Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours, with illuminations by a Master of the Boucicaut School. 15 lines of red-ruled, Latin 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 blue and pink ground extending into the margin with a delicate rinceaux design in burnished gold, red and blue; Eight one-line illuminated initials alternating in blue with delicate red penwork and burnished gold with delicate blue penwork.
Northern France (Paris), c. 1420-30.
This leaf continues the Hours of the Holy Trinity - Hour of Vespers The two-line illuminated ''V'' begins a hymn to the Holy Trinity: Voluntate filius patris...'' (By the will of the Father and of the Holy Sprit, the Son was born of a virgin, was crucified, died, and laid in a sepulcher...).
The one-line illuminated ''C'' opens the Hour of Compline: ''Converte...'' (Convert us O God our Savior. And avert Thine ire from us. Incline unto my aid O God. O Lord make haste to help me...).
The two-line ''E'' begins the hymn: ''Et per ipsum...'' (And we will all be judged by Him...).
This attractive leaf was written and illuminated in France at a pivotal point in the Hundred Year’s War - England defeated France decisively in Agincourt in 1415 and took Paris in 1420. Not until Joan of Arc’s heroism (1428-29) could France regain hope of restoring its capital. The book from which this came was likely in daily use at that time.
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
