Original leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 22 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin in gothic book-hand script on animal vellum.(160x103mm)
Rubrics in red & line ending in red with liquid gold infill. One two-line illuminated initial in gold on blue ground with delicate white penwork; fifteen one-line illuminated initials in gold alternating in blue and red ground with gold penwork. Elaborate panel borders with acanthus & floral motifs – much on liquid gold ground.
Northern France, c. 1510-20.
From the workshop of Jean Coene (also known as the Master of the Paris Entries), a prolific artist who was active in Paris for the French court under Louis XII and Francis I, and also collaborated with the workshop of the Master Jean Pichoire. Coene’s quick painting technique and the careful finish of his miniatures led him to be one of the most successful artists for a high-ranking clientele in early sixteenth-century Paris.
The two-line illuminated “D” begins Psalm 37 (King James 38) 1-12: “Domine…” (Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me…).
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
