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IM-1655: (210X145mm) Original leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 14 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum. 75mm square miniature painting of St. Matthew writing his gospels. Surrounding the miniature & text on 3 sides is a 5mm burnished gold bar containing blue and orange leaves; The panel border contains an intricate ivy-leaf design with flowers in burnished gold, blue, red, orange and green. In the style of the Master of the Harvard Hannibal. The vellum still contains the original stitching in the margin.

Northern France, c. 1430.

The two-line illuminated initial “C” begins Matthew 2:1: “Cum natus…” (When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem).  The first line, recto, begins Luke 1:34-38: “Quoniam virum…” ([and Mary said to the angel] How shall this be done?…Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word…).

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.