This leaf is from the brief transitional period when the new technology of printing with movable type was combined with the more labor intensive methods of hand painting. The earliest printers were trained in the manuscript tradition and incorporated the conventions of historiated initials and illustrations into their early work. At first they left those spaces blank for the illuminator to complete entirely by hand. Later they developed printing methods (using woodcuts or iron engravings) to decorate the leaves.

A vellum leaf from an early printed Book of Hours. Gilles Hardouin's designs incorporated the traditions of Medieval manuscripts with illustrated panels printed from metal plates. The initial were written by hand in red, blue and gold.

References:

Condition: A+