A frontispiece miniature of marvellous quality from an early 14th-century manuscript of canon law

40 A pope distributing the decretals

Miniature cut from a manuscript of canon law on vellum. France, Languedoc,Toulouse?, c. 1320.

97 x 191 mm. – Illumination in colours and burnished gold, laid down on old wood. – Rubbing to the blue cloak of the bishop on the right, the red cloak of the pope slightly retouched, generally in very fine condition.

PROVENANCE: 1. Ian Woodner (1903-90), his sale at Christie’s, 2 July 1991, lot 134. 2. Boehlen Collection, ms. 1308. TEXT: Although this cutting does not contain any text we can indisputably infer that it served as a frontispiece of a manuscript of canon law. Judged by the width and the oblong format of the illumination the text it accompanied must have been arranged in double columns in line with the usual layout of manuscripts of canon law that comprise as a rule besides the main text two further columns containing the glosses. Miniatures set within the text therefore usually extend to the width of one column only. In all likelihood the pope depicted in the centre is Gregory IX (1227-41) or Boniface VIII (1294-1302). Gregory IX complemented Gratian’s compilation of five books of canon law in 1234 by additional papal rulings, the decretales, which were supposed to be included in the curriculum of the universities. These papal rulings, termed liber extra, were sent to the eminent universities of Paris and Bologna in order to facilitate a uniform jurisdiction. Boniface VIII also issued a supplement of decretals that were promulgated in 1298 and attached as liber sextus to the compilation of Gregory.

ILLUMINATION: Frontispiece miniatures in manuscripts of canon law usually extend to the same number of lines as illuminations that accompany the text and therefore have an oblong horizontal format. Our miniature is divided into five compartments that are arranged symmetrically with two sections to the left and to the right framing a central segment which shows the image of a pope enthroned holding copies of two bound books in his hands. In the compartment to his right a kneeling friar stretches out his hand to receive one of the books; to his left a bishop and a friar are standing facing each other and jointly holding a book. The kneeling friar possibly represents the Dominican Raymond of Peñaforte, the compiler of Gregory’s decretals. Since the liber sextus of Boniface VIII was compiled by three scholars specializing in canon law, our miniature is more likely to originate from a manuscript of the decretals of Gregory IX. The interaction between the clerics and the pope rendered in the three inner compartments takes place in the interior of a Gothic clerical palace, whereas the two image fields to the outer left and right show the exterior view of the building. A layman and a soldier emerge from castle gateways.They are holding arrows projecting from their chests, representing the crime of murder. Judged by the dimensions of the two castle gateways, the left one of which is narrower than the one on the right, this illumination must have originally been placed on a recto. The facial features are modelled and defined by fine, securely placed pen strokes. This work of a highly gifted miniaturist calls to mind at first sight Parisian illumination in the entourage of Maître Honoré and his talented successor of the Vie de Saint Denis workshop (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 2090 and 2092).The integration of architectural settings, often serving as a background for scenes of daily life, is a characteristic trait of illuminations from this workshop. Our miniature exclusively focuses on the actual subject matter without being complemented by such anecdotal detail, but the arrangement of space and the combination of interior and exterior views is an important stylistic device this illumination shares with works from the Vie de Saint Denis atelier. Taking into account all of these elements, along with the figure style and the architectural setting, one is nearly inclined to locate our miniature to Paris.However, the pale colouring, particularly the soft browns, does not belong to the palette to be found in Paris at that time. It rather suggests a southern French origin, and the illumination may tentatively be located to Languedoc.A Decretum Gratiani manuscript (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 3898) illuminated in a comparably lavish way can be cited in example as a key work of this southern French group of legal texts. Further research will be required for a more precise localization of this brilliant miniature. Preciously and profusely adorned with burnished gold and laid out and executed with great precision and refinement, it is a witness to a group of canon law manuscripts possibly made in southern France under strong Parisian influence.

LITERATURE: Sales cat. Christie’s, 2 July 1991, lot 134. Avril 1998, no. 190 and 233; exh. cat. Cambridge 2001.