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A hitherto unknown miniature from the early career of the major illuminator of Bergamo between Late Gothic and the beginning of the Renaissance

45 King David playing the psaltery

Historiated initial ‘E’ on a vellum leaf from a psalter, illuminated by Jacopo da Balsemo. Italy, Bergamo, c. 1450-55.

c. 530 x 385 mm. Historiated initial in tempera and gold leaf. – Beginning of psalm in capitals with fleuronnée with one musical stave lined in red, stave height 37 mm. Italian Rotunda in dark brown ink, 14 resp. 15 lines to the page, alternating blue and red capitals with fleuronnée, verso ruled in brown. Medieval folio number “129” on the outer margin of the recto. – Overall fine condition, some stains of tape on the verso.

PROVENANCE: Since the 1920s private collection Germany/Thuringia.

TEXT: “Exultate deo adiutori nostro. Iubilate deo Jacob…”. This is the beginning of Psalm 80. The leaf must originally have been part of a liturgical psalter of impressive dimensions. No companion leaves are known so far.

ILLUMINATION: The illumination of the leaf at issue from a dismembered and hitherto unidentified psalter points to the region of Lombardy.The style of the historiated initial with its foliage decoration refers to Jacopo da Balsemo. Named after his origin from Balsemo, a small town near Milan, Jacopo was created citizen of Bergamo in 1452 where he is documented during a full half century up to his death occurring probably around 1503. In their fundamental publication Luigi Cortesi and Gabriele Mandel presented the core of Jacopo’s extensive catalogue and prepared the ground for the reconstruction of the biography of this artist who may justly be called the dominant figure of manuscript illumination in Bergamo in the later half of the Quattrocento (Cortesi/Mandel 1972). The artist’s arrival in the town coincides with the commission of a multi-volume series of choirbooks for S. Maria Maggiore. Eight antiphonaries survive in the Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai (antifonari I-VIII, cf. Gatti Perrer 1989, nos. 64-71, pp. 168-188), where his hand can be discerned along with those of several collaborators. His signature “IACOBVS”, the only one known so far, figures in the seventh volume which consequently constitutes the basis for all stylistic attributions to the artist. The profile of Jacopo is still not sufficiently defined due to the rather heterogeneous quality of the illuminations attributed to him and his large workshop, especially during the final decades of the century. The leaf under discussion here is undoubtedly one of his most excellent products and can be attributed to the early phase of his career. The half-figure of King David, presented in profile in close-up view, is set against a blue background strewn with white geometrical elements. In the general conception of the initial with its luminous palette of vivid colours, pink, red, blue and green with fine white applications and burnished gold, the artist reveals his indebtedness to the idiom formulated by the preceding generation of Late Gothic illuminators. Most conspicuous is the influence of the Maestro delle Vitae Imperatorum, one of the most prolific Lombard artists of the time, whose formative impact can be observed in the works of most illuminators active in this region around the middle of the Quattrocento (cf. here no. 44). Likewise reminiscent of his œuvre is the sharp-edged figural style with precisely drawn yet delicately rendered features. The sophisticated execution along with the subtle expressiveness of the figure of David in the miniature at issue is rarely found among Jacopo’s mature works. Nearest stylistic equivalents appear in the Libro degli statuti di Bergamo of 1453 (Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, ms.D. 9.20, cf. Gatti Perrer 1989, cat. 72, pp. 188-189) whose illumination counts among the earliest works of Jacopo after his settling in Bergamo.Thus the discovery of this, so far isolated, miniature is a valuable document of the early activity of our artist.

LITERATURE: The miniature is hitherto unpublished. Cortesi/Mandel 1972; exh. cat. Milan 1988; Gatti Perer 1989; Gatti Perer/Marubbi 1995, pp. 127-129; Maggioni 2004 (with further bibliography).