Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 16 lines of Latin gothic textura script in dark brown and red ink on animal vellum. (180 x 125mm – 7 1/8 x 5’’)
Two illuminated two-line initials, two illuminated one-line initials and two line-extenders in burnished gold on a red & blue ground with delicate white tracery. Delicate rinceaux border in burnished gold, red, pink, green and blue.
France, c. 1450.
The nine lessons from Job contain moving readings from Job detailing the trials he endured in his struggle for God’s blessings.
The two-line illuminated “Q” begins Lesson VI – Job 14:13-16: “Quis…” (Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide be till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me…).
The two-line illuminated “E” begins Psalm 39 (King James 40) 1-3: “Expectans…” (With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me. And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps).
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 that could both appreciate and afford them.
Presented in an archival 14 x 11'' mat
