The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles bought an illuminated manuscript by the Flemish master Lieven van Lathem at a Sotheby's auction in London on Wednesday night for nearly $6.2 million.
The “Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies,'' considered one of the finest examples of the golden era of Flemish manuscript illumination, contains eight painted half-page miniatures and 44 historiated initials - the enlarged letters incorporating pictures that begin sections of text. The work had been on loan to the Getty in 2003, when it was a highlight of its exhibition “Illuminating the Renaissance.''
“The acquisition of this richly illuminated manuscript by the greatest illuminator of the Flemish high Renaissance adds a major masterpiece to the Getty Museum's collection and represents a landmark in the Department of Manuscripts' unrivaled record of superb acquisitions over the past 30 years,'' said Ti mothy Potts, director of the Getty Museum, in a statement announcing the acquisition.
The “Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies†tells the story of the bizarre adventures of a nobleman from the family of Trazegnies, whose seat was in Hinaut (now Belgium). Part travelogue, part romance, part epic, it traces the exploits of Gillion on his journeys to Egypt, where he becomes a bigamist, and then dies in battle, a hero.
