Book of Hours Leaf

This is an original leaf from a Renaissance manuscript Book of Hours. The text consists of 15 lines of ruled text, written in Latin with letter batarde script in dark brown ink and blue ink (which is highly unusual) on animal vellum. There is one beautifully illuminated two-line initial in gold on red ground. Several initials are heightened with yellow.This leaf concludes Lesson I and begins Lesson II for the Hour of Matins. The yellow-highlighted Q” (recto) begins Job 7:17-21 (Lesson I): “Quid est?” (What is a man that thou shouldst magnify him??). The two-line initial “T” begins Job 10:1 (Lesson II) “Tedet animam?” (My soul is weary?).Book of Hours are personal prayerbooks 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.

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