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Leaf from a Book of Hours: From the Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany
Leaf from a Book of Hours: From the Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany

Leaf from a Book of Hours: From the Seven Penitential Psalms and Litany

Artist Unknown scribe
Datecirca 1450
MediumIlluminated manuscript on parchment
Dimensions7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in. (20.0 x 14.0 cm)
ClassificationsBook Arts
Credit LineReby Lewis Purchase Fund
Object numberG.62.9.3
On View
Not on view
Label TextBefore the widespread adoption of printing with movable type, scribes handwrote texts on parchment sheets that were folded and sewn along one edge. These codices (books) were sometimes decorated in tempera and gold leaf to “light up” the pages, inspiring the term “illuminated manuscript.”

Books of hours are small prayer books intended for ordinary people. From about 1250 to 1550, they were the most widely produced volumes in Europe—medieval bestsellers. The core text was the Hours of the Virgin, composed of psalms interspersed with lessons, prayers, and brief phrases of praise and petition.
[L. Humphrey, “The People’s Collection, Reimagined,” 2022]
Provenance[Ferdinand Roten Galleries,123 W. Mulberry St, Baltimore, Maryland]; purchased on March 12, 1962 by the NCMA.Published References"Catalogue of Early Book Art," North Carolina Museum of Art Calendar of Art Events (May 1962), cat. no. 33.

"Acquisitions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 4, nos. 2 and 3 (Winter-Spring 1964), listed 62.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Early Book Art,” May 1962, then traveling, cat. no. 3.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–April 24, 2023. Object Rights Statement

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