Live Auction 1176Valuable Printed Books and Manuscripts
SIR YWAIN AND THE DAMSEL ESCORTING THE WOUNDED KNIGHT, miniature cut from the Livre du Lancelot del Lac, in
Lot 12 THE DUNOIS MASTER
The Dunois Master was the assistant of the Bedford Master and then his successor as the dominant figure in Parisian illumination from about 1435. His soft painterly style derives from that of the Bedford Master and he also inherited the older Master's stock of compositional patterns. He built on this legacy, showing great compositional inventiveness in both secular manuscripts and devotional books, like the Hours of the Count of Dunois from which he was named (London, BL. Ms Yates Thompson 3). He may be identifiable with Jean Haincelin, if the Lancelot from which lot 12 comes and the Guiron le Courtois in Paris (BnF, mss fr. 356-357) are indeed those paid for by Prigent de Coëtivy in 1444. Prigent's Book of Hours (Dublin, Chester-Beatty Library, W 82) was certainly by the Dunois Master, who received commissions from some of the greatest bibliophiles of the time.

SIR YWAIN AND THE DAMSEL ESCORTING THE WOUNDED KNIGHT, miniature cut from the Livre du Lancelot del Lac, in

Closed12 June 2013

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GBP 23,750

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SIR YWAIN AND THE DAMSEL ESCORTING THE WOUNDED KNIGHT, miniature cut from the Livre du Lancelot del Lac, in
French, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[Paris, c.1440]
99 x 94mm. 16 lines in a gothic bookhand on the verso (a few inconsequential paint losses and small areas of wear). Card mount.
Provenance: Joachim Napoléon, Prince Murat (1835-1932) -- W.R.
Jeudwine, Alpine Club Gallery, London, 1962, no 9.

The evocative miniature comes from the famous Livre du Lancelot del Lac illuminated by the Dunois Master. Dismembered by the 16th century, it formed a pair with the Guiron le Courtois, BnF mss. fr. 356-7; both manuscripts were possibly made for Prigent de Coëtivy, admiral of France. The scene comes from IV 92:21 in H.O. Summer's edition of the text and shows the damsel explaining to Sir Ywain the plight of the wounded knight, concealed in the coffer on the horse litter; the knight will eventually be healed by Sir Lancelot.

The Dunois Master's assured painterly technique and narrative skills have created an entrancing epitome of the chivalric ideals at the heart of French court culture.