Nativity from The Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry
Item
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Alternative Title
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The Belles Houres of Jean de France, duc de Berry, The Nativity (Folio 48v)
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Creator
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The Limbourg Brothers
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Subject
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Nativity, birth of Christ, Virgin Mary, Joseph
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Language
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Latin
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Date
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c. 1405-1408/1409
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Description
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Three magi and Joseph the Carpenter surround the Virgin Mary after she has given birth to Jesus Christ.
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Medium
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Tempera, gold, and ink on vellum
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Extent
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9 3/8 x 6 11/16 in. (23.8 x 17 cm)
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Rights Holder
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The Morgan Museum & Library, New York, New York
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Provenance
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Guillaume Lambert (his name survives from partially erased inscriptions on fols. 1v, 3v and 4v; on fol. 5v he appears as Guillaume Lambert de Lyon; on fol. 2v is: "Ces heures sont et appartiennent a [two lines erased] lyon et furent escriptes en sa maison pres le portal Lan mil. iiij[superscript c], iiij[superscript xx]. et iiij.."); in two or more 17th-18th-century hands on fol. 192r: Marie Doncieu (presumably the Marie d'Oncieu who married in 1590 Louis de Moyria, baron de la Vellière), Mariane de Moyria or Moiria (twice signed); "A Marianne de la Vellière qui dan mon coeur est profan grave" (Mariane de Moyria or Moiria may be Mariane de la Vellière); in a similar hand, Rose de Lanbert (copied from the earlier inscription Roze de Lambert on fol. 192v); Henry-Auguste Brölemann (1826-1904), his blue-edged label with 'A 28 uex' inside the upper cover; by descent to Madame Étienne Mallet; her sale (Sotheby's, May 4, 1926, lot 52); Quaritch; sold by Quaritch in 1947 to Georges Heilbrun; acquired by Heribert Tenschert in 1993 (his Leuchtendes Mittelalter, VI, 1993/94, no. 74); Lucien Tissot-Dupont, his leather bookplate on fol. 1r; below the bookplate sticker with 'ATD', the initials of André Tissot-Dupont; sale (London, Christies, November 19, 2003, lot 25).
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