Medieval Book of Hours Leaf - I have lifted up my eyes...

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Original leaf from an exceptionally large and costly medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 14 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. (210 x 145mm).

One two-line illuminated initial, eleven one-line illuminated initials and five illuminated line-extenders in burnished gold on red and blue ground with delicate white penwork.  The miniature paintings from this book were painted in the style of the Master of the Harvard Hannibal.

Northern France, c. 1430.

The one-line illuminated ''H'' begins Psalm 119 (King James 120) 5-7:  ''Heu...'' (Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged...).   

The two-line illuminated ''L'' begins Psalm 120 (KJ 121) complete: ''Levavi...'' (I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.  My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither het him slumber nor sleep that keepeth Israel.  The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night.  The Lord keepeth thee from all evil:  may the Lord keep thy soul.  May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and forever).

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.

Shipped in archival 14x11'' mat.

  • Inventory# IM-10764
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