The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 14, 2025
Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)
c. 1415
workshop of Boucicaut Master
Leaf: 16 x 11.2 cm (6 5/16 x 4 7/16 in.)
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection 2014.21.b
Location: Not on view
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.- [Bruce Ferrini, Akron, OH, sold to Jeanne Miles Blackburn]-2014Ms. Jeanne Miles Blackburn, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of art2014-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Mentioned: p. 32, cat. no. 24; Recto Reproduced archive.org
- The Medieval Top Seller: The Book of Hours. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-July 30, 2023).
- {{cite web|title=Leaf from a Book of Hours: Text (verso)|url=false|author=Boucicaut Master|year=c. 1415|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2014.21.b