LES ENLUMINURES (www.lesenluminures.com) gallery of Paris and Chicago is exhibiting for the first time June 29 - July 5 at MASTERPIECE London 2011 whose second year is being celebrated with an impressive array of the world’s foremost dealers in both antique and contemporary masterworks.

A renowned expert and scholar in Medieval and Renaissance Miniatures, Manuscripts and art,  Dr. Sandra Hindman, owner of LES ENLUMINURES, says, “In its debut last year MASTERPIECE demonstrated enormous potential to be the most anticipated London event of its kind.  With every exhibitor offering superb quality and connoisseurship, there’s no doubt visitors will not just have fun visiting the Fair but also extend their knowledge and appreciation of the aesthetic world, on many levels.”

MASTERPIECE London 2011 (www.masterpiecefair.com) will be held in a specially designed pavilion on the South grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea with a host of top level dealers not just in antiques and decorative porcelain, silver, and fine art, but the most renowned names in luxury goods, including signed jewelry, watches, and automobiles.

One of just a handful of specialist dealers added to the second year roster, LES ENLUMINURES is bringing its most extraordinary new acquisitions to the fair.  These include a an Illuminated Manuscript dating to c1439-1447 by the great Italian Olivetan Master and the Maestri del Corali di Lodi of Lombardy. 

Hindman says, “This exceptional ‘Gradual’ is an illuminated manuscript in Latin on parchment with five miniatures depicting the Monks with portrait-like precision singing from a book in an Olivetan foundation.  Placed on a lectern in front of a choir in a chapel or monastery, this large manuscript enabled all the singers to sing from a single manuscript.”

“Many single leave and cuttings by the noted Lombard illuminator, the Olivetan Master (died 1449) are known but this is only one of two manuscripts to have survived.  This Gradual (Use of the Olivetan Benedictines) has it original binding, metal hardware and leather decoration of the Olivetan monastery where the manuscript was made and used.”

“The Olivetan Master takes his conventional name from a signed miniature illustrating the Communion of the Apostles in Venice. His style is close to that of the Master of the Vitae Imperatorum with whom he has been often confused.  In the last half century an accepted corpus of works has been gathered that defines his style and offers greater enlightenment on his career.“

Another highlight of the LES ENLUMINURES stand at MASTERPIECE London 2011 will be a cutting of Saint John the Baptist circa Lombardy, Italy 1500-1510 that Dr. Hindman says, “Is without doubt by the painter and illuminator known as the ‘Master B.F.’, (active Lombardy 1490-1540) whose name derives from the monogram with which he signed some of his works. 

Decorating an initial “I,” the youthful John the Baptist stands in a landscape holding a scroll inscribed Ecce Agnus Dei (“here is the Lamb of God”) while his symbolic lamb sits behind him.  The iconography identifies him as the last of the prophets of Israel and the precursor of the Messiah.

“Recognizable features of this High Renaissance style, which owes a debt both to the great Leonardo da Vinci and to the Lombard illuminator Cristoforo de Predis, include the ringlets of blond hair, the bluish-green grass and feathery trees in the landscape, and the golden orange color for the drapery.  Our illumination has been cited by Benson, Wescher, Levi d’Amncona, Paecht and Alexander, and Carminati in all previously published catalogues of the artist’s work.”

LES ENLUMINURES is well known for its collection of rare Medieval and Renaissance Finger Rings. Among the treasures at MASTERPIECE London is a 16h century Gold Fede Ring (English?).  Sandra Hindman says, “This Gold Fede Ring takes its name from the Italian word for faith or trust with the two clasped hands symbolizing an attachment that usually led to marriage.  The motif of the two clasped hands on the bezel was already in use in ancient Rome.  It was a symbol of pledging of vows, which derives from the Roman dextarum iunctio (right hand joined).  It emerged in the 12th century in England and remained popular for the next 600 years.”  (4.4 Grams Gold, UK size P ½ US size 7 ¾) circumference 55.3 mm.)

Galerie Les Enluminures features exceptional examples of Medieval and Renaissance miniatures, manuscripts, stained glass and finger rings at both its Paris gallery and at fairs in New York, Paris, Maastricht, San Francisco and London.

Sandra Hindman is celebrating her 20th Anniversary Year with a series of special exhibitions and catalogues. She founded Les Enluminures gallery in Paris in 1981 at Le Louvre des Antiquaires, opposite The Louvre, and has seen it become among the top ranked sources for the most significant manuscripts and art entering the market. Dr. Hindman is Professor Emerita at Northwestern University, where she twice headed the Art History Department. She divides her time between her Paris gallery and her offices in Chicago and has written many books and catalogues on the subject.

IF YOU GO

Galerie LES ENLUMINURES

at

MASTERPIECE London 2011

June 29 – July 5

South Grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea

Courtesy shuttle service from Battersea Park, Sloane Square, Victoria, Bond Street/West End

Preview June 29 from 11am – 2 pm

Open to the Public

From June 30 between 11am – 6pm

  Masterpiece Midsummer Party in aid of CLIC Sargent  7pm – 10pm

July 1- 5 from 11am  - 9pm

LES ENLUMINURES

 at Le Louvre des Antiquaires,

2 Place du Palais-Royal,

75001 Paris (France)

Tel: +33 1 42 60 15 58

info@lesenluminures.com

www.lesenluminures.com

Please contact Susan Bishopric at THE BISHOPRIC AGENCY for interviews and high resolution images. 212 289 2227 or susan@susanpr.com