Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 15 lines of red-ruled, French text, written with dark brown ink in gothic book-hand script on animal vellum.(127 x 92mm)
Three two-line illuminated initials in burnished gold on a blue & red ground with delicate white penwork, extending into margins with a delicate rinceaux design in burnished gold, blue & red; three one-line illuminated initials alternating in blue with delicate red penwork, & burnished gold with delicate blue penwork; two illuminated line extenders in red, blue & burnished gold.
Northern France (Paris), c. 1420-30.
This leaf continues one of the most popular 15th century prayers: the Fifteen Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The prayer celebrates the joyous moments of the Virgin Mary's life (The Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity...ending with the Assumption into Heaven).
The two-line illuminated ''B'' begins: ''Belle tres doulce dame...'' (Very beautiful sweet lady...). Each two-line illuminated ''E'' begins: ''E tres doulce dame...'' (Very sweet lady...)
Provenance: Sotheby's - ex G. Barilla of Geneva, and formerly Frederick Fowler collection (England c. 1820's)
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, which could both appreciate and afford them.
Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat
