IM-13263: Original leaf from an illuminated medieval manuscript Book of Hours. 12 lines of text, ruled in red, written in Latin with dark brown ink in gothic script on animal vellum.
Embellished with a two-line illuminated initial in blue with intricate red penwork extending along the margin; six one-line illuminated initials alternating in red and blue.
Italy, c. 1460.
Size: 113 x 84 mm – 4 5/8 x 3 ¼ inches.
The two-line illuminated “M” begins the Fourth Penitential Psalm - Psalm 50 (King James 51) 1-8: “Miserere…” (Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged…For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. For behold thou hast loved truth…).
The Penitential Psalms are a notable group of psalms cconsidered appropriate for prayer in times of repentence.
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.
Shipped unmatted
