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