The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 27, 2023

Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto) and Ornamental Border with Flowers and Squirrel (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves)

c. 1524

Part of a set. See all set records

This object has related works. See Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Calendar Page with Labors (recto) and Calendar Page with Peasant (verso); Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Ornamental Border with Pea Vines and a Girl Kneading Bread (recto) and Ornamental Boarder with Carnations, a Thistle, and a Cook Ladling Soup (verso) (1 of 3 Excised Leaves); Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Rabbits Dancing (recto) and Putto Picking Strawberries (verso)

North Germany, Hildesheim (?), 16th century

Ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum

Each leaf: 16.6 x 13.5 cm (6 9/16 x 5 5/16 in.)

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2006.15

Location

not on view

Description

This leaf reveals the charm of secular decoration such as satyrs or domestic activities like cooking. Such details would have been a sumptuous delight to the original owner. The original book was a highly personalized volume apparently written and illuminated in North Germany as suggested by internal textual references. The prominent inclusion of Saint Godehard (died 1038), Bishop of Hildesheim, in the calendar (not visible) would suggest that the manuscript was produced in that city.

Provenance
1500s
Mansfeld Family, Prussia, between Magdeburg and Merseburg, Germany
Mid 1500s
Adrienne Louvignies Family
1800s
Compte d'Aspremont-Lynden
-1892
Brothers Michael Linel (1830-1892) and Albert Linel (1833-1916) of Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1892-1953
City of Frankfurt, Germany, for the Kunstgewerbemuseu, deaccessioned parent manuscript
23 June 1987
[Sale: Sotheby's, London, 23 June 1987, lot 99, sold to Pairvel]
1987-
Pairvel
[Jörn Günther, Hamburg, Germany]
[Bruce Ferrini, Akron, OH, sold to Jeanne Miles Blackburn]
-2011
Jeanne Miles Blackburn, Durham, NC, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2011-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Schilling, Rosy, and Georg Swarzenski. Die illuminierten Handschriften und Einzelminiaturen des Mittelalters und der Renaissance in Frankfurter Besitz. Frankfurt a.M.: J. Baer, 1929. no.151 pp.181–83
Sotheby's (Firm). Western Manuscripts and Miniatures. 1987. Lot 99
Jörn Günther Antiquariat (Firm), and Jörn-Uwe Günther. Recent Acquisitions: Medieval & Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts. Hamburg: Jörn Günther Antiquariat, 1997.
Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 68, cat. no. 66 archive.org
Chapin, Mary Weaver. “Music Chez Soi.’” In Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, Paris, 1889-1900. Mary Weaver Chapin and Heather Lemonedes Brown, 142-186. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2021. Mentioned: P. 147; Reproduced: P. 148, fig. 79
Bloomsbury Auctions (Firm). Western Manuscripts and Miniatures: Wednesday July 6, 2022 (2022). Lot 114
Exhibition history

Main gallery rotation (Gallery 113): January 26, 2015 -

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.15