Artwork Page for Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Hunting Wild Boars (recto)

Details / Information for Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Hunting Wild Boars (recto)

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Hunting Wild Boars (recto)

c. 1500–1510

France, Paris or Rouen, 16th century

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Medium
ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
Measurements
Each leaf: 18.1 x 12.9 cm (7 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2006.13.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The ape and the wild boar symbolized vice in general and lust in particular during the Middle Ages.

Description

Following the psalms is the litany of saints, identified by the blue text reading Letania. This repetitive list proceeds through a hierarchy beginning with God the Father and continuing through many saints. From each individual, the reader could ask for forgiveness. This list was customizable, allowing the reader to include saints important to them or their family. Surrounding the text is a scene of an ape hunting wild boars, symbols of vice and lust, that could perhaps be from a fable or merely be amusing or diversionary.
A vertically oriented manuscript leaf on vellum features a column of black script accented with ornate gold, blue, and red initials. Intricate floral borders and gold scrollwork run along the top and left edges. At the base, a miniature framed by golden pillars depicts an ape on our right aiming a crossbow at two wild boars on our left in a green landscape under a blue sky. Latin text is interspersed with colorful line fillers.

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Hunting Wild Boars (recto)

c. 1500–1510

France, Paris or Rouen, 16th century

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