Artwork Page for Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Fishing (verso)

Details / Information for Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Fishing (verso)

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Fishing (verso)

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.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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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

This leaf shows the second half of Psalm 142. The page’s first line reads, “Non avertas faciem tuam a me,” or “Turn not away thy face from me.” This last page of the penitential psalms immediately precedes the litany of saints, which begins on the other side of this leaf. Below the text stands an ape fishing at a small pond across from a large bird, a scene possibly from a fable or simply meant to be amusing or diversionary.
A vertical vellum manuscript leaf features black Latin text accented by ornate blue and gold initials. A decorative border of scrolling red, blue, and gold foliage frames the top and right. At the bottom, a miniature landscape is set between two brown columns. A monkey sits on the left, holding a fishing rod over a pond, while a long-billed bird dives into the water against a background of green hills.

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Ape Fishing (verso)

c. 1500–1510

France, Paris or Rouen, 16th century

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