The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 30, 2023

The Nativity: Leaf from a Book of Hours (3 of 6 Excised Leaves)

c. 1420–30

This object has related works. See The Visitation: Leaf from a Book of Hours (5 of 6 Excised Leaves); Annunciation to the Shepherds: Leaf from a Book of Hours (1 of 6 Excised Leaves); Christ before Pilate: Leaf from a Book of Hours (2 of 6 Excised Leaves); The Ascension: Leaf from a Book of Hours (4 of 6 Excised Leaves); Leaf from a Book of Hours: St. Barbara (6 of 6 Excised Leaves)

Henri d'Orquevaulx

(French)

or Workshop

France, Metz, 15th century

Ink, tempera, and gold on vellum

Each leaf: 16.1 x 12.6 cm (6 5/16 x 4 15/16 in.)

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2001.75

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The popularity of books of hours lasted until around the 1550s, when the German priest Martin Luther, in his attempts to reform the Catholic Church, declared them full of “un-Christian tomfoolery,” and they fell out of favor.

Description

This leaf survives from what must have been an extraordinarily rich book of hours. Stylistically, the illuminations relate to the workshop of Henri d'Orquevaulx, a documented Metz manuscript painter. Little is known about d'Orquevaulx's life or career. Compositionally, structurally, and stylistically, the miniatures suggest strong links to Netherlandish illumination.

Provenance
before 1539 - after 1541
Jehan de Poncy (d. 1605) and his wife, Marguerite
Bartlett Gurney (1756-1803), Norwich, England, bequeathed to his aunt Catherine Gurney
-1808
Catherine Gurney (1776–1850), Norwich, England, gifted to Rev. Edward Edwards
1808-
Rev. Edward Edwards (1766-1849), Lynn, Norfolk, bequeathed to his godson William Hay Gurney, nephew of Catherine Gurney
William Hay Gurney (1827-1898), North Princeton
April 7, 1978
Sale: Christie's New York, April 7, 1978, Lot 226
[Bruce Ferrini (1950-2010), Akron, OH, sold to Jeanne Miles Blackburn]
-2001
Ms. Jeanne Miles Blackburn, Maitland, Fl, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2001-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. Printed Books and Manuscripts Including an Important Manuscript Map of Southeastern North America, 1721. 1978. Lot 226
Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned: p. 37; Reproduced: p. 38, cat. no. 30 archive.org
Exhibition history

CMA, 19 December 1999 - 27 February 2000, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, cat. 30, illus. p. 38.

Cleveland Museum of Art, (11/06/2010 - 04/17/2011); "The Glory Of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collections"

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000).

The Glory of the Painted Page: Manuscript Illuminations from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 6, 2010-April 17, 2011).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2001.75