AN ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF WITH ROUNDELS ILLUSTRATING THE LIFE OF ST. ALEXIUS FROM A BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN.

      northern France, probably Paris, ca. 1460 Single column 13 lines in a pleasing regular gothic book hand. Attractively matted. WITH ONE HISTORIATED INITIAL in the text a "D" enclosing the face of a young nobleman with long hair the text within a three-sided gilt bar border and THE WHOLE WITHIN A FULL ILLUMINATED BORDER FEATURING CONSIDERABLE BRUSHED AND BURNISHED GOLD and with blue and gold acanthus sprays as well as many hairline stems leaves of various sorts strawberries and other fruit ONE SIDE OF THE LEAF WITH A ROUNDEL SHOWING SAINT ALEXIUS STANDING IN CONVERSATION WITH "CANONICUS" AND THE OTHER SIDE WITH A ROUNDEL SHOWING ALEXIUS AND "CLERICUS" BOTH TALKING ANIMATEDLY WITH THEIR HANDS. One small paint chip gone from the cloak of one figure inside a roundel otherwise IN EXTREMELY FINE CONDITION the gold and paint fresh and sparkling. Our leaf depicts scenes from the life of St. Alexius (or Alexis) whose story is worth recounting. Alexius was a beggar a fifth century man of God in Syriac Edessa but over time legend expanded his identity by acquiring a preface and conclusion set in Rome. As his story evolved Alexius was transformed into the son of the Roman senator Euphemianus who arranged a wealthy marriage for him. But the youth enamored of chastity leaves his bride on their wedding night and sails to the East for a life as a beggar. He returns home after 17 years unrecognized to take up his begging under the outer stairs of his ancestral home on the Aventine Hill (where the church dedicated to him stands today). Neither the stairs nor the marriage bed appears in our illustrations so we conclude that our outdoor scenes are set in Edessa. Alexius in one roundel interacts with a pink-robed cleric ("clericus") against a background of sky grass and gold scrolls while in the other roundel in a setting of hills and trees an ecclesiastic with an elaborate black hat ("canonicus") speaks to the seated Alexius. Our hero is not particularly ragged but his short tunic (even if trimmed in gold) and bare feet indicate that he is a beggar. The extraordinarily lavish and animated full borders and the extensive use of brushed and burnished gold here suggest that this leaf comes from a Book of Hours that was commissioned for a person or persons of high rank since it would have been very costly. Previously in the collection of the late Clark Stillman the manuscript included numerous roundels depicting the lives of St. Catherine and the more obscure St. Alexius and it is possible that the Book of Hours belonged to a husband and wife for whom these saints served as patrons. $3600 [Attributes: Hard Cover]