Miniatures of the Burgundian Library, Brussels, Antique Print, 1849

Four miniatures assembled on one sheet from different books in the Burgundian collection: Christ enthroned in green and blue with a book open on his knee, a seated evangelist in an architectural surround, and two smaller panels, one of them lettered in red with a line of medieval Latin. The sheet is lettered as miniatures taken from different manuscripts in the Library of Burgundy at Brussels.

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.

A sheet that shows four different hands and four different schemes of color at once is useful to anyone studying the development of the illuminated page, and it gives a decorator four images for the price of a frame. The strong blue and green read well from a distance. It groups naturally with the other Viel-Castel plates drawn from the same Brussels collection. Hung with the other Brussels sheets it also builds a small picture of one of Europe's great libraries, which is a more interesting thing to assemble than four unrelated miniatures. The plate carries the letter G of the lettered series, so it belongs to the run the publisher himself grouped together.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and right 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.