Subject: Medieval Manuscript
Period: 1450 (circa)
Publication: Book of Hours
Color:
Size:
2.9 x 3.8 inches
7.4 x 9.7 cm
Splendid, tiny vellum leaf richly illuminated and beautifully written in the style common to Bruges, Flanders. Recto features a large historiated ‘D’ incorporating a miniature showing Christ before Pilate in the semi-grisaille style and illuminated with red, blue, black and gold leaf. Semi-grisaille (shades of gray) is a technique that appears in French court manuscripts around 1300 and was revived in Flanders in the mid-15th century. The Latin text, written in black with red rubrics, is from the Passion Cycle, "Deus in adiutorium meum intende. Domine ad adiuvandum me festina" (God, come to my assistance. Lord hasten to help). A smaller decorative capital ‘H’ begins the hymn, "Hora primus ductus est Jesus ad pylatum" (At the hour of prime they led Jesus to Pilate). The margin is decorated with filigree leaves, colored in red and blue with burnished gold highlights. Verso contains 17 lines of text and an illuminated ‘D’ also decorated with leaves in the margin. A very fine example, with one unobtrusive spot in the margin.
References:
Condition: A