Original leaf from a richly illuminated manuscript Psalter/ Prayer-book. 24 lines of Latin text. Written in unusual gothic cursive script on animal vellum. (165 x 135mm - 6.6 x 5.4"). (For sister leaves see The Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, The Cleveland Museum of Art).
North Germany, (Hildesheim?) c. 1524.
One seven-line initial in red and white on burnished gold ground with gold tracery! Two three-line initials in gold on blue or red ground. Elaborate panel borders with full gold ground strewn with diverse floral motifs. Border (recto) includes a man galloping on horseback, and (verso) includes putto bowling!
The seven-line ''H'' begins a prayer from Canticle of Canticles (KJ Song of Solomon) 4 & 5.
The two-line ''D'' begins Canticle of Canticles 2:10: ''Dilectus meus …'' (Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste my love, my dove, my beautiful one, & come. For winter is now past, the rain is over & gone. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land…).
This highly personalized prayer-book was written and illuminated in Germany, as evidenced by the painted Arms of Mansfeld (a prominent North German family) on a leaf, and the inclusion of St. Godehard (d. 1038), bishop of Hildesheim, portrayed as a miniature on another leaf. The date 1524 occurs in two locations in the prayer-book.
Shipped unmatted
