"BEHOLD, THE LORD RULER IS COME"

(ILLUMINATED LEAF). Large illuminated initial (The Adoration of the Magi). Naples, circa 1480. Partial vellum leaf, measuring 7 by 7-1/2 inches, with large illuminated initial on recto in red, green, yellow, brown, blue, and white inks and liquid gold, verso with sections of two staves of music and text; handsomely matted and framed, entire piece measures 13 by 13 inches. $14,500.

Striking, very large illuminated initial, with the Adoration of the Magi shown within a large letter "E" from a Neapolitan Antiphonal, rendered in vivid colors and set within a frame of gold.

This illuminated letter "E" (likely from the introit "Ecce advenit…" for mass at Epiphany) displays the Virgin Mary seated with the infant Jesus on her lap with Joseph standing protectively behind, with the Magi standing and kneeling in awe and adoration. The initial itself is of an elaborately leafy design in dark red with pink and white heightening entwined with green leaves, set on a burnished gold ground with colored trefoils in the corners, a flecked blue surround, and traces of text and music visible to the top and right. The two standing kings are richly attired in robes fringed with pearls. It is done in the style of the Neapolitan illuminator Cristoforo Majorana, active in Naples from 1480 to 1492. The blue flecked border, giving the effect of the whole initial hovering above the vellum, derives from the classicizing illumination of Padua and Mantua, which became a feature of Neapolitan manuscripts in the late 15th century.

Colors exceptionally vivid, with just a few spots of slight rubbing to image.