The Virgin of the Litanies - c 1506 Book of Hours Leaf

$0.00

Original leaf from a printed & hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Ruled Latin text (French beneath side panels) printed in black on animal vellum. Initials & line-endings illuminated by hand in gold, blue and/or red. (168 x 105mm - 6.7 x 4.2").

Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated or inhabited forms - executed by Philippe Pigouchet.                            

Published by Simon Vostre in Paris (Use of Rouen) c. 1506.

The full-page panel depicts The Virgin of the Litanies: The Virgin is centered, frontal, opening her robe to display the Christ Child being held by Christ the Savior - both within a mandorla with flames. She is blessed by the half-figure of God-Father (centered at top) in papal tiara with cross-topped orb in left hand.

Across the top is a scroll inscribed ‘tota pulcra es amica mea et macula non est in te’ (Thou art all fair, O my love, & there is not a spot in thee – Song of Solomon, 4:7).

15 labeled symbols of the Virgin surround the central figure (clockwise): Star; Foliate stalk with four roses; Olive tree; Gateway to heaven; Fountain; Mirror; City of God; Fenced garden divided into 4 flower beds by cross-shaped path; Well; Lily; Rod of Jesse; Tower of David; Young cedar; Moon with face; Sun. (Similar depiction: Walters Cat. 203).

Text opens Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which had its origin in the rite of the Eastern Church, brought to Western Europe from the Greek communities in Sicily (9th century). The feast was formally accepted & prescribed by the Franciscans in 1263. Pope Sixtus IV (himself a Franciscan) approved the inclusion of the feast in the curial Roman missal in 1476, which led to an almost immediate acceptance all over the church from 1477. 

Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat

  • Inventory# IM-10666
Sold Out