Illuminated manuscript border leaf with extracts from Gospel of Mark, Ghent-Bruges School

Artwork Overview

Ghent-Bruges School, Illuminated manuscript border leaf with extracts from Gospel of Mark
Ghent-Bruges School, Illuminated manuscript border leaf with extracts from Gospel of Mark
Ghent-Bruges School
Illuminated manuscript border leaf with extracts from Gospel of Mark
circa 1500–1510
Illuminated manuscript border leaf with extracts from Gospel of Mark, circa 1500–1510
Portfolio/Series title: a Book of Hours
Where object was made: Flanders
Material/technique: vellum; ink; tempera; gold
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 18.3 x 12.8 cm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 20.8 x 14.9 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 7 3/16 x 5 1/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 8 3/16 x 5 7/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Letha Churchill Walker Memorial Art Fund
Accession number: 1980.0021
Not on display
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Label texts

Archive Label 2003: This bright and colorful manuscript leaf, or page, is from a Book of Hours. Books of Hours were private prayer books commissioned by Europeans with means. They were called Books of Hours because they contained proscribed prayers to be said at the eight canonical hours of the day. Highly valued by their owners, significant numbers of book pages were “illuminated” (decorated with gold or silver or brilliant colors). The illumination, like the script on the pages, was painstakingly done by hand on vellum (thin calfskin specifically prepared to be written on and bound in books). The border here illuminates the page with its sunny yellow background and its lively and colorful inhabitants. The snail, butterflies, birds, flowers, and fruit are carefully balanced in color, scale, and position, making a charming nature piece. The painter, perhaps unwittingly, created a true cross-section of the types of things that could have been seen in a typical medieval garden.