Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto) and Ornamental Border with Flowers and Squirrel (verso) (2 of 3 Excised

Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto) and Ornamental Border with Flowers and Squirrel (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves) (c. 1524) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This leaf reveals the charm of secular decoration such as satyrs or domestic activities like cooking. Such details would have been a sumptuous delight to the original owner. The original book was a highly personalized volume apparently written and illuminated in North Germany as suggested by internal textual references. The prominent inclusion of Saint Godehard (died 1038), Bishop of Hildesheim, in the calendar (not visible) would suggest that the manuscript was produced in that city.

Object facts

• Title: Leaf from a Psalter and Prayerbook: Initial E with Ornamental Border Containing a Seated Satyr and a Bird Eating Grapes (recto) and Ornamental Border with Flowers and Squirrel (verso) (2 of 3 Excised Leaves)
• Date: c. 1524
• Culture: North Germany, Hildesheim (?), 16th century
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Each leaf: 16.6 x 13.5 cm (6 9/16 x 5 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 2006.15

Collection credit

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Schilling, Rosy, and Georg Swarzenski. Die illuminierten Handschriften und Einzelminiaturen des Mittelalters und der Renaissance in Frankfurter Besitz. Frankfurt a.M.: J. Baer, 1929.
• Sotheby's (Firm). Western Manuscripts and Miniatures. 1987.
• Jörn Günther Antiquariat (Firm), and Jörn-Uwe Günther. Recent Acquisitions: Medieval & Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts. Hamburg: Jörn Günther Antiquariat, 1997.

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.