Leaf Excised from a Book of Hours: Decorated Initial H (c. 1470–1480): Art, History and Details

Leaf Excised from a Book of Hours: Decorated Initial H (c. 1470–1480) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Masters of the Zwolle Bible (Netherlandish).

The work and its context

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

The difficulty in localizing Dutch manuscripts of the second half of the 15th century is formidable. Many shared or exchanged characteristics are found, particularly in terms of page layout, border decoration, and initial design. The present leaf contains borders embellished with brightly colored flowers (columbines) and acanthus leaves filled in with gold bezants, tiny green leaves, and little black dots. Though different in palette, these elements bear closest resemblance to borders and initials produced by a group of artists associated with the Zwolle Bible (Utrecht, Universiteitsbibliotheek, MS. 31). The original illuminators are believed to have worked within the Monastery of the Canons Regular at Agnietenberg. This leaf is painted in an associated style by an artist who must have been familiar with the Zwolle group.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf Excised from a Book of Hours: Decorated Initial H
• Date: c. 1470–1480
• Creator attribution: Masters of the Zwolle Bible (Netherlandish)
• Culture: North Netherlands, Zwolle(?), 15th century
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Each leaf: 17.5 x 12.3 cm (6 7/8 x 4 13/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1999.134

Collection credit

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Fliegel, Stephen N. The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection of Manuscript Illuminations. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

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.