Original leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 15 lines of hand-ruled text written in Latin on animal vellum in brown ink with rubrics in red.(184 x 125mm – 7 ¼ x 4 7/8’’) The vellum upper left, was incredibly well patched prior to the leaf being painted. It is more clearly seen recto (not the side of the painting) since the border was painted over the added section.
One exceptional three-line initial in blue & white on burnished gold ground with floral infill and one illuminated line-extender in burnished gold on red & blue ground with delicate white penwork. Panel border (recto) contains a highly decorative floral design with flowers, berries, & acanthus leaves in blue, red, green, pink, & burnished gold.
France (Anjou), Use of Angers, c. 1450-75.
The miniature painting depicts The Lamentation. The Virgin Mary, in blue robes, sits with the body of her Son draped across her lap while John the Evangelist supports Christ’s head. Two holy women (one behind Mary, the other behind St. John) kneel in prayer. Hills decorate the background. The empty cross is seen behind them along with the ladder used to remove Christ’s body. Surrounding the miniature is an elaborate full border in a dense floral motif in red, blue, pink, green, liquid & burnished gold, with one amusing drollery hopping along the bottom margin.
The three-line illuminated “O” begins the popular medieval prayer O Intemerata - a prayer which stresses the faithfulness of both the Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist during the Crucifixion: “ O Intemerata et in eternum benedicta…”( O forever blessed…).
Angers was the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and one of the intellectual centers of Europe during the reign of Rene of Anjou, (1434-80). When this leaf was scribed the two branches of the Plantagenet dynasty, House of Lancaster & House of York, were engaged in the War of the Roses.
Presented in an archival 14 x 11'' mat
