Medieval Book of Hours Leaf - Litany of the Saints

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Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 13 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic textura script on animal vellum. (136 x 115mm) .

Twenty-five one-line illuminated initials in burnished gold on blue and red ground; nineteen illuminated line-extenders in burnished gold and blue.                  

Northern France or Flanders, c. 1420-40.

The illuminated ''A'' continues the Litany of the Saints (first prescribed by Pope Gregory in 590 for a public thanksgiving following a plague that ravaged Rome).  The first five lines list saints followed by an abbreviation for ''Ora pro nobis'' (pray for us). 

The list includes St. Gertrude (patron saint of gardeners), St. Apollonia (patron saint of dentists) and St. Aldegundis (patron saint cancer).  Then follows the ''Ab'' and ''Per'' section of the Litany - protection ''from'' & ''through''. They are followed by the abbreviation for ''Libera nos Domine'' (O Lord deliver us). Some of the listings include: ''From the deceits of the devil'', ''Through thy nativity'', ''Through thy baptism'' and ''Through thy cross and passion''.

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 that could both appreciate and afford them.

Shipped in archival 14x11'' mat.

  • Inventory# IM-10750
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