Medieval Breviary leaf with exceptional initial, c. 1390

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Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Breviary. 30 lines of precise Latin miniscule Gothic textura script (eleven lines to the inch!!) in double columns with dark brown and red ink. (112 x 85mm).

One eight-line illuminated initial in burnished gold on a green ground & extending into the margin with a floral design in blue and pink; four illuminated two-line initials alternating in red & blue.

Southern France, c. 1390.

This manuscript was written for the use of the Augustine Hermits. The calendar mentioned two feasts that refer to the southern French bishoprics of Orange & Carpentras (Eutropius, May 27, who was Bishop of Orange until his death in 475; & Siffrein November 27, the Patron Saint of Carpentras).

The illuminated ''E'' begins The Apocalypse (King James Revelation) 7:2-3: ''Ecce ego iohannes vidi...'' (Behold, I, John, saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their forehead).

The blue illuminated ''O'' begins the prayer: ''Omnipotens...'' (O Almighty and eternal God, who hast granted us to venerate in one solemnity the merits of all thy saints, we beseech thee to bestow upon us, through our many intercessors, that abundance of thy mercy which we long for).

Shipped in an archival 14x11'' mat.

  • Inventory# IM-10964
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