Original vellum leaf containing an arch bordered miniature from a medieval illuminated manuscript Book of Hours. (184 x 125mm – 7 ¼ x 4 7/8’’)
One three-line illuminated initial in blue & white with a floral interior in orange, white & blue, all on a burnished gold ground; one two-line illuminated initial; eight one-line illuminated initials & two line extenders in burnished gold on red & blue ground with delicate white penwork. The panel border (verso) 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 a Burial Service. In the grassy churchyard, one man stands in the grave while lowering a pliant corpse in shroud; three clerics aligned at right; officiating cleric raises gold asperge, acolyte behind him holds a gold processional cross while the third cleric holds a golden situla; three mourners stand behind clerics dressed in black and gold with faces concealed; cloister seen in background with arched openings – all beneath a bright blue sky.
Surrounding the miniature is an elaborate full border in a dense floral motif in red, blue, pink, green, liquid & burnished gold, and a whimsical creature prancing in the left margin while a centaur wearing a fools hat seems to be clapping his hands in the lower margin.
This leaf opens the Office of the Dead – typically the final section in a Book of Hours and an integral part of the medieval funeral service.
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 illuminated 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
