Lepape relates this impression to a small group of other prints inspired by the work of Jean d'Ypres (active 1490-1508), but not by him. The artist, undoubtedly Parisian and active in the first half of the sixteenth century, borrowed heavily from the work of Jean d'Ypres, and his decorative motifs are found also in an woodcut of the Sacred Monogram, two impressions of which are also at The University Of Manchester Library: R235572 (pasted within a coffret) and R241401 (fugitive print). See: Lepape, Severine, et al. Mystérieux coffrets: Estampes au temps de La Dame à la licorne (exhibition catalogue), Paris, Musee du Cluny, 2019, pages 59-60.<\/p>
Jean d'Ypres (active 1490-1508) is the artist responsible for most of the prints found within around 110 coffrets - wooden boxes covered with leather and reinforced with iron fittings and locks - into which are pasted a series of these stencilled impressions of devotional themes. Around 30 fugitive prints survive which are thought to have once been pasted within coffrets and subsequently removed.<\/p>
Attribution of the designs for most of the prints found within these coffrets to the Master of the Très Petites Heures of Anne de Bretagne is generally accepted, but scholarship on this artist (variously known also as the Master of the Apocalypse Rose of the Sainte-Chapelle, the Master of the Chasse à la licorne, the Master of the Life of Saint John the Baptist, and now identified as the painter Jean d'Ypres) is complex, and the workings of his atelier unclear. The documented career of Jean d'Ypres extends from c. 1490 to 1508, yet, the volume and diversity of his production suggest a flourishing workshop not a lone individual.<\/p>
Other known impressions: Three impressions of the woodcut remain in coffrets: Chicago (Newberry Library), Paris, (École nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts), and Cambridge, Massachusetts (Harvard University, Houghton Library); two other fugitive impressions of the Virgin with a Rosary are known: Washington, National Gallery of Art (see Field (1965) no. 170) and one within a private collection (Berlin).<\/p>" }, { "label": "Former Owner(s)", "value": "Jammes, Marie-Thérèse; Jammes, André" }, { "label": "Acquisition", "value": "
One of a set of three prints purchased by The University of Manchester Library in March 2020.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Title", "value": "The Virgin and Infant Christ" }, { "label": "Funding", "value": "Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)" }, { "label": "Project Information", "value": "
Created as part of the Incunabula Cataloguing Project, funded by the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, and the research project: '\u2018Werck der bücher\u2019 Transitions, experimentation, and collaboration in reprographic technologies, 1440\u20131470', funded by the AHRC/DFG. John Gandy is Project Cataloguer on the Incunabula Cataloguing Project. 'Werck der bücher' is led by Dr Stephen Mossman, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Department of History, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, (SALC), University of Manchester, and Edward Potten, Principal Consultant, Department of History, School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, (SALC), University of Manchester.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Publication", "value": "Paris?: publisher not identified" }, { "label": "Date of Creation", "value": "between 1490 and 1500" }, { "label": "Origin Place", "value": "France, Paris" }, { "label": "Language(s)", "value": "Latin" }, { "label": "Physical Location", "value": "The John Rylands Research Institute and Library" }, { "label": "Extent", "value": "1 sheet. Leaf height: 140 mm, width: 225 mm." }, { "label": "Classmark", "value": "R241402" }, { "label": "Subject(s)", "value": "Christian art and symbolism; Wood-engraving--15th century; Early works to 1800" }, { "label": "Physical Description", "value": "
Trimmed to approximately 140 x 225 mm to fit the lid of the coffret in which the impression was once pasted. The print is damaged, the damage presumably occurring when it was removed from the lid of a coffret, with substantial paper loss. Laid down on acid free paper. The paper bears a partial watermark of a Gothic P with a flower on a stem, 76 mm in height.<\/p>
With stencil-applied orange, yellow purple and green colours.<\/p>
Removed from the lid of a coffret and now loose.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Abstract", "value": "
Impression on paper of a woodcut depicting the Virgin and Infant Christ with the signs of the sun and moon encircled by a Rosary. The celestial symbols appearing in this woodcut refer to a passage in the Apocalypse of John (Revelation 12:1), quoted in a banderol at the base of the image: Mulier amicta sole et luna sub pedibus ejus.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Collection", "value": "Special Collections" }, { "label": "Bibliography", "value": "