Original leaf from a medieval Breviary. 21 lines of ruled Latin text, written in gothic liturgical bookhand script on animal vellum. (139 x 99mm – 5 ½ x 3 7/8’’)
One two-line illuminated initial in deep blue with red penwork extending along the text and into the margins with a wonderful whimsical creature prancing along the top of the leaf in red penwork.
Northern France or French Flanders, c. 1280-1300.
Line three begins: Ite et vos in vineam…” (Go ye also into my vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that will I give you).
The two-line illuminated “D” includes a portion of the Creation from Genesis 1:14-21: “Dixit autem deus…” (And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. And to rule the day and the night and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having live, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven. And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to its kind. And God saw that it was good).
A Breviary is composed of many books (prayers, hymns, psalms...) painstakingly but carefully written by hand, and used by monks and priests to conduct their daily services.
A very attractive 13th century manuscript with a whimsical doodle, and important content concerning the Creation. Condition note: written with corrosive ink that wore through the vellum on numerous letters most noticeably in the lower lines of the text.
Presented in an archival 14 x 11'' mat
