Medieval Book of Hours Leaf - Elegant rinceaux border

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Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours, with illuminations by a Master of the Boucicaut School. 15 lines of red-ruled, Latin text, written with dark brown ink in gothic book-hand script on animal vellum.  (127 x 92mm)

Two two-line illuminated initials in burnished gold on blue and pink ground extending into the margin with a delicate rinceaux design in burnished gold, red and blue; one one-line illuminated initial in deep blue with delicate red penwork.       

Northern France (Paris), c. 1420-30.     

The one-line illuminated ''S'' begins:  ''Spiritus sancte deus...'' (God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us). 

The two-line illuminated ''D'' begins the prayer:  ''Domine sancte spiritus deus....'' (O Lord, God the Holy Spirit, coequal in honor and glory...). The second two-line illuminated ''D'' begins:  ''Domine ihesu...'' (O Lord, Jesus Christ, who hung on the cross for us...)

This attractive leaf was written and illuminated in France at a pivotal point in the Hundred Year’s War - England defeated France decisively in Agincourt in 1415 and took Paris in 1420.  Not until Joan of Arc’s heroism (1428-29) could France regain hope of restoring its capital.  The book from which this came was likely in daily use at that time.

Provenance:  Sotheby's - ex G. Barilla of Geneva, and formerly Frederick Fowler collection (England c. 1820's).

Books of Hours are personal prayer books of a devout and status-conscious society and are not only works of art, but cultural documents of their time. They reveal a unique combination of sacred and secular imagery - made of the finest materials, by the best craftsmen, for a small audience, which could both appreciate and afford them.

Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat

  • Inventory# IM-11162
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