Otto F. Ege: Fifty Original Leaves From Medieval Manuscripts

Items

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  Book of Hours: Horæ Beatae Mariæ Virginis

  Leaf 46. "The laymen who ordered and purchased theses books would at times stipulate the style of ornament and the amount of burnished gold to be used, and could even, to a certain extent, select the saints they esteemed most and wished to glorify. In this example, the border reveals by its wayside flowers entangled with the heavy acanthus motif of the North and by the use of the "wash" gold that it was executed in Northern France about 1475 A.D." (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Book of Hours: Horæ Beatae Mariæ Virginis

  Leaf 45. "This manuscript leaf came from a Book of Hours, sold probably at one of the famous shrines to which wealthy laymen made pilgrimages. To meet the demand for these books, the monastic as well as the secular scribes produced them in great numbers. The freely drawn, indefinite buds here entirely supplant the ivy, fruits, and realistic wayside flowers which characterized the borders of manuscripts of the preceeding half century. The initial letters of burnished gold on a background of old rose and blue with delicate white ine decorations maintain the tradition of the earlier period. The vellum is of silk-like quality that often distinguished the manuscripts of France and Italy" (Ege).
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 15th c.
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  Psalter: Psalterium

  Leaf 25. "In the earlier periods there was generally a harmonious unity between the spirit of the ornament and the character of the writing. This unity is exemplified in this leaf. The three-lobed, gracefully drawn symmetrical fronds of leaves in the ornament are usually accepted without question as representing the ivy plant. In the Middle Ages many magical and medicinal qualities were attributed to this plant" (Ege). "Some pages of this manuscript book show the effect of having been exposed to dampness."
  Original medium: Manuscript
  Date: 14th c.