miniature is delicately drawn and shows the hand of an accomplished artist who
can tell a complete story in a limited space.
The style of decoration is considered typical of Tournai or Doornik (Hainaut), a town between
Ghent and Valenciennes flourishing at the
end of the 14th and early 15th century. The
striking bar borders, the bold initials with
delicately pounced gold and the beaded
flourishing are all paralleled in
manuscripts illuminated by Jean Semont,
active in Tournai from c. 1385 until his
death in 1414. There are, however,
distinctive features, such as the ebullient
dragons and the chain forming the initial
around the Presentation in the Temple, on
one of the sister-leaves known to have
survived. The historiated initials also
reveal a distinct and more talented artistic
personality. Compared to Semont, the
artist of the present miniature has a more
detailed and painterly technique, carefully
modelling the faces and drapery of his
elegant figures to a more expressive and
three-dimensional effect, reinforced by his
greater mastery of perspective.
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com
DR. JÖRN GÜNTHER · RARE BOOKS AG
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Manuskripte und seltene Bücher
An origin in Tournai is supported by the instructions to the illuminator in French beside six of
the small initials of saints on known sister leaves. Tournai was then a French city bordered by
the counties of Flanders and Hainaut. It might have served as pivot between Paris and
Flanders, two main centres of manuscript production. Jean Semont’s style is a regional variant
deriving from Parisian art, although it was more open to the attainments of so-called ‘preEyckian’, more realistic, miniature painting.
That Tournai was a centre of painting is witnessed by the work of Robert Campin (1378–
1444; identified with the Master of Flémalle) and his pupil Rogier van der Weyden (born in
Tournai in 1399/1400). Although nothing is known of Campin’s artistic training or
background, he is thought to be indebted to contemporary manuscript painters. Campin
settled in Tournai, where he is first mentioned in the archives in 1405/6 and became citizen in
1410. After a very successful good career, he had lost much of his position by the late 1430s –
due to scandals. He is described as a pioneer in realistic observation, in humanizing subject
matters with a loving attention to details. His work is known for its expressiveness, powerful
modelling and almost sculptural quality. He gave a striking attention to faces and precision of
detail (see van Wijnsberghe 2007). All these qualities we also see in the miniatures by the
hand of the artist of the present miniature.
Dominique van Wijnsberghe (2007) discovered that Campin himself made or had miniatures
made. This scholar assembled some 30 manuscripts around a Missal illuminated by the
Tournaisian Jean Semont and made for presentation to the abbey of Saint-Amand by a priest
originally from Tournai. Several anonymous artists were working near or around Semont,
followers as well as distinct artistic personalities. Their miniatures feature common
compositions and a decorative repertory, outlining the contours of a local production, itself
anchored within a broader tradition. Other commissioners of illuminated manuscripts were
prelates and members of either the regional clergy or those a bit further away, from the abbey
of Marchiennes and the chapter of Saint-Pierre in Lille. Vanwijnsberghe has shown
convincingly that the artistic milieu of Tournai thrived until around 1430.
However, as the late 16th century iconoclasm in Tournai caused the loss of the artistic context
of these great panel painters, Tournai manuscript illumination is increasingly appreciated for
its importance for the history of art as well as for its inherent qualities. The present leaf and its
sister leaves are, therefore, essential for understanding the artistic milieu of Tournai around
1400. This remarkable depiction of the Adoration of the Magi is the work of an illuminator
working in Tournai, c. 1400–1410, either in Campin’s entourage or preceding his artistic
milieu shortly in time.
LITERATURE
The leaf is heretofore unpublished.
On Tournai manuscripts and illumination see:
Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, “Moult bons et notables” L’enluminure tournaisienne à l’époque de
Robert Campin (1380–1430), Leuven 2007, pp. 194-199, 272, 284, 352 (cat. XXVI).
Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG · Mosboden 1 · 6063 Stalden · Schweiz
Office: Spalenberg 55 · 4051 Basel · Fon +41 61 275 7575 · Fax +41 61 275 7576
[email protected] · www.guenther-rarebooks.com