Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)

c. 1415

workshop of Boucicaut Master

(French, Paris, active about 1410–25)
Leaf: 16 x 11.2 cm (6 5/16 x 4 7/16 in.)
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Location: not on view

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Description

In a book of hours, the suffrages generally appear at the end of the manuscript and consist of prayers to particular saints, often illustrated by miniatures. Saints were the protectors and patrons of medieval people, and countless owners of books of hours must have been consoled by reciting these prayers and readings that contained elements of praise and pleas for intercession. This miniature introduces the suffrage to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, an early virgin martyr of the Christian Church cruelly killed by the Emperor Maxentius (died AD 312). The text begins: Gaude dulcis katherina virgo martr (Rejoice dear Catherine, virgin and martyr). Catherine appears with a palm branch, the symbol of martyrdom, and is flanked by Saints Geneviève and Margaret, two other virgin martyrs of the early church.
Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)

c. 1415

Boucicaut Master

(French, Paris, active about 1410–25)
France, Paris

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