Leaf from a Book of Hours: Adoration of the Magi (recto) and Text with Illustrated Border (verso) (3 of 3 Excised Leaves)

c. 1510

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France, Rouen

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Medium

ink, tempera, and liquid gold on vellum

Measurements

Leaf: 19.5 x 13 cm (7 11/16 x 5 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2011.66

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Part of a book of hours, this miniature opens the prayers to be recited at sext, or the sixth hour of the day.

Description

Architectural frames, as in this miniature, became popular with the reception of Renaissance motifs north of the Alps. Winged putti, urns, garlands, masks, and scallop shells surround the main scene. These elements could be assembled in different ways so no two margins were identical. The figures themselves are still Gothic in style, with stiff folds in their clothes’ drapery. Rouen in the late 1400s and early 1500s was an established and important center of book production. Richly decorated literary texts and books of hours, such as the one which held this leaf, were made for sale next to the cathedral.