Description:
Recto: Text in Latin written on fine vellum in black ink a precise Gothic bookhand. Ruled in red. Three one-line illuminated initials in blue and salmon with fine white penwork on a ground of burnished gold outlined in black. Three illuminated line fillers. The initials are infilled with coloured flowers. An intricate full length panel of illuminations of blue, red and liquid gold acanthus leaves and flowers is inhabited by a hybrid creature or "grotesque" consisting of a bird with a long outstretched wing and a dragon's body and tail. While grotesques in medieval manuscripts are often subversively humorous or repugnant, this one is simply immensely charming.Verso: As Recto, with four one-line illuminated initials, one line filler and a similar panel of illuminations, but with different flowers and no grotesque.
Origin: Northern France, probably Paris.
Date: c.1465
Content: The text on both Recto and Verso is from Psalm 142 (KJV 143), one of the Seven Penitential Psalms. (see Notes below). The… Read More