**Originally Listed At $350**
Western Europe, France, ca. 1440 CE. A gorgeous vellum page from a Book of Hours featuring fourteen lines of black Latin letter-batarde script on each side. Select words have been scripted in a vibrant hue of crimson. On one side of the vellum page, the letter "D" in the word "Deus" (Latin for God) has been enlarged, highlighted in a lustrous gilding, and adorned with decorative striations of phthalo blue that run down the left margin of the page. Alternatively, the other side features an enlarged "D" at the beginning of the term "Domine Deus" (another Latin term for God), but it is instead outlined in a shade of azure blue and embellished with crimson striations. Size: 3.5" W x 4.75" H (8.9 cm x 12.1 cm)
The Book of Hours developed in the late medieval era and was essentially a prayer book created for individual patrons and illuminated with beautifully painted details and scenes depicting the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints. The text of a Book of Hours usually included a calendar that delineated all the liturgical feast days as well as a series of prayers intended to be recited eight times per day. By the time of the early Renaissance, the Book of Hours was quite popular, indicating that the laity were growing more interested in communing directly with God and the saints rather than relying on the church and clergy to communicate with a higher power.
Provenance: ex-Estate of Eldert Bontekoe, Pegasi Numismatics, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, acquired before 2000
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#158261
Condition
Page from a larger codex. Minor wrinkling and staining to vellum, especially on peripheries commensurate with age. Otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining pigments.