Original leaf from an important printed & hand-illuminated Book of Hours. Ruled Latin text, printed in red & black on animal vellum. (185 x 118mm - 7.4 x 4.7") Initials, paragraph markers & endings illuminated by hand in gold, on grounds of blue and/or magenta.
Noted for its DECORATIVE BORDERS - the paneled surrounds are historiated or inhabited. Printed by Philippe Pigouchet.
The metal cuts were designed by the Master of Anne de Bretagne. Produced by Nicolas Higman for Simon Vostre in Paris, Use of Rome, c. 1512.
Provenance: This leaf was formerly in the collection of C.W. Dyson-Perrins (noted English collector of the late 19th & early 20th centuries).
The full-page panel depicts the typological story of Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl. Typology, as used in Books of Hours, interprets events from the Old Testament as foreshadowing those of the New Testament. Here is Tiburtine Sibyl’s interpretation of Emperor Augustus’s heavenly vision of a mother & child as reference to the forthcoming Savior. It is used to foreshadow Elizabeth’s acknowledgement at the Visitation of Mary’s Child as the Lord (usually illustrated for Lauds).
Text continues the Te Deum ''Sanctum...'' (Holy Spirit, advocate & guide. You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father. When you became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin's womb. You overcame the sting of death, & opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers...).
Presented in an archival 14x11'' mat.
