Book of Hours Leaf (Unusual Illumination)

This is an original leaf from a medieval Book of Hours. The text consists of 17 lines, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. Eleven one-line initials alternate in blue with red pen-work, and gold with blue pen-work, extending into the margin.The blue one-line M” begins Psalm 68:5-13: “Multiphicati?” (They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause?).The leaf is from Southeastern France, made for a patron most likely residing in Provence, along the stretch between Aix and Marseilles – a region host to scribes and artists from all over Europe.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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