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IM-11349: (160x103mm) Original leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 22 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin in Gothic book-hand script on animal vellum. Rubrics in red & line ending in red with liquid gold infill. One illuminated two-line initial in white with internal floral design on gold ground.

Northern France, c. 1510-20.

Elaborate panel borders with acanthus & floral motifs in red, blue, white, and green on a liquid gold ground containing a whimsical creature traveling along the bottom and birds resting in margin!

Ten-line miniature painting of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child. This miniature is by the Master Jean Coene (also known as the Master of the Paris Entries), a prolific artist who was active in Paris for the French court under Louis XII and Francis I, and also collaborated with the workshop of the Master Jean Pichoire. Coene’s quick painting technique and the careful finish of his miniatures led him to be one of the most successful artists for a high-ranking clientele in early sixteenth-century Paris.

The two-line “O” begins the Obsecro Te: : “Obsecro Te…” (I beseech thee, Lady Holy Mary, Mother of God, most full of piety, daughter of the Most High King, Mother most glorious, Mother of orphans, consolation of the desolate, way of the straying, health & hope of those hoping in thee, virgin before giving birth, virgin during birth, & virgin after giving birth. I beseech thee font of mercy, font of grace & well-being, font of piety & joy, font of consolation & indulgence. I beseech thee through that holy ineffable joy in which thy spirit rejoiced at that hour when the Son of God was announced to thee by the Archangel Gabriel…).