Book of Hours Leaf - c 1460 - "The Lord is my Shepherd"

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Original leaf from a miniature medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 14 lines of ruled text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. (70 x 54mm – 2 ¾ x 2 1/8’’) 

Italy, circa 1460.

One two-line illuminated initial and two one-line illuminated initials in burnished gold on a red and blue ground with delicate white penwork.  Bars of burnished gold and red  extend along the verso text, sprouting a floral spray top and bottom in blue, green, red, burnished and brushed gold.  

The two-line illuminated “D” begins Psalm 22 (King James 23) 1-3:  “Dominus regit…” (The Lord is my Shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul).

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 14 x 11'' mat

  • Inventory# IM-11766
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