Book of Hours Leaf (Elaborate Panel Decoration)

This is an original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. The text consists of 14 lines of text (ruled in red of 16), written in French with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. The one two-line initial is burnished in gold, on blue and red ground, with delicate white tracery. The panel border contains an intricate ivy-leaf design with flowers and berries (including strawberries – the symbol of perfect righteousness) in gold, blue, red, orange and green. Verso blank. The illuminated initial B” concludes the Seven Requests to Our Lord: “Biau sire Dieu?” This highly popular Medieval prayer seeks God’s pity by reminding him of those times or of those people upon which he bestowed his kindness.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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