Illuminated Letter 'Y' copied from the Arnstein Passional (Harley MS2800)
1850 – 1859
Accession number: 1906P1026
Pencil and watercolour on tracing paper.
Width: 86 mm
Height: 131 mm
Information
This is a copy of letter Y from the 'Arnstein Passional,' a twelfth-century German illuminated manuscript. In the nineteenth century it was part of the Harley Collection held at the British Museum but has since been moved to the British Library. It is possible that rather than seeing the original, Sandys copied it from 'Illuminated Ornaments Selected from Manuscripts' by Henry Shaw and F. Madden (1830-1833) which reproduced the whole alphabet from this particualr manuscript. 'Illuminated Ornaments' was on of the books in the library of his patron James Bulwer (see Betty Elzea, 'Frederick Sandys 1829-1904: A Catalogue Raisonné,' p. 141).
- Purchased and presented by subscribers, 1906.
- © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Makers
| Association | Artist | Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Artist | Frederick Sandys | - |
Inscriptions
| Type | Position(s) | Method | Date(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outline Vermillion [sic] / Harl - 2800. / B. M- | ||||
| Inscription | body | Enamelled | 1850 c | Pencil |
Literature
| Author(s) | Date(s) | Publisher | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of Drawings | |||
| A E Whitley | 1939 | Bemrose & Sons, Ltd., Derby | p. 396 |
| Frederick Sandys 1829-1904: A Catalogue Raisonné | |||
| Betty Elzea | 2001 | Antique Collectors' Club (in association with Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service | No. 1.C.36, p. 141 |
Provenance
| Almost certainly to have been acquired by Charles Fairfax Murray from the artist, or from the sale of the contents of the Sandys family home after the death of Sandys' mother in September 1883 (Elzea). |
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