The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 29, 2023

The Ascension: Leaf from a Book of Hours (4 of 6 Excised Leaves)

c. 1420–30

This object has related works. See Leaf from a Book of Hours: St. Barbara (6 of 6 Excised Leaves); Christ before Pilate: Leaf from a Book of Hours (2 of 6 Excised Leaves); Annunciation to the Shepherds: Leaf from a Book of Hours (1 of 6 Excised Leaves); The Nativity: Leaf from a Book of Hours (3 of 6 Excised Leaves); The Visitation: Leaf from a Book of Hours (5 of 6 Excised Leaves)

Henri d'Orquevaulx

(French)

or Workshop

France, Metz, 15th century

Ink, tempera, silver, and gold on vellum

Overall: 15.9 x 11.6 cm (6 1/4 x 4 9/16 in.)

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2001.76

Location

115 Manuscripts & Textiles

Fun Fact

Mostly used by women, books of hours are estimated to have been owned by every fourth household at the height of their popularity.

Description

This leaf survives from what must have been an extraordinarily rich book of hours. The elaborate Passion cycle and Suffrages point to an important patron. Internal evidence within the original calendar and texts indicates that Metz was the probable place of production. Stylistically, the illuminations appear to come from the workshop of Henri d’Orquevaulx, a documented Metz manuscript painter. Compositionally, structurally, and stylistically, the miniatures suggest strong links to Netherlandish illumination. It is not known whether d’Orquevaulx came originally from the Netherlands or whether he simply worked or trained there at some point in his career.

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
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
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. 40, cat. no. 34 archive.org
Exhibition history

CMA, 19 December 1999 - 27 February 2000, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, cat. 34, illus. p. 40.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/10/2004 - 10/02/2005); "Illuminated Manuscripts"

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).

Illuminated Manuscripts. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 10, 2004-October 2, 2005).

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).

The Medieval Top Seller: The Book of Hours (Gallery 115 rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-July 30, 2023).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2001.76