IM-10587: (195 x 140mm) Original
leaf from a medieval manuscript Book of Hours Leaf. 18 lines of Latin gothic textura script in
dark brown and red ink on animal vellum.
One illuminated two-line initial in
burnished gold on a red & blue
ground with delicate white tracery. Elaborate panel rinceaux borders with
vines & flowers in burnished gold, red, green and blue. Rouen (Use of Beauvais), c. 1430. Historic
Provenance: From
the Beauvais Hours sold at Sotheby's (London) 14 July, 1981. Presumed to have
been made for Pierre Cauchon (1371-1442)
Bishop of Beauvais and infamous judge in the trial of St. Joan of Arc
(1431). The
text continues an abbreviated version of the Passion of Christ
according to John 18. The illuminated ''D'' begins: ''Deus qui...''
(God who hung by Thy hands, feet and body on the cross for us sinners, and
allowed a crown of thorns to be placed contemptuously upon Thy holy head, and
suffered five wounds while hanging upon the frame, who redeemed us with thy
sacred blood...). 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.
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