Book of Hours (Use of Utrecht): fol. 14r, Initial with The Nativity (c. 1460–1465): Art, History and Details

Book of Hours (Use of Utrecht): fol. 14r, Initial with The Nativity (c. 1460–1465) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of Gijsbrecht van Brederode (Netherlandish); Master of the Boston City of God (Netherlandish).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This manuscript is a collaborative effort of two talented illuminators with distinctive styles. Ninety-seven historiated initials (letters containing scenes), including the one on recto (right side) shown here, are by the Master of the Boston City of God, a painter who worked in Utrecht. Four full-page miniatures (small paintings), including the Nativity on the verso (left side), have recently been attributed to the Master of Gijsbrecht van Brederode. The background of the Nativity depicts a distant cityscape (perhaps Utrecht), adjacent to which may be seen the Journey of the Magi and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. In the left margin, the Virgin Mary (above) appears to the Roman Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl, who, according to legend, foretold the coming of Christ. This volume is not written in Latin, but in a Dutch littera textualis, an elegant Gothic bookhand.

Object facts

• Title: Book of Hours (Use of Utrecht): fol. 14r, Initial with The Nativity
• Date: c. 1460–1465
• Creator attribution: Master of Gijsbrecht van Brederode (Netherlandish); Master of the Boston City of God (Netherlandish)
• Culture: Netherlands, Utrecht, 15th century
• Type: Bound Volume
• Technique: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; binding: brown Morocco over original wooden boards
• Dimensions: Overall: 5.9 x 11.6 cm (2 5/16 x 4 9/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1998.124.14.a

Collection credit

Gift of Milton B. Freudenheim in memory of his wife, Elizabeth Ege Freudenheim

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.