Original leaf from an important printed & hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Ruled Latin text, printed in red & black on animal vellum. (165 x 108mm - 6.6 x 4.3"), Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated or inhabited. The Master of Anne de Bretagne designed the metal cuts, which were printed by Thielman Kerver.
Paris, Use of Rome, c. 1506.
Ex collection: Alexander Peckover, Baron Wisbech (1830-1919 - important English manuscript collector of the early 20th century).
Initials, paragraph markers & endings illuminated by hand in gold, on grounds of blue and/or magenta. One two-line initial in blue & white on gold & magenta ground.
The very fine full-page metalcut panel on recto depicts The Presentation in the Temple & opens the Hours of the Virgin – Hour of None. The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is described in the Gospel of Luke 2:22-40. Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took the child to the Temple in Jerusalem (as tradition dictated). Once there, they encountered Simeon the Righteous who prophesized that the infant would redeem the world. This event is also known as Candlemas, celebrated on February 2, the 40th day of the Christmas-Epiphany season.
The two-line illuminated ''M'' begins the Hymn Memento Salutis (Be mindful author of our health, That thou sometime didst take on thee Of a pure virgin being born, The form of our humanity…).
The two-line ''I'' begins Psalm 125 (King James 126) complete: ''In convertendo…'' (When our Lord turned the captivity of Sion: we were made as men comforted…).
A handsome leaf ! An excellent impression of this dramatic image, rendered on very clean unworn vellum.
Shipped in archival 14x11'' mat.
