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IM-5364: (160x110mm) Original leaf from a manuscript Book of Hours. 20 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin in angular gothic book-hand script on animal vellum. Rubrics in red & line ending in red with liquid gold infill.

France: Rouen; Use of Rouen, c. 1490.

Two two-line illuminated initials in white & gray acanthus with floral infill on gold grounds.  Elaborate panel borders in acanthus & floral motifs (including columbines – symbol of the Holy Spirit) on liquid gold ground.

The two-line “D” begins the prayer “Domine iesu christe…” (A prayer to Jesus Christ who redeemed us with his body & blood. The prayer requests that through the celebration of the sacrament at the altar we may be protected from sins of the body and the spirit, from temptation by the devil and from the snares of his enemies visible and invisible).

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, which could both appreciate and afford them.