Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty Museum purchased a Flemish illuminated manuscript at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million on Wednesday, December 5. The Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies by Lieven van Lathem (1430-1493) consists of eight painted half-page miniatures and 44 historiated initials. Lathem is renowned for his paintings of secular scenes during the Flemish high Renaissance of manuscript illumination. The Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies is considered his finest work from the period.
The major acquisition adds to the Getty’s already phenomenal collection of 15th century illuminated manuscripts, which includes Lathem’s only documented manuscript, The Prayer Book of Charles the Bold. Acquired in 1989, Prayer Book serves as the main reference for all other Lathem attributions. The purchase of the Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies joins two of the artist’s defining works in one collection – a remarkable feat.
Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies tells the story of the curious adventures of a nobleman from the family of Trazegnies, whose seat was in Hainaut (present-day Belgium). The tale mixes genres including travelogue, romance, and epic and follows the protagonist, Gillion, on a journey to Egypt, where he comes a bigamist and dies in battle as a hero.
The illumination had been on loan for the Getty’s 2003 landmark exhibition, Illuminating the Renaissance.
