Original leaf from an exceptionally large and costly medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 14 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. (210 x 145mm).
Three two-line illuminated initials, two one-line illuminated initials and two illuminated line-extenders in burnished gold on red and blue ground with delicate white penwork. The miniature paintings from this book were painted in the style of the Master of the Harvard Hannibal.
Northern France, c. 1430.
The one-line illuminated ''E'' begins Psalm 127 (King James 128) 6: ''Et videas...'' (And mayst thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel).
The two-line illuminated ''I'' begins Ecclesiasticus (King James Sirach) 24: 19-20: ''In plateis...'' (In the broad ways I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm; I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrrh). The two-line illuminated ''F'' begins the prayer: ''Famulorum...'' (O Lord, we beseech thee, forgive the transgressions of thy servants, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of thy Son and our Lord).
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.
