Artwork Page for Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto)

Details / Information for Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto)

Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto)

c. 1524
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North Germany, Hildesheim (?), 16th century

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Medium
ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
Measurements
Each leaf: 16.6 x 13.5 cm (6 9/16 x 5 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2006.15.a
Public Domain
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Location
113 French Tapestries & Illuminated Manuscripts(not visible)
Print

Description

This leaf and the one nearby were excised from the same prayer book that contained ornamental borders on nearly every page. They represent the intricate decoration found throughout the parent volume, its leaves now dispersed. Virtually every border, recto and verso, or front and back, was decorated with liquid gold and highlighted with a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and animals; here a bird eats grapes while seated below is a satyr, or half goat and half man.
A vertically oriented vellum manuscript page features Latin calligraphy in black and red. A large illuminated letter E in blue and gold dominates the top left corner. A golden border displays verdant grapevines where a gray bird pecks at fruit. In the bottom right, a light-skinned satyr blows a winding blue horn. Symmetrical floral motifs and a blue vessel anchor the base of this intricate, gilded composition.

Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto)

c. 1524

North Germany, Hildesheim (?), 16th century

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