François Mazot - Le Tableau de la Croix representé dans les ceremonies de la Ste Messe - 1651

[MAZOT, François] The Tableaux of the Cross represented in the ceremonies of the Holy Mass []. In Paris, undated, 1651.

A small-format volume in-12 (39 pages) incomplete. Missing the psalms: contemporary binding in full brown calf, smooth spine, blind, wear and losses to the spines, corners and tops, brown speckled boards and time-marked, speckled edges. Interior richly illustrated. Faded paper and handwritten annotations on the in-boards.

Original or early edition of this remarkable collection, conceived as a visual and textual spiritual guide to accompany the priest and the faithful during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The work is distinguished by its exceptional illustration, arranged in a facing layout: each step of the Mass (from the “Priest approaches the Altar” to the “Confiteor,” to the “Introït” or the “Gospel”) is paired with the mysteries of Christ’s Passion (the Garden of Olives, betrayal, appearance before Pilate) as well as with figures of saints and protective angels accompanied by their prayers in Latin and in French.

A touching exemplar in its authenticity, equipped with copper engravings finely executed by renowned artists (J. Collin, G. de Geyn), offering a striking panorama of Counter-Reformation spirituality in France.

This type of portable pious work, richly illustrated to stimulate the meditatively imaginative minds of literate faithful, was often kept precious in family oratories or entrusted to the care of great dignitaries protecting the arts and the Church, such as the Keeper of the Seals of France to whom it is here solemnly dedicated.