Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto) and Calendar Page for June (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves) (c. 1510): Art, History and Details

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto) and Calendar Page for June (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves) (c. 1510) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The calendar is usually located at the beginning of a book of hours. Much like calendars today, those in books of hours mark important days to be acknowledged throughout the year. These calendars are perpetual calendars, meaning adjustable, as to be accurate every year. Months are often illuminated with an image of the type of labor or zodiac sign associated with them, such as grapes in September, the month in which they were harvested. In more lavish books, the most important days are done in gold, red, or blue, while lesser days are in brown or black ink. Running along each column are letters, which would have helped readers quickly identify Sundays. Every year, a different letter would indicate Sundays. Also running along the page are golden numbers, roman numerals used to indicate full and new moons and help identify holidays like Easter that do not fall on the same date yearly.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto) and Calendar Page for June (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves)
• Date: c. 1510
• Culture: France, Rouen
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and liquid gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Leaf: 18.1 x 12.9 cm (7 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2011.65

A detail from the museum

It is believed that medieval men and women read their books of hours aloud, not silently.

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.