The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Initial D

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Initial D

c. 1400
Location: not on view

Description

Not all books of hours were decorated with conventional historiated initials or full-page miniatures containing figural scenes. The illuminator of this leaf incorporated a more subtle decorative scheme consisting of a large, flower-filled initial D for Deus that gives a focus to the page. A rectangular bar border with ivy leaf sprays punctuated with flowers in the corners flows from this initial. The layout is neat, yet elegant. The palette of orange-reds and pale blues is typically English.
  • [Graton and Graton, Evanston, Ill.]
  • Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 27, cat. no. 19 archive.org
  • The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 1999-February 27, 2000).
    CMA, 19 December 1999 - 27 February 2000, The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, cat. 19, illus. p. 27.
  • {{cite web|title=Leaf from a Book of Hours: Initial D|url=false|author=|year=c. 1400|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.10