Original leaf from a printed & hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Twenty-eight lines of ruled Latin text, printed in black on animal vellum.(178 x 115mm – 7 x 4 ½’’)
Eight illuminated two-line initials & five illuminated one-line initials in gold alternating on a red-orange or deep blue ground.
Printed by Gilles Hardouyn & hand-painted in the workshop of Germain Hardouyn - brother of the printer & a highly skilled illuminator. Paris (Use of Rome), c. 1518.
Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated (containing identifiable scenes or figures) or inhabited forms.
The two-line illuminated “P” begins: “Protector…” (O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase & multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler & guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal).
The two-line illuminated “F” begins: “Fidelium…” (O God, the Creator & redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy departed servants the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired…).
The two-line “E” begins part of Isaiah 11:1-2: “Egredietur…” (There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, & a flower shall rise up out of this root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him…).
The two-line illuminated “D” begins: “Deus qui de beate…” (Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, unto all thy servants, that they may remain continually in the enjoyment of soundness both of mind & body…).
Presented in an archival 14 x 11'' mat