[ENGRAVING]. [ENLUMINURE]. Four color-enhanced engravings (w - Lot 272

[ENGRAVING]. [ENLUMINURE]. Four color-enhanced engravings (woodcuts?), printed on parchment Recto: Scenes figurées: Nativité; Adoration des rois mages [first diptych] - Incrédulité de saint Thomas; Scène de l'apostolat de Thomas (?) [second diptych]. Verso: white France, probably Paris, very late 15th or early 16th century. Size of engravings, two pairs: 120 x 97 mm (Nativity and Adoration of the Magi); 115 x 95 mm (Incredulity of Saint Thomas and Scene of the Apostolate of Thomas (?)). Size of unfolded leaf: 353 x 127 mm. Traces of small holes in the four corners, evidence of hanging, probably for devotional purposes. Some chipping on the pictorial surface, not serious (particularly in the two scenes on the right, the blue garment of the figure of Saint Thomas in the third engraving and the face of the figure with hat on the right in the fourth engraving). Rare illuminated print, on a loose support, probably proofs or independent prints from matrices, enhanced with colors (period colors) or compositions conceived as small private devotional supports. It may be possible to determine whether these woodcuts were used in a late 15th or early 16th century print (we're thinking of an illustrated Légende dorée, for example). This combination of two engravings in close pairs, set in column frames and reticulated motifs, can be found in the xylographs of printed and illuminated placards, produced in the "Ypres style" of the Danse macabre printed by Pierre Le Rouge for Antoine Vérard (circa 1491-1492) (see exhibition France 1500 (2010), no. 136). These placards were intended to be displayed on the wall. The present leaflet poses the problem of the circulation of sheet engravings in the early 16th century, which S. Lepape comments: "[...] it has to be said that it has been little studied, probably because it is rare, difficult to identify and date" (exhibition France 1500 (2010), "La gravure en France au début du XVIe siècle: un champ à explorer", p. 228). The fourth scene is difficult to identify. It is associated in pairs with that of the Incredulity of Saint Thomas, who asserts to the other apostles that he would only believe in the Resurrection if he could put his finger in Christ's wounds. When Christ appears, he speaks to Thomas and tells him to put his finger in the wounds of his hands, and his hand in his side, and to stop being unbelieving, for "Blessed are those who believe without having seen". The scene of St. Thomas' incredulity can be found in early printings such as the Poor Man's Bible (xylographic book printed in the Netherlands around 1465; see Louvre, Dept. des arts graphiques, Collection Edmond de Rothschild, L 52 LR/33 Recto), as well as in the first printings of Jacques de Voragine's Légende dorée. In this case, the related scene to the right of the Incredulity of St. Thomas may represent an episode in the apostolate of St. Thomas? Hybrid works, straddling the line between print and manuscript, these engravings are colored in imitation of illuminated manuscripts: the design of the engraving is sometimes modified, with the paint covering the engraved line. Late 15th-century printers worked with miniaturists to enhance the engravings they produced, but it is often difficult to identify and distinguish these artists precisely.