A single leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 16 lines of red ruled French text, in blue, red or gold ink on animal vellum. (160x120mm).
Large ''KL'' initials (for KALENDS) are in blue on a gold & floral ground. Panel borders around the miniatures contain floral, ivy & acanthus leaves in gold, red, blue, green & pink.
Northern France: probably Paris, c. 1460.
The miniatures show the labor of the month (treading grapes) & verso, the zodiacal sign (per the 1460 calendar) of Libra. Feasts alternate red & blue with the important days in burnished gold. Among the feast days listed are: St. Giles (1st – patron saint of blacksmiths) and St. Amandus (6th), St. Gorgonius (9th), St. Lambert (17th – patron saint of surgeons), St. Matthew (21st – patron saint of accountants), and St. Michael the Archangel (29th – patron saint of pharmacists).
The miniatures are surrounded by a border having a highly decorative floral design with berries and acanthus leaves in blue, red, green & brushed gold. Lavish use of gold is evident, particularly in the shading of the clothed figures. This illumination was executed by a skilled artist working in the style of the Maitre Francois
Left of the list of saints’ days are letters A - G called Dominical Letters to help find Sundays. Far left are Roman numerals i - xix called Golden Numbers to indicate appearances of new moons, & counting ahead 14 days, full moons throughout the year (year + 1; divide by 19; remainder is Golden Number - if zero GN = 19). Finally: each month had 3 fixed points: Kalends (1st day) Ides (middle) & Nones (9th day before Ides). All days in between were counted backwards from these points.
Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat.
