Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours Leaf. 14 lines of Latin gothic textura script in dark brown and red ink on animal vellum. (180 x 125mm).
Two illuminated two-line initials and one illuminated one-line initial in burnished gold on a red & blue ground with delicate white tracery. Delicate rinceaux border in burnished gold, red, pink, green and blue.
Northern France or French Flanders, c. 1450
The one-line illuminated ''G'' the Glory Be: ''Gloria...'' (Glory be to the Father...).
The two-line illuminated 'A'' begins Ecclesiasticus (King James Sirach) 24:14: ''Ab initio...'' (From the beginning, and before worlds was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease: and in the holy habitation have I ministered before him).
The two-line illuminated ''C'' begins the prayer: ''Concede...'' (Grant, O merciful God, help to our weakness, that we who commemorate the holy Mother of God, may by the help of her intercession [rise from our sins]).
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.