A Monk before Christ in Glory, Antique Chromolithograph, 1849

A kneeling monk in a white habit, his hands raised, looks up to a figure of God the Father who appears above him in a blue mantle within a halo of gold rays; an angel with outstretched wings fills the upper left and a dense gold acanthus border frames the whole. The sheet is lettered simply as taken from the original then belonging to Monsieur Guenebault in Paris, so the manuscript was in private hands when the plate was drawn.

Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance was issued in Paris between 1848 and 1851 in five volumes under the literary direction of Paul Lacroix and the artistic direction of Ferdinand Sere. This plate belongs to the second volume, dated 1849. Its chromolithographs were drawn from the originals by artists sent into the libraries and collections of France, Belgium and Germany, and printed by Lemercier of Paris or by Engelmann et Graf.

Devotional miniatures of a donor kneeling before a vision are the most personal images the Middle Ages produced, and they are the ones most often bought for a quiet room or a chapel. The gold ground and the heavy acanthus make the sheet rich without being busy. It is a good single purchase for a buyer who wants one medieval image rather than a group.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.