Book of Hours Leaf (The Pentecost)

This is an original leaf from an important printed and hand-illuminated Book of Hours printed by Thielman Kerver. The text is ruled in Latin with side panel text in French, printed in black, on animal vellum. Initials, paragraph markers and endings were illuminated by hand in gold, on grounds of blue and/or magenta. Noted for its decorative borders -the paneled surrounds are historicated or inhabited.The three-quarter-page miniature depicts The Pentecost and opens the Hours of the Holy Spirit – Hour of Matin.The text, recto, concludes the Hours of the Cross – Hour of Vespers, and Hour of Compline. The external panels represent the medieval concept of The Dance of Death.In purpose and format, printed Books of Hours followed the older manuscript examples. The more luxurious were printed on animal vellum, as is this specimen. Book of Hours are personal prayer books of a devout and status-conscious society and are not only works of art, but cultural documents of the 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, which could both appreciate and afford them.This leaf is encased within a double-sided mat within a sealed plastic envelope.

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