Book of Hours leaf, c.1490, France.
Recto: 12 lines of text in Latin written in a bold & individual lettre bâtarde hand on vellum. Ruled in red. Nine one-line illuminated initials in raised and highly burnished gold on blue and red grounds with white penwork. Eight similar line fillers of flower and leaf designs.
Verso: As Recto, with eight similar illuminated initials and four line fillers.
Origin: France.
Date: c.1490.
Content: All or part of verses 2 to 16 of the Te Deum.( The complete text in both Latin and English is included with the leaf.) The text includes many abbreviations.
Condition: The leaf is in excellent condition. There is a slight natural fold in the vellum that is of no consequence. The burnished gold illuminations shine brightly. The leaf is unconditionally guaranteed genuine.
Notes: According to legend, the Te Deum was improvised antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine at the latter’s baptism in Milan in 387 CE. It has more plausibly been attributed to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in the early 5th century. The Te Deum concluded the matins in every kind of Hours of the Virgin in medieval books of hours. It has been set to music by Haydn, Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Bruckner, Byrd, Dvorak and Handel, to name a few.
Books of Hours were prayer books designed for the laity who wished to emulate the cycle of daily devotions followed by the clergy but without taking actual vows. The contents grew out of the psalter but included a mixed variety of other types of material - hymns, lessons, biblical readings, calendars etc. Its central text is the Hours of the Virgin. There are eight Hours (times for prayer): Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.
Size: Leaf: approx. 180x120 mm. Please note that shipping is invoiced seperately.
Item No.: MBH193a
