Two illuminated initials cut from a large-format choirbook. Illuminated manuscripts on vellum, being historiated initials cut from a large-format choirbook, Northern Italy, late 15th century. Each approx. 140 x 140 mm. Some loss to the to bottom left corner of the female saint initial. Povenance: from the collection of Valentin Weisbach (1843-1899), a wealthy Berlin banker and collector; exhibited in Berlin in 1898 (Ausstellung von Kunstwerken des Mittelalters und der Renaissance aus Berliner Privatbesitz, veranstaltet von der Kunstgeschichtlichen Gesellschaft 20. Mai bis 3. Juli 1898. Berlin: G. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandling, 1899, p. 46). Miniature featuring a female saint: in blue, with some green and pink foliate ornament, and punctuated by a jeweled cartouche and another bead-like decoration, the whole surrounded by a background of burnished gold (some flaking to gold). Miniature featuring a male saint: The saint stands in a landscape, holding a book and embracing a tau (T-shaped) cross. The initial is composed primarily of green foliate shapes, interrupted by two blue, green, and pink bead-like ornaments, the whole surrounded by a background of burnished gold that includes scattered flowers and fruit. The two miniatures are framed identically in 19th century frames. The miniatures are by the same artist, who apparently used a single model. In both miniatures, the backgrounds and settings are very similar. The saints stand in the center foreground, full length and three-quarter face. The woman stands on a rough stone pavement and the man on stony ground. A building appears in the left background of each image, there appear to be hills in the right background, and a truncated tree stump appears in the right foreground of each. The saints remain unidentified. The book and palm held by the woman are generic attributes. The tau cross embraced by the man is usually associated with St. Anthony of Egypt, but none of his usual identifiers, a pig, a bell, a fire appear here. The initials, derived or copied from Italian work of the late fifteenth century, are difficult of interpretation in the absence of accompanying text, as is not uncommon with miniatures of this sort. On the verso of each miniature there is music, consisting of square neumes on four-line red staves, but the fragments of text that accompany them are not sufficient for identifying the chants in question. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing