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IM-929: (124x93mm) Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours.  Unusual double column text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in lettre batarde script on animal vellum. One illuminated three-line initial in liquid gold on rust ground. Surrounding border contains an intricate floral motif with acanthus leaves, strawberries (symbol of perfect righteous-ness) & vines in colors of red, blue, green & gold. (For sister leaf see Blackburn Collection, Cleveland Museum of Art, pl. 52).

France (possibly Loire Valley): c. 1470.

Half page miniature portrays the Flagellation of Christ painted by an illuminator in the workshop of the Maître François.   

The gold “I” begins John 19: "In illa tempora Adprehendit Pilatus..."  (And at that time, Pilate took Jesus & scourged him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head; & they put on him a purple garment…).

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.