TEXT FROM PSALMS 41 AND 127.

A MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATED VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF FROM A BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN.

(Paris: ca. 1460). Visible leaf: 115 x 90 mm. (4 1/2 x 3 1/2"). Frame: 210 x 185 mm. (8 1/4 x 7 3/8"). 12 lines in an elegant gothic hand.

Very attractively matted and in an elegantly simple gilt frame. Five line fillers with pink and blue decoration over burnished gold, three one-line initials, and one two-line initial, in blue and pink with foliate details over a burnished gold ground, and A DENSE RINCEAUX PANEL BORDER consisting of colorful acanthus, flowers, and many hairline vines terminating in leaves and bezants in burnished gold, this surrounding a painted gold chalice overflowing with brightly colored flowers. Faint soiling to the lower margin, but A FINE LEAF, the decoration bright and wonderfully preserved.

Evidently produced by an extremely skilled atelier, this very attractive leaf demonstrates a great deal of precision in both scribal hand and decoration. The brightly colored flowers spilling out of the urn (or perhaps jardinère or perhaps chalice) have been carefully rendered, the prickly texture of the thistle indicated with tiny dots. The leaf shimmers in the light with its abundant burnished gilt. (ST13353b)

Price: $475.00