Book of Hours were prayer books designed for the laity, but modeled on the Divine Office, a cycle of daily devotions, prayers and readings, performed by members of religious orders and the clergy. Its central text is the Hours of the Virgin. There are eight hours (times for prayer ): Matins, Lauds. Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. During the Middle Ages, the leaves making up a Book of Hours were written by hand on expensive parchment and beautifully illuminated with jewel-like pigments and gold leaf. These illuminated manuscripts combined the collaborative efforts of an array of highly skilled craftspeople; requiring the joint labors of the parchmenter, professional scribes to write the text in Gothic script, artists to illuminate the pages with decorations, and masterful binders to complete the process.

This vellum bifolia comes from a Dutch Book of Hours. One of the leaves is decorated with a large initial in blue and burnished gold, with decorative flowers and stars in the margins in green and burnished gold. Many small initials are highlighted in red and blue.

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Condition: B+

Light toning and marginal soiling with pinholes along the right edge of the leaves. Some of the burnished gold has faded.