The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of February 7, 2025

Leaf Excised from a Book of Hours: The Nativity
c. 1480
(Flemish, c. 1444–1519)
Leaf: 10.8 x 8.2 cm (4 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
This book, made by an artist of the Ghent-Bruges school of illumination, represents the culmination of Flemish book painting. Its main features were the use of rich colors, decorative and illusionistic effects, a love of landscape, and a strong sense of visual narrative. Its most distinctive innovation was the development of a new style of border decoration featuring realistic motifs which cast shadows onto colored grounds to create an effect of spaciousness. These motifs included a diverse assortment of flowers, butterflies, insects, birds, and sprays of acanthus foliage.- [Sotheby's, London, 25 June 1985, lot 17]; [Sam Fogg, London]; [Bruce Ferrini, Akron]
- Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 59, cat. no. 57 archive.org
- The Netherlandish Miniature, 1260–1550. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 2013-December 8, 2014).Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 115): December 16, 2013 - December 8, 2014.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. 57, illus. p. 59.
- {{cite web|title=Leaf Excised from a Book of Hours: The Nativity|url=false|author=Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximillian|year=c. 1480|access-date=07 February 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2011.64